“80% of sanitary deforestation is made “to order” of woodworkers,” the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) expert Ihor Lavrinenko commented on the initiative of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on the prohibition of sanitary deforestation. According to him, this moratorium will stop clear felling of forests called the sanitary one, although, in fact, 80% of such operations are fellings for primary use.
“The current state of laws and regulatory acts allow to “legalize” illegal fellings and avoid liability for that. This includes the sanitary deforestation,” Ihor Lavrinenkosaid. He added that the resolution on sanitary deforestation was adopted in 1995 and now it was considered outdated and needed to be revised. In addition, it is needed to pay attention to the quality of work of forest pathologists coordinating felling of sick forests.
The expert informed that the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO) has already provided the relevant ministry with its proposals on solving problems and adopting a new regulatory framework in this area.
In particular, it is proposed:
- To conduct all sanitary fellings only under the supervision of environmental inspection;
- To prohibit clear felling of forest in mountains, reserves and national parks;
- To prohibit any fellings in primeval forests at all;
- To obligate forestry farms to sell wood from sanitary fellings via auctions instead of direct contracts.
The Better Regulation Delivery Office hopes that proposed changes would be considered and the first steps towards a comprehensive reform in this area would be done in the near future.