The Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Environmental Policy and Nature Management supported it submission to the parliament for a vote in the first reading draft law No. 9136 "On improving the management of objects of the nature reserve fund" (NRF), despite the comments and corrections of the lower committee members.
Eduard Proschuk, a member of the eco-committee, announced this on Facebook.
Proshchuk said that draft law No. 9136 will provide:
- fulfillment of European integration obligations in the field of nature protection;
- regulates the treatment of wild animals in zoos, etc.
The environmental community criticized the document because of the risks for nature conservation areas, which were also pointed out by People's Deputies and members of the Eco Committee, Yulia Ovchynnikova and Olena Kryvoruchkina. However, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources not only supported the document, but also actively defended it at the committee meeting.
Eco-activists from the "Ukrainian Nature Protection Group" emphasized that the draft law contains three negative norms, which probably became the reason for the development of the document:
- protected status for artificial territories of national importance will be canceled not by the decision of the President, but by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers;
"Artificial protected areas are a treat for developers and other businesses. For example, in Kyiv it is Askold's Grave , "Nyvky" park, Shevchenko park, both large Kyiv botsadas, Volodymyrska Hill, Mariinsky Park, Syretsky Grove, Feofania and many other things. Building a protected area is difficult. But canceling or reducing its area for further development is already easier," said the biologist Yehor Hrynyk.
He explained that usually the President does not sign such decisions because of their unpopularity. And the Cabinet of Ministers often makes decisions behind the scenes, without any transparency.
- coordination The Ministry of Environment to cancel the protected status will become formal;
Eco-activists explained that the department will not be able to refuse approval if the documents are drawn up correctly.
- in some cases, decisions on the cancellation of protected areas will be taken by the bodies that created this protected area.
It is noted that in Ukraine these are often bodies that made decisions back in Soviet times and which no longer exist.
"The draft law improves the "deriban" of protected areas! Deputies plan to remove the two leading safeguards that prevented the cancellation of protected objects - the approval of the Ministry of Environment and the decision of the President," the UPG emphasized.
The authors emphasized that the draft law can create chaos, in which non-transparent bodies will make decisions on the cancellation of protected areas, and individual conscientious employees of the Ministry of Environment will not even have the opportunity to refuse.
They added that the proposed "safeguard" – changes in the Land Code – would apply only to artificially created territories. Other safeguards will be included in the document after the first reading, but they will require changes to other articles and laws, which are impossible according to the regulation.
Proschuk added that the ecocommittee also recommended the second reading of draft law No. 7438 "On the use and circulation of pyrotechnic products", and also approved a number of recommendations on the report of the head of the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine for 2022.
According to EcoPolitic, the document will probably be put to a vote in the Verkhovna Rada in the week from April 10 to 15.
We will remind you that on Wednesday, April 5, the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management is to consider draft law No. 9136 "On improving the management of objects of the nature reserve fund", which caused outrage in the environmental community.
