The results of the round table conference “Prospects for the development of the state protection service of Nature Reserve Fund (NRF) of Ukraine”

On September 9, a round table conference "Prospects for the development of the state protection service of Nature Reserve Fund (NRF) of Ukraine” was held. The event was organized by the “ForestCom” NGO. Experts on NRF issues, employees of nature protection institutions and public activists took part in the discussion of the problems and shortcomings of the functioning of the service for the protection of NRF of Ukraine. The purpose of the event is to jointly develop recommendations helpful for the reformation process of the sector.

Petro Pavlychenko, the representative of the US Forest Service, opened the meeting, emphasizing the importance of discussing the reform of the state protection service of NRF of Ukraine, which is aimed to ensure the implementation of changes similar to the best worldwide standards. As a result - skillful management of protected areas. Eduard Arustamyan, director of the Department of Nature Reserve Fund and Land Resources of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine also gave an opening speech emphasizing that the time to reform the state protection system has come: “The government, state bodies, the public must consolidate all efforts to implement changes at their level, so that the state protection service is similar to the service in the USA, to the service in other European countries”. He also noted that the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine is already implementing the necessary reforms in this area. In particular, the Minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Ruslan Strilets initiated creation of a working group on reforming the reserve fund state management system, including the state protection service. Soon new announcements will be made by the Ministry. The next steps include addressing the issues related to the patrolling and raising the wages of the state protection service inspectors.

Continuing the discussion, Anastasia Drapalyuk, an expert on NPF issues, demonstrated the management model of NPF of Ukraine, which is currently in effect, and considered two possible options for reforming the management system of nature-protected territories. The implementation of this reform would be difficult without cooperation with interested stakeholders and private partners and the creation of a clear vertical management of the state protection service of the NPF.

Volodymyr Yarotskyi, an expert of the ForestCom NGO presented the results of an analytical study on the problems of the state protection service of the NPF of Ukraine. Among the main problems faced by NPF inspectors he emphasized  material, psychological, institutional and natural. Volodmyr also outlined the problems that arise at the stage of creating the NPF and society's perception of the work of the protection service. Maksym Vysochyn presented legal proceedings for violations of the regime of protection of the national natural parks, using the experience of the Dvurechansky National Park as an example. Serhii Kurbakov, director of the Desnyansko-Starogutskyi national nature park, told about the peculiarities of work at the NPP in the front-line zone and highlighted the problems the park faced. Among the main ones are the low level of wages of employees and the absence of a regulatory framework. In his report, he proposed expanding the powers of the state protection service to provide an opportunity to guard and issue administrative protocols, including in a ten-kilometer zone around the nature reserve. 

Petro Testov, an expert of the NGO “Ukrainian Environmental Protection Group”, announced the ways to solve the problems of NPF institutions. He noted what problems can be solved by reforming the NPF protection service and problems that require solutions at the national level.

Dmytro Karabchuk, head of ForestCom NGO, presented the overview of the protection service of national forests subordinated to the United States Forest Service, highlighting the experience that can be adopted for the NPF institutions in Ukraine. He also raised the issue of professional education for the state protection inspectors, and presented a training program developed by the ForestCom team that could be adopted for the state protection service of the NPF of Ukraine.

The proposals expressed by the round table participants are included in the resolution, which the team of the ForestCom NGO submitted to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine. 

The event was held as part of the environmental protection week, which lasted from September 5 to 9. Every day, experts from the ForestCom NGO and specialists from other organizations conducted webinars devoted to the analysis of foreign and Ukrainian experience of the environmental protection institutions protection services functioning.

Events implemented within the "Fighting Illegal Logging in Ukraine" project, supported by the United States Forest Service.