EcoPolitic has collected for its readers the 8 most significant cases of environmental damage reported by the press services of prosecutors, the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), as well as the State Environmental Inspectorate of Ukraine and its territorial bodies during the week of February 1-7.
1. Prosecutors of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor's Office of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Prosecutor's Office managed to prevent the unlawful withdrawal of more than 4,000 hectares of land from state ownership in the Carpathian National Nature Park. These are the territories of the Zelenska village council of Verkhovyna district.
Photo: ifr.gp.gov.ua.
Photo: ifr.gp.gov.ua.
According to the average normative monetary valuation, the value of these plots is UAH 481 million.
The prosecutor's office reminded that the lands of the nature reserve fund are subject to increased protection and should remain exclusively in state ownership.
2. The SBI, together with the National Police, completed an investigation into the acting director of the state enterprise “Northern Forest” and his accomplice, who organized the illegal felling of 185 valuable oaks on the territory of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve. The offenders will now be brought to trial.
Photo: dbr.gov.ua.
The investigation found that the head of the state enterprise created a criminal group. He involved law enforcement officers and three civilians who were issued special passes to the reserve.
In December 2023, the official showed the perpetrators the area to be cut down, where centuries-old oaks grew. The offenders were assisted by a law enforcement officer who accompanied the transport with the felled wood.
Photo: dbr.gov.ua.
The offenders took the wood to one of the capital's timber collection points and sold it on the basis of fake documents.
The total amount of damage caused by the illegal transaction is over UAH 59 million.
3. In Cherkasy region, the developer of scientific and project documentation for the restoration of a nature reserve facility will be tried for illegal felling of trees in a protected area. In the fall of 2022, the defendant, without any permits, organized the felling of more than 350 trees of various species on the territory of the facility, which is under special state protection. His actions caused damage to the environment in the amount of over UAH 18 million.
4. The chief forester of one of the subsidiary agro-forestry enterprises in Sumy region was suspected of improper performance of official duties, which caused serious consequences for the state interests. In September 2021, during the preparation for the clear felling of the main use, he incorrectly determined the boundaries of the logging areas: he allocated two adjacent areas for logging without complying with the requirements for the minimum distance between logging areas.
Prosecutors argue that the chief forester had the opportunity to detect the violations on the spot, as the actual distance between the logging areas is 110 meters less than the normatively defined distance, so it is visible to the naked eye. Despite this, the suspect prepared a package of documents and received a logging ticket.
Subsequently, 473 trees were cut down in these forest areas on an area of 1 hectare and 0.5 hectares, respectively. This caused damage to the environment in the amount of almost UAH 7.6 million.
5. In Zaporizhzhia, inspectors of the Southern District calculated damages of over UAH 13.3 million for the pollution of a land plot by unidentified persons with various wastes (municipal waste, plastic, glass, rubber, wood, dry vegetation, etc.) in the Dniprovskyi district of the city.
6. In Ivano-Frankivsk region, inspectors of the Carpathian District recorded the illegal felling of 521 raw trees of various species outside the village of Palahychi of the Tlumach City Council of Ivano-Frankivsk district. They calculated the damage, which amounted to over UAH 3.2 million. The environmental inspectors sent a report of the crime to the police and the prosecutor's office.
7. The Merefa City Council of Kharkiv Oblast received three claims from the State Environmental Inspectorate for a total amount exceeding UAH 36 million for clogging and pollution of a land plot with solid waste along the highway in Merefa.
8. Environmental inspectors of the Central District calculated damages totaling almost UAH 4 million for illegal fishing of aquatic living bioresources by unidentified persons in the waters of the Kremenchuk Reservoir within the Sulynskyi Landscape Reserve in Poltava region.
We would like to remind you that EcoPolitic wrote about the prosecutor's investigation into the felling of centuries-old oaks in the Chornobyl reserve a year ago, in February 2024. You can learn about the most resonant environmental violations from January 25 to 31 in our digest.
