Our position on amendments to the legislation regarding the concept of "illegal logging"

Based on many years of experience in the field of forestry and to improve the legal mechanism of forest protection from illegal felling and bring the legislation of Ukraine closer to the standards of the European Union, the NGO "Forest Initiatives and Society" proposes to amend Art. 246 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, in particular,

1. Introduce the concepts of "illegal felling" and "illegally harvested wood" into the legislation in the following version:

"Illegal felling of trees and shrubs is the felling of trees and shrubs committed: without the appropriate permit; under a permit issued in violation of current legislation; before the beginning or after the end of the terms established in the permit; not in the designated areas or more than the specified amount; not the same species of trees, not the same size of trees, not the same category of technical suitability, which is specified in the permit; breeds and individual trees, the felling of which is prohibited."

"Illegally harvested wood - wood obtained as a result of illegal felling (felling), as well as wood that was not accounted for by forest users in the prescribed manner or did not have relevant documents confirming the legality of its harvesting, acquisition or transportation."

2. Introduce additional criminal liability for:

committing arbitrary logging by a group of persons based on a prior conspiracy;

actions committed by a person who was subject to an administrative fine twice during the year for one of the following violations:

- illegal felling and damage to trees or shrubs;

- transportation, storage of illegally cut trees (caught for the third time);

- actions that caused significant damage.

In order to strengthen the protection of forests, preserve forest resources and improve the efficiency of their use, amend the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers dated 07.23.2008 No. 665 "On approval of the fee for calculating the amount of damage caused to the forest"-

3. To increase the number of damages.

4. To introduce an additional coefficient for determining the amount of compensation for damages caused by felling economically valuable tree species. Calculate the coefficient depending on the species, volume and market value of wood. Because the value of the wood of the species that black loggers cut down is often not compensated by legalized calculations, the compensation should be several times higher than the market value of the wood.