Illegal Logging in Ukraine Surges by a Third in 2024

In 2024, Ukrainian forest users recorded the highest levels of illegal logging in the past four years, exceeding 39,600 cubic meters of timber. This represents a 30.7% increase compared to 2023. These findings are based on the annual analytical study conducted by the NGO ForestCom within the project "Advocacy for Forest Protection Against Illegal Logging: Removing Legal Barriers for Efficiency".

Illegal logging remains a critical issue for forestry in Ukraine, particularly in the context of European integration and the implementation of the new EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Failure to effectively combat this practice could jeopardize long-term access for Ukrainian timber to European markets.

The situation has been exacerbated by the state of war, including a moratorium on environmental inspections, the redirection of law enforcement agencies towards national security priorities, and the worsening socioeconomic conditions of the population.

Key Research Findings:

The study identified a significant gap in the system for tracking forestry violations: the lack of unified statistics on illegal logging across all forest lands.

The State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine provides annual accounting of illegal logging only in forests under its jurisdiction, which constitute approximately 73% of the total forest fund area. Official nationwide statistics exclude data on forest violations in:

*   Communal forests (approximately 12-13% of the forest fund area): Roughly 1.3 million hectares of land managed by communal enterprises.

*   Private forests (less than 0.1% of the total forest area).

*   Forests managed by other ministries and agencies (over 14% of the area): This includes forests belonging to the Ministry of Defense, nature reserve funds, and other agencies.

This deficiency prevents a complete and objective understanding of the scale of illegal logging in Ukraine. This creates a gap in the system for monitoring the state of forest resources and hinders the development of effective forest protection policies.

The ForestCom's study covered 8,399,000 hectares of forests under various jurisdictions and ownership forms. Collectively, these forest users recorded 5,295 cases of illegal logging, totaling 39,632.8 cubic meters, representing 0.27% of the total legal logging volume for the year. The total damage amounted to UAH 1.09 billion.

The vast majority of illegal logging (87.3%) occurred in forests under the jurisdiction of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine. This is primarily because this agency manages the largest area of forest land and systematically tracks forest violations (Public Report, 2024). According to 2024 data, these forests saw 4,600 cases of illegal logging, totaling 4,300 cubic meters, with damages amounting to UAH 817 million (Public Report, 2024). The largest forest user with the most forest area is "Forests of Ukraine" SFE.

Five regions account for nearly 70% of all detected illegal logging: Zhytomyr (20.9%), Kharkiv (17.5%), Donetsk (12.8%), Dnipropetrovsk (10.6%), and Zakarpattia (7.1%). Notably, three of these regions are located in areas of active or potential military operations.

Trends in Illegal Logging (2019-2024):

Following a steady decline in illegal logging from 2019 to 2022, a sharp increase has been observed since 2023. In 2024, illegal logging volumes increased by 30.7% compared to the previous year.

Furthermore, the largest increase (34.7%) was recorded in regions not directly affected by hostilities, while front-line regions saw an increase of only 6%.

The total damage caused by illegal logging in 2024 amounted to UAH 1.09 billion, but the level of compensation remains critically low, at only 1.6% of the assessed amount. This indicates the ineffectiveness of the current accountability system.

An analysis of the dynamics of criminal proceedings under Article 246 of the Criminal Code (Illegal Logging) for 2019-2024 revealed that a key problem is that only a small fraction of identified illegal logging cases are sent to court with indictments. However, a positive trend in law enforcement was noted: the proportion of criminal proceedings regarding illegal logging transferred to court increased from 5.9% (2019) to 26.2% (2024), and the proportion of convictions from the considered proceedings rose to 91.7%.

The terms of court proceedings lag significantly behind the pace of new cases, leading to a backlog of unresolved proceedings: 32.7% of cases in 2024 were not considered within a reasonable timeframe.

Conclusions:

The study revealed a lack of unified reporting on illegal logging for all forest users and a lack of legislation regulating mandatory accounting of illegal logging. In this regard, the NGO ForestCom proposes the introduction of mandatory unified reporting on illegal logging for all forest users to ensure full accounting of forest violations.

The increase in illegal logging in 2024 underscores the urgent need for systemic changes. The critically low compensation rate (1.6%) and the accumulation of unresolved court cases indicate the ineffectiveness of the existing law enforcement system.

Without legislative changes and strengthening institutional capacity, Ukraine risks not only losing significant forest resources but also complicating access to European markets under the new EU regulation.

The full text of the analytical study "Report on the Volumes of Officially Documented Illegal Logging in Ukrainian Forests in 2024" is available here.

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The study was conducted as part of the project "Advocacy for Forest Protection Against Illegal Logging: Removing Legal Barriers for Efficiency" implemented with the support of the "Askold and Dir" Fund, which is administered by ISAR Unity within the project "Strong Civil Society of Ukraine - a Driver of Reforms and Democracy" funded by Norway and Sweden.