The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted a resolution that gives the executive bodies of village, settlement and city councils the authority to control land protection, in particular, the ability to calculate damages for violations of land legislation.
The State Service for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre (State Geocadaster) and the State Environmental Inspectorate do not lose their powers to control land protection, reports the "Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group" on Facebook.
Eco-activists explained what local authorities receive authority to determine the amount of damage caused:
- as a result of arbitrary occupation of land plots;
- non-purpose use of land plots;
- land degradation;
- violation of the regime, standards and rules of their use.
They emphasized that communities have the authority to control and protect land, in particular, control over:
- implementation by land owners and users of measures to protect land from being overgrown with weeds and shrubs;
- compliance with the operating regime of anti-erosion, hydrotechnical structures, as well as requirements for the preservation of protective plantings and boundary signs;
- preservation of lands from arbitrary and non-targeted use, etc.
It is noted that land inspectors can carry out control, draw up acts, calculate damages and sue, as well as receive compensation for damage to the community budget.
As EcoPolitic reported before, WWF-Ukraine research on wildlife crimes in 2015-2020 showed gaps in national legislation and other obstacles to the effective fight against ecocrimes.
