The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine unexpectedly granted its consent to amber mining in 6 forest plots in Rivne region with a total area of over 150 hectares. These are mostly areas that have not been damaged by amber mining.
This was stated by representatives of the Ukrainian Environmental Protection Group (UPG) on their Facebook page.
They claim that the Ministry of Environment has approved the auctioning of these forest land plots for amber mining. The environmentalists said that this decision contradicts the requirements of the State Forest Management Strategy of Ukraine until 2035, and the ministry has previously refused to auction the same plots several times.
"Perhaps the reason is that the commission under the ministry, which considers subsurface issues, includes representatives of the State Forestry Agency and SE "Forests of Ukraine"? And that is why the phrase "Using the site is possible on the entire area, subject to compensation" appeared in the conditions of approval losses of forestry production and the conclusion of a fee easement"? It turns out that the foresters have now decided to make extra money from the destruction of forests for the extraction of minerals?", the UPG suggested.
Other authorities – the State Water Agency and the State Fisheries Agency – gave their position on the inadmissibility of extraction within the boundaries of meliorational systems and wetlands.
According to UPG ecologists, the officials of the State Geodesy deliberately hid from them information about the coordinates of the areas where mining is planned.
Specialists said that they are already preparing an appeal to the Ministry of Environment regarding this issue.
In December 2023, EcoPolitic reported that ecoactivists urged the Ministry of Environment to prevent the industrial extraction of amber from valuable swamps.
