President instructs govt to draw up measures to develop forestry, protect preserves

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has instructed the government to draw up some measures to ensure stable environmental management and forest development, improvement of the public management system in the sphere of forest protection, use and production, forest management, maintenance of nature complexes having real value and eco-systems.

This is outlined in the decree on additional measures to develop forestry, effective use of natural resources and maintenance of natural preserves published on Wednesday.

According to the document, the Cabinet of Ministers is to design some bills and submit them to the Verkhovna Rada. The bills will concern the improvement of the financial system and development of forestry and water management via creation of public funds for them.

The government is to develop a bill aimed at improving the system of public environmental control and environmental monitoring, which will introduce new approaches to the implementation of public environmental control and strengthen liability for violation of legislation in the field of environmental protection. The new bill should also expand the powers of public environmental inspectors in the sphere of public environmental control.

Until June 2018, a bill on the development of the nature reserves and the preservation of particularly valuable natural areas should be developed, which will help preserve natural places, rare and endangered species of flora and fauna in Europe, and also provide for the establishment of a monitoring system for them.

In addition, the document should establish uniform requirements for the content of projects for the creation of territories and objects of the natural reserve fund of Ukraine; simplify the procedure for the allocation of land parcels of state-owned and municipal property to the permanent use of the institutions of the nature reserve fund and clearly delineate the powers of the executive authorities to issue permits for special use of natural resources within the territories of these funds.

Among other things, the Cabinet of Ministers is to take comprehensive measures to develop forestry, improve the environmental and economic potential of forests, protect and reproduce forest plantations.

Poroshenko also ordered for development and approval of the program Forests of Ukraine - 2030; to make an inventory of the forest fund of Ukraine and to intensify the work on the reproduction of forests.

The decree took effect from the moment of its publication.