The state-owned enterprise Forests of Ukraine has stated that the project of a forest road through the Shipot forestry and its virgin forests has all the necessary approvals.
The foresters published explanations about the deforestation of old-growth forests, which outraged the public and environmental organizations, on their official social media pages.
It is about the construction of a road in the Carpathians – in the Shipot forestry of the Carpathian branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” – part of which now passes through virgin forests, their buffer zone and habitats of Red Book plants.
The foresters explained their actions
They said that the road is necessary for forestry operations, forest protection and conservation, and is also of great importance for the development of the region's socio-economic potential.
As for the legality of its construction, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” noted the following:
- Ukrderzhlisproekt agreed on the route and the feasibility of its construction;
- the Carpathian branch ordered the project, which passed all the necessary approvals;
- a commission consisting of “representatives of the regional department of the State Forestry Agency, local authorities, etc.” examined the areas envisaged by the project and found no virgin, quasi-virgin, or natural forests, and did not indicate any other reservations.
At the same time, foresters admitted that “only a section of the road less than 100 meters long (the total length of the road is more than 7 km) remains in question,” but emphasized that there are no large-scale violations.
The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” reported that after numerous appeals from environmental organizations, several law enforcement agencies are checking compliance with environmental legislation by a private designer, contractor, branch employees, etc.
What the forest guards kept silent about
And while the validity of the project and the legality of its approval still need to be investigated, the fact pointed out by environmentalists and activists is undeniable: as of April 15, when satellite images showed the virgin forest destroyed in the allotments of the 1st and 2nd quarters of the 3rd forestry block of the Shipot forestry, these logging operations were still listed in the register as “not started,” although in fact the work had already been completed. Also, the electronic accounting system did not record the removal of timber from these areas, which is a direct violation of the relevant instructions.
For some reason, the foresters also “forgot” that in early 2019, they themselves had approved the conclusion based on the results of the survey that these forests, which were previously part of the Perechyn forestry, belonged to virgin forests. Amnesia is such a useful thing sometimes.
Source: zakarpattya.net.ua.
The problem is actually even deeper
Petro Testov, an ecologist at the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, says that the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is blocking the creation of new protected areas, in particular for the protection of virgin forests. As an example, he cited the double refusal to approve the creation of virgin forest natural monuments of national importance, which WWF-Ukraine wanted to create. At that time, environmentalists said that despite having all the necessary scientific justification and conclusions, the state enterprise did not grant the appropriate environmental status to almost 2,000 hectares of the most valuable forests in Zakarpattia and Ivano-Frankivsk regions.
“Yes, there is a mechanism of forest management, where all virgin forests should be indicated according to the new procedure and which can protect them from logging. But if you look at the minutes of the forest management meetings, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” asks NOT to indicate the agreed virgin forests,” says Testov.
As EcoPolitic reported, at the end of March that foresters in Zakarpattia were going to build a road for windmills through valuable forests. Later it became known that during the felling for this project, they destroyed the habitats of the snow-white snowdrop, which is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine.
On April 15, environmentalists announced the destruction of virgin forests on the territory of the Shipot forestry.
