Environmental activists from the NGO SaveDnipro said that 70% of the provisions of draft law No. 9516 should be removed, and the rest should be significantly changed due to the threat of deforestation.
Such a volume of changes indicates significant shortcomings of this draft law and the inexpediency of its consideration, adoption and support in general, SaveDnipro reports on Facebook.
"Cutting down more, and cutting down with less control – this is the goal of draft law No. 9516 with the misleading title "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Regarding Effective Forest Management Based on Forest Management Based on the Principles of Forestry Close to Nature, Adapted to Climate Change, Biodiversity Conservation in the forests," emphasized ecoactivists.
They emphasized that draft law No. 9516 provides for:
- narrowing the scope of application of Law No. 2059-VIII "On Environmental Impact Assessment". In particular, due to the rejection of EIA for continuous sanitary felling and raising the threshold for passing EIA for afforestation to 50-150 ha;
- excluding the powers of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources to approve forest management materials;
- the approval of the estimated felling will be carried out by the State Agency of Forest Resources, i.e. the forestry department itself, and not by the Ministry of Environment as it is now.
"Together with many other environmental protection organizations, SaveDnipro appeals to the People's Deputies of Ukraine with the demand to reject draft law No. 9516. Deputies, save the Ukrainian forest!", eco-activists emphasized.
Draft law No. 9516 was registered in September 2023 and has not yet passed the first reading in the Verkhovna Rada. It has been included in the agenda of the 11th session of the Verkhovna Rada, which will last from February to August.
Earlier, EcoPolitic wrote, that Viktor Smal, head of the State Agency of Forest Resources, noted that the environmental impact assessment (E IA) procedure for the forestry industry is inefficient and expensive, and does not allow for prompt harvesting of wood in areas damaged by wind or fire.
Earlier, EcoPolitic analyzed how the global forest reform, which has been underway since 2021, is being implemented in practice.
