Why do we care about illegal and unsustainable forest logging in Ukraine

Illegal logging problem in Ukraine

According to the UN, Forests cover 30% of the Earth’s land area, or nearly 4 billion hectares, and are essential to human wellbeing, sustainable development and the health of the planet. An estimated 1.6 billion people – 25% of the global population – depend on forests for subsistence, livelihood, employment and income generation.

Forests are home to over 80 percent of land animals and plants. Recently, INTERPOL ranked environmental crime the third biggest criminal sector globally, with an estimated value of 110-281 USD annually, were the Forestry Crime is highly profitable and reaches a 51-152 billion USD value (INTERPOL, 2018). Deforestation continues at an alarming rate - 13 million hectares of forest are destroyed annually and this accounts for 12 to 20 percent of the global greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change (UN, 2020). Forests in Ukraine cover 9.6 million hectares or 16.5 percent of Ukraines land area, mainly mixed and steppe forests. About half the forest is classed as semi-natural; 4.4 million hectares are planted forests (FAO, 2016).

Ukraine’s forested area is one of the largest in Eastern Europe with about 24 million acres (9.7 million hectares) which comprises nearly 17% of the country. The official state statistics report that less than 1% of all annual felling is illegal, however research by third parties estimate that anywhere from 5%-50% of all logging violates Ukrainian law. According to the State Forest Resource Agency of Ukraine official level of illegal logging reached 118 thousand cubic meters, which is over six times more in 2019 than in 2018.

However, the scientists argue the official statistic. Approximate Evaluation of Illegal Logging in Ukraine (%  from the legally harvested volumes):

• 0,007%  - in the whole country – official data of the State Forest Agency of Ukraine for 2019 р. (118 thousand cub.m);
• 1-2% - in the whole country - World Bank research (250-300 thousand cub.m);
• 5% - in the whole country - Peter Hirschberger, 2012. Improving FLEG in Ukraine;
• 6-7% - in the whole country - FORZA, 2008  (1,00–1,25 million cub.m);
• Up to 20% - in Carpathians and Polissia - «Socis», 2010. Improving FLEG in Ukraine;
• 20-30% - within some areas/regions - Peter Hirschberger, 2012. Improving FLEG in Ukraine;
• 50%  - in Carpathians - Tobias Kuemmerle, Oleh Chaskovskyy, Jan Knorn, et all., 2009. Forest cover change and illegal logging in the Ukrainian Carpathians in the transition period from 1988 to 2007
• 40% - for the whole country (including improperly assigned sanitary cuts)- «Earthsight», 2018