According to Bill 11024 on the Nature Reserve Fund (NRF) of Ukraine, adopted on January 8, regional councils and the Kyiv City Council will be able to change the protection zones around nature protection sites only with the approval of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine.
The Ministry issued this explanation to the public following the hype that spread on social media after the article titled “Verkhovna Rada Passes Law on Possibility of Revoking the Status of Nature Reserve Fund Objects” was published on the website of the Judicial and Legal Newspaper on January 11.
Why did "betrayal" appear
In fact, the headline is provocative and does not correspond to the text of the article, which refers not to the abolition of the status of protected areas, but to the abolition and change of their protection zones. But whether unscrupulous media outlets decided to drive traffic to the “treasonous” headline or were simply too lazy to read beyond the headline and understand the issue, they managed to raise a large wave of public outrage.
What the Ministry of Environment says
Here are the main points as officials explained the innovations in the draft law No. 11024 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine’ to Ensure the Preservation of Territories and Objects of the Nature Reserve Fund.”
1. The protection zone of a protected area is the area around the nature reserve fund, which is not a protected area, but where “construction of industrial and other facilities, hunting, and development of economic activities that may lead to a negative impact on the protected area are not allowed.”
2. The adopted draft law supplemented Article 53 with a new part stating that the abolition and change of protected zones of NRF territories and objects is carried out only after obtaining an expert opinion and approval from the Ministry of Ecology.
“Previously, regional, Kyiv, and Sevastopol city councils could establish and cancel the decision to establish a protection zone around the territory of a protected area without an expert opinion and any approvals, because the law did not contain this provision,” the ministry explained.
3. The current version of the law on the nature reserve fund provides for the establishment of protection zones, but does not regulate the issue of their change and cancellation. According to officials, the adopted draft law resolves this issue and provides for appropriate safeguards in the form of an expert opinion and approval from the Ministry of Environment.
“The draft law on “jeeping” does not make any changes to the procedure for canceling protected areas. The document introduces changes to such a procedure for protected areas,” the agency summarized.
We would like to note that the issue of taking into account the comments of the Main Legal Department of the Verkhovna Rada to the draft law No. 11024 is still open. A list of them can be found in our material.
What is the opinion of specialists
Petro Testov, head of the analytical department of the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, responded to the “betrayal” spread on social media. In his Telegram channel, he analyzed this innovation in legislation.
According to the expert, “no one in Ukraine really knows about protected areas”.
“They seem to exist, but no one really knows about them. Where they are established, where they are not. In some regions, even foresters have included them in their forest management materials. In others, even the specialized environmental departments do not know what they are and where they are. And somewhere, the zones seem to exist, but they are not included in any land or forest documentation,” says Testov.
According to him, expert opinions on changing the boundaries, category and revocation of the status of territories and objects of the nature reserve fund have existed for 15 years without requirements for them. To remedy this situation, the Ministry of Ecology, at the request of the prosecutor's office, has developed a draft Law of Ukraine “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine’ regarding the expert opinion on changing the boundaries, category and revocation of the status of territories and objects of the nature reserve fund,” the expert says.
According to Mr. Testov, the new rule on protected areas will improve the situation, as “all changes to protected areas will be made through the Ministry of Environment, which is more sensitive to public criticism and has fewer financial obligations to natural resource companies and developers.” However, the environmentalist noted that his colleague has an opposite opinion on the innovations. He suggests that if the leadership of the Ministry of Ecology changes, unbiased experts may be excluded from the working group on changing the boundaries and “fill the quota with ‘tame’ public who will agree to everything they are asked to do for money.”
Earlier, EcoPolitic reported, in draft law No. 11024 adopted on January 8 the deputies agreed cancellation of the protection zones of the objects of the nature reserve fund without the participation of communities, but with the approval of the Ministry of Environment.
