Illegal Logging in Starosambirshchyna: Circular Responsibility vs. Justice

We have previously discussed the issue of using illegally harvested timber at sawmill points operating with "legal" documents, often owned by local officials or influential individuals. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that such businesses are often shielded by law enforcement agencies.

Today, we will delve into the stages of the development concerning the case of illegal logging identified by our organization's experts a year ago, which has now garnered the attention of law enforcement. Unfortunately, such a narrative is commonplace in many instances today.

August 3, 2023

Therefore, on August 3, 2023, near the village of Rosokhy in the Starosambir urban territorial community of the Lviv region, experts from our organization ForestCom identified and documented illegal logging, displaying all signs of illegality:

- Presence and condition of stumps and remnants of freshly cut trees with sapwood and white wood ends, alongside pile remnants with fresh green spruce needles;

- Stump camouflage;

- Lack of stump marking for freshly cut trees;

- Imitation of separation wedge - application of an improvised orange spot;

- Fresh traces of wood transport tampering, and more.

All the outlined signs indicated that illegal tree logging  was carried out by a group of violators, with all timber transported to the nearest sawmill point. Fresh traces of tampering with wood transport led to the sawmill point, where spruce logs were documented without electronic timber accounting tags.

Further investigation into these areas revealed that the unauthorized logging sites were located in an area where legal logging had previously occurred (reforestation logging in 2022) and around it.

August 8, 2023

We filed a complaint with law enforcement authorities regarding this forest violation. concerning illegal forest logging in the territory of the branch "Sambir Forestry Enterprise" (Staryavsko (Terlivsko) forestry: block 52 sections 16; block 7 sections 2, 7, 11, and block 53 sections 4 and 6) and the illegal timber harvesting at the sawmill point in the village of Rosokhy. Our experts also provided a report with evidence, locations of unauthorized logging, sawmills, and pathways for transporting illegally cut timber.

The case was not opened. However, the reaction of the loggers was immediate: timber at the sawmill point was cut, the remnants were removed, and the traces in the forest were hidden: fresh stumps were covered with earth to "age," burned, or completely buried; pile remnants were cleaned up.

For more details on this case, refer to our previous publication: https://forestcom.org.ua/en/news-post/sawmills-illicit-logging

August 24, 2023

The aforementioned facts of repeated forest violations and efforts to erase traces were documented by experts from the NGO ForestCom two weeks later during a re-inspection of the same area. Additionally, new unauthorized logging incidents worth about 600,000 UAH were documented. A subsequent report was sent to law enforcement authorities with evidence of illegally felled timber at the sawmill in the village of Rosokhy and proof of concealing and disguising sites of unauthorized tree cutting.

August 28, 2023

This time, the National Police launched criminal case No. 12023141320000446 under Article 246 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. However, there has been no response to our inquiries regarding the progress of the investigation.

February-March 2024

Based on the monitoring results in this region, our experts identified six illegal logging sites in the territory of the Starosambir Forestry Enterprise "Halsillis" in 2023, and within 2.5 months of 2024, they discovered seven incidents of illegal logging near Staryy Sambir. The estimated damage amounted to 3,526,939 UAH.

As a result of the rapid increase in illegal logging in this region and the persecution of our expert, we contacted the Lviv Regional Prosecutor's Office. The problem was presented at a meeting with the Sambir Regional Prosecutor's Office and at a meeting of the regional interdepartmental commission combating crimes against nature.

Following the meeting, the attention of law enforcement in this region has intensified. However, to this day, we continue to receive reports from local residents and conscientious forestry workers about ongoing illegal logging, albeit on a smaller scale.

September 2024 

Another illegal logging incident amounting to 56,265.17 UAH was recorded on the territory of the Strilbytsky Forestry Enterprise of the Starosambir Forestry Enterprise "Halsillis." The information has been relayed to law enforcement once again.

October 2024

Therefore, a year later (imagine how much forest could have been saved and how many criminals could have been brought to justice with fresh evidence!), experts from the NGO ForestCom were invited as witnesses to the site of the forest violation discovered on August 3rd of the previous year. This could signify the commencement of an investigation into the illegal logging of our forests around Staryy Sambir, of which we alone have documented dozens.

On the last day of October, while testifying in a case of forest violations, our experts received a “hello” from the violators – they slashed car tires. A statement to the police was filed.

Many questions remain:

Will we also be invited a year later to the logging incident discovered this month? 

Is it not too late to begin investigating cases that require immediate attention?

We will continue to keep you informed about the developments.

Activity of the NGO ForestCom is carried out within the project "Combating illegal logging in Ukraine" with the support of the International Programs of the US Forest Service.