In Ukraine, entire hectares of forest affected by fires and storms are rotting instead of being processed into timber. This was announced by Volodymyr Kasyukhnych, head of the forestry department of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”, Komersant ukrainskyi reports.
“If there are still people who doubt that the Law of Ukraine on Environmental Impact Assessment needs to be amended, I recommend watching the video I will attach below. I personally filmed this video in the autumn of 2023, these are just small consequences of the storm that took place on the lands of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” assigned to the branch “Boguslav Forestry”. This storm took place in late summer 2023. Since then, the forest in this area has been lying and simply rotting… And why? That’s right! The area of this site, which needs to be completely sanitised, is approximately 4 hectares, that is, without an EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment), there is no way….”
– kasiukhnych said.
According to him, by 2024, the EIA procedure would take 6 months or more, and “no matter how hard the foresters try, you can’t violate the procedure, and therefore the forest on the site is lying and disappearing.”
“The Environmental Impact Assessment procedure for the branch will now cost more than UAH 400 thousand, plus the branch will be obliged to carry out post-project monitoring, which will cost another UAH 150 thousand (and this is if they do not oblige us to conduct soil and hydrological studies,”
– explained the head of the forestry department of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine”.
He believes that when there is a fire or a storm, the negative impact has already occurred and there is no need to wait six months for an assessment. Because the wood that can be used is lost, and in six months it will be “rotten illiquid”.
“And this wood, for example, could now be used in the construction of defence structures or even sold on the stock exchange, I think it is not important (plus I do not want to be accused of speculating on the war), the main thing is that this wood does not simply turn into rotten illiquid that no one will need… This is in any case a resource of the state that it can lose!”
– kasyukhnych said.
On 14 March, the Verkhovna Rada’s Committee on Ecology considered a draft law by Oleksandr Matusevych (Servant of the People) (9516), which would cancel the environmental impact assessment when it comes to logging in areas affected by fires and storms.
The Committee decided to recommend that the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopt the draft law as a basis, taking into account the Committee’s proposals, and halving the deadline for submitting amendments and proposals.
Environmentalactivists opposed Draft Law No. 9516 “On Effective Forest Management”. It is noted that, if adopted, this draft law will prevent the implementation of a number of European agreements, laws and conventions. First and foremost, environmental ones.
For example, the NGO Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group notes that the draft law will cancel the environmental impact assessment procedure for clear-cutting for areas of less than 10 hectares and for areas affected by fires, windfalls and “massive drying out”.
“In fact, this is the same as cancelling the EIA altogether!” Figures: in 2023, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” carried out 7786 clearance felling. Among them, there were only 26 sites with an area of more than 10 hectares. At the committee meeting, we and other environmental organisations proposed to conduct EIAs for plots of 3 hectares or more. And to make a safeguard against abuse – so that fires, windstorms and massive drying out are recorded as part of the definition of emergencies,”
– environmental activists say.
The head of theState Agency of Forest Resources, Viktor Smal, has previously stated that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure for the forestry industry is inefficient and expensive, and does not allow for timber to be harvested quickly in areas damaged by wind or fire. In addition, forestry enterprises spend an average of UAH 500,000 on EIA, which can take years, and tens of millions of hryvnias on post-project monitoring.
“Even during a full-scale war, our companies cannot promptly harvest timber for the needs of state defence in areas damaged by windfalls and fires. Such areas will stand for years, waiting for their EIA conclusion, while neighbouring healthy plantations will be developed,”
– he said.
That is, the current regulations do not help preserve nature and delay the response to its restoration. After all, it is impossible to plant new trees on the site of a burnt forest without an EIA.
“It is very difficult to explain to our European colleagues that we have to pay several hundred thousand hryvnias to a private organisation after a forest fire to obtain an EIA conclusion that will confirm that the burned area can be developed and a healthy forest planted in its place,”
– said the Head of the State Agency of Forest Resources.
As you know, draft law No. 9516 was registered in July 2023 and has not yet passed the first reading in the Verkhovna Rada.