In the Liutianske forestry of the Uzhhorod Forestry branch of the state enterprise Forests of Ukraine, foresters have begun preparatory felling for road construction in the virgin forest areas.
This was reported by Zakarpattya Online.
According to the journalists, the foresters have no documents for these logging operations, and the work is being done to build a road here later. Investigators found a tender on Prozorro that was announced on March 13 by the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”. The tender is titled: “New construction of a forest road in quadrants 1-3, forestry “Shipot” and quadrant 29 of the Lyutyany forestry, branch “Uzhhorod forestry” of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” (Uzhhorod district, Zakarpattia region).”
Investigators from Zakarpattya Environmental analyzed the tender documents. The procurement is currently open for bids. The expected cost of the 4.55 km long road is UAH 13.08 million.
What is the main problem?
In the mentioned quarters 1, 2 and 3 of the Shipot forestry, there are virgin forests with official status, which in quarters 1 and 3 are classified as anti-erosion, i.e. protective forests. Quarter 29 of the Liutianske forestry also contains virgin forests that have not yet received official status and an anti-erosion forest.
Virgin and old-growth forests are untouched areas that exist and develop under the influence of nature. Due to this, they:
- have high vitality;
- resistant to adverse impacts;
- provide extremely important ecosystem services that cannot be fully provided by commercial forests.
Once destroyed, virgin forests will be impossible to reproduce. That is why illegal logging is criminalized in Ukraine.
So why does the logging continue?
Journalists say that the design documentation for the future road does not mention virgin forests in the areas of future construction. In the design assignment and letters from officials of the Uzhhorod Forestry branch to the developers, dated July-November 2024, they only note that protective and operational forests grow in Shipot and Liutianske Forestry.
According to the investigators, as in the case of the road construction in the neighboring Pashkivtsi forestry of the Svalyava Forestry branch, the planned road is not in the forest management materials. In addition, the Conclusion on the approval of the forest road route by Ukrderzhlisproekt was approved contrary to the relevant resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers, which regulates the procedure for taking measures to improve the quality composition of forests, conducting other logging and work related and not related to forestry.
What is the position of foresters?
The author of the article, Olena Mudra, asked Valentyn Hecker, acting director of the Uzhhorod Forestry Branch, for a comment. In a telephone conversation, he insisted that there are no virgin forests in quarters 1-3 of the Shipot forestry at all, since no official decision was made by the Transcarpathian Regional Council regarding them.
“We have a list, we have a regulation about them (virgin forests – ed.), we have an environmental obligation. There should be some protection there. But there are no such documents for these quarters (1, 2, 3 quarters of the Shipot forestry – ed.),” the official said.
What environmentalists say
The journalists turned to WWF-Ukraine for professional advice. Experts of this conservation organization, together with other NGOs in Ukraine and abroad, scientists, foresters and other stakeholders, worked on the legislative framework for the conservation of virgin, quasi-virgin and natural forests before the Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine on the Protection of Virgin Forests in accordance with the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians” was signed in 2017.
WWF-Ukraine experts say that the forests in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd quarters of the Shipot forestry are virgin forests.
“They are approved, there is a conclusion. It was also approved by the Perechyn State Forestry Enterprise, regarding the classification of forest areas as virgin forests, quasi-virgin forests, and natural forests. Some of these territories are virgin forests directly, and some are a buffer zone where any logging is prohibited,” explained Lyudmyla Slominska, Forest Project Manager at WWF-Ukraine.
She added that according to Article 39-1 of the Forest Code of Ukraine, if there is a conclusion that a forest belongs to virgin forests, then any logging is prohibited, the construction of new roads is prohibited, and there are a number of other prohibitions. Therefore, according to the expert, logging in virgin forests for road construction is illegal in any case.
The journalists provided a screenshot of the last page of the Conclusion on the results of the 2019 survey on the belonging of the forests of the former Perechyn State Forestry to virgin forests, which was approved by the director:
Source: zakarpattya.net.ua.
Stakeholders
The journalists drew up diagrams of both future forest roads in the branches of Uzhhorod Forestry and Svalyava Forestry. The result is a single, almost continuous road that leads from the village of Zbyni in the Zhdeniyivka community to the Preluky tract and further to the Rivna meadow and Mount Hola. Therefore, the media claim that the road is needed to ensure the logistics of the projects of companies from the Wind Parks of Ukraine Management Company group, which have planned to build wind farms on these peaks.
Comparison of road schemes in the branches of Svalyava Forestry and Uzhhorod Forestry. Source: zakarpattya.net.ua.
“At the moment, the business is busy building its own part of the road from the village road to the forestry,” journalists say.
In early February, EcoPolitic told about the already mentioned illegal logging near the village of Zbyni, Zhdeniyivka community, where employees of the Svalyava Forestry branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” were cutting down forest for a road that is also not in the forest management materials.
