The most damaging crimes against nature this week were committed by poachers who decided to go fishing in a protected area in Odesa Oblast. Meanwhile, forest users continue to be made to pay for damage caused by illegal logging. EcoPolitic has prepared its traditional weekly review of environmental crimes for its readers. The information for the period from 17 to 23 October was obtained from publications by the Office of the Prosecutor General and regional prosecutor's offices, the State Bureau of Investigation and the State Environmental Inspectorate.
Poaching in protected areas
Two cases of large-scale illegal fishing have been uncovered in the "Tuzly Lagoons" National Nature Park – in lakes Burnas and Shahany. The total estimated damage amounts to around UAH 9 million. Needless to say, the offenders had no special fishing permits. Most of the catch was mullet – over 450 fish. Materials are currently being prepared for submission to court.
Source: State Environmental Inspectorate of the South-Western District
Forestry cases
Damage of over UAH 3.2 million due to foresters' negligence. Prosecutors have served notices of suspicion on two officials of the Central Interregional Department of Forestry and Hunting. They issued logging permits despite insufficient stand density. As a result, 442 trees were illegally felled in the Tetiiv forestry. A village council in Kamianske district of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast must pay compensation of almost UAH 1.1 million for the illegal felling of trees. The council failed to ensure proper protection of the area, resulting in the destruction of 150 trees. The village council tried to appeal against the court decision, but the appeal court sided with the environmental prosecutors. Employees of SE "Forests of Ukraine" were also negligent. In the same region, improper performance of the forest user's duties led to illegal logging that caused almost UAH 1.3 million worth of damage to nature. The funds have already been paid into the budget. SE "Forests of Ukraine" has also paid another UAH 2.6 million in compensation for the felling of 49 trees, including in the "Maiachkivskyi" landscape reserve of local significance in Poltava Oblast. The prosecutor's office accused the enterprise of improper performance of its duties as a forest user. "Forests of Ukraine" also lost on appeal, so the funds have already been paid into the community's budget.
Valuable land
Protected land handed over to a farm. In Kharkiv Oblast, prosecutors are returning the land of the "Orchytskyi" reserve to the state piece by piece. They had previously gone to court over 150 ha of alienated land, and recently discovered another 91 ha that had been sub-leased to a business entity. The prosecutor's office has filed a lawsuit to return the land to the community and to provide the rare birds that the reserve was supposed to protect with undisturbed living conditions.
Source: Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office
Over 60 ha of the "Bazavluk Riverside Complex" landscape reserve ended up in the communal ownership of Pokrov City Council. The reason was an unlawful transfer by the StateGeoCadastre. The court ordered that the valuable protected land be returned to state ownership. In Cherkasy Oblast, meanwhile, almost 8 ha of the "Nyzhnosulskyi" National Nature Park, which had also previously been removed from state ownership, were returned to the state. You can read last week's digest of environmental violations here.
