President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed Law of Ukraine No. 4188-IX “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine’ to Ensure the Conservation of Territories and Objects of the Nature Reserve Fund and Expand their Classification”, known as the 'jeeping law'.
This was reported by the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management. On January 31, this law was published in the official publication, the Voice of Ukraine newspaper.
Why it is important
The law strengthens the protection of the territories and objects of the nature reserve fund of Ukraine from the negative impact of motor vehicles – it prohibits the so-called “jeeping” within their boundaries, reduces the anthropogenic load on these territories and objects.
What are the innovations?
Law No. 4188-IX amends Articles 3, 14, 64 of the Law “On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine”. In the new version of Article 14, the lawmakers prohibited the use of motor vehicles within the territories and objects of the nature reserve fund (NRF), except for public roads, streets and roads of cities and other settlements, and roads in private territories.
Exceptions were made only for certain categories of citizens and officials:
- officials of the institutions of the nature reserve fund, special units of the central executive body, which implements the state policy for the implementation of state supervision (control) in the field of environmental protection, rational use, reproduction and protection of natural resources;
- officials of executive bodies of settlement, village, city councils, which exercise state control in the field of environmental protection, as well as law enforcement agencies, emergency rescue services, bodies and health care institutions, units of military units, units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations formed in accordance with the laws of Ukraine, miners in the performance of official duties;
- employees of enterprises, institutions and organizations that maintain infrastructure facilities located within these territories and objects.
Land users and landowners whose land are located such territories and persons, and persons who reside permanently or temporarily within the economic zones of national nature parks, regional landscape parks, buffer zones and areas of anthropogenic landscape vehicles outside public roads, streets and roads of cities and other settlements, roads in private territories, except for the territories determined by the project of the organization of the territory of the nature reserve fund.
Also, in Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine”, lawmakers added a new type of nature reserves and monuments-mycological, that is, created to protect valuable types of mushrooms.
The full text of Law No. 4188-IX “On Jiping” can be found on the Verkhovna Rada website Card document.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, on February 19, 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers approved draft law 11024 “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine’”, which provides for a ban on jeeping in protected areas and strict liability for it.
Later, on March 25, the Environmental Committee recommended that the Parliament adopt this government bill. And on June 20, the Verkhovna Rada voted in the first reading for the draft law No. 11024 on the protection of the nature reserve fund.
On December 26, the Ecology Committee supported and recommended that the Parliament approve in the second reading the government's draft law “On Amendments to the Law of Ukraine ‘On the Nature Reserve Fund of Ukraine’ to Ensure the Conservation of Territories and Objects of the Nature Reserve Fund.” On January 9, the Verkhovna Rada approved the bill in the second reading.
