The destruction of trees in forest reserves and nature reserves remains one of the most common crimes against the environment. Most often, those who are guilty are the very people who were supposed to protect these forests. On February 18 alone, law enforcement agencies reported three such incidents, causing damage to the environment amounting to almost UAH 20 million.
Under the guise of sanitary felling
The organizers of the logging scheme in the Chernihiv region were the chief forester and forester of the Koryukiv Forestry Enterprise. The officials are responsible for the destruction of more than 4,300 trees.
Back in the summer of 2020, the defendants artificially divided the forest entrusted to them into small plots of up to 1 hectare. This provided grounds for obtaining an environmental impact assessment, which is necessary for logging.
After receiving the EIA report, the officials carried out continuous sanitary logging on the plots. To do this, they first issued the appropriate logging permits.
Their abuses resulted in almost UAH 9.5 million in environmental damage. The men have already received notices of suspicion from the State Bureau of Investigation.
They are accused of exceeding official authority with serious consequences and illegal logging committed by a group in collusion. The foresters face prison sentences of up to 10 years.
Source: Office of the Prosecutor General
Logging in protected areas
Negligence by those charged with protection is often the reason behind logging in protected areas.
For instance, in the Cherkasy region, in the “Bilozerksyi” National Park, trees worth almost UAH 7 million were felled due to the negligence of three protection inspectors. They were supposed to patrol the plots and respond to offenses, but failed to do so. As a result, “black loggers” freely cut down valuable pines and oaks in the protected area. Prosecutors have notified the inspectors of suspicion.
Meanwhile, in Prykarpattia, following legal action by environmental prosecutors, more than UAH 2.4 million in damages were recovered. This represents the damage caused by illegal logging in the protected reserve “Kozakova Dolyna.”
Overall, during 2025, environmental prosecutors notified 54 forestry protection employees in 42 criminal proceedings related to illegal logging and official negligence.
The environmental community constantly reminds that sanitary logging is often used as a cover for illegal commercial harvesting. In addition, the government is preparing to adopt a resolution that would effectively legalize clearcut sanitary logging. The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) has already highlighted the corruption risks posed by this document.
EcoPolitics has previously reported that criminal acts by officials in the forestry sector have caused environmental damage amounting to UAH 546 million.
