The issue of massive deforestation in Ukraine, particularly in the Kharkiv region, has gained significant attention. Bare areas where oaks, pines, and spruces once grew deeply concern local residents, environmentalists, politicians, and concerned citizens. The public is worried that large-scale deforestation is being conducted illegally, leading to environmental problems in the regions, climate change, and other catastrophes.

How should we manage our forests so they continue to clean the atmosphere of industrial emissions, fill the air with oxygen, saturate the earth's surface with groundwater, restrain floods, and protect soils from erosion? Viktor Tkach, Director of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Agroforestry named after G.M. Vysotsky, shares his insights.

Without an Axe Is Impossible

"Indeed, recently in some regions of Ukraine, the problem of illegal logging and the activities of 'black loggers' has intensified. Therefore, the State Forest Agency and its territorial bodies are implementing large-scale measures to strengthen control over illegal logging," says Tkach.

However, he notes another side of the problem: "An ordinary citizen often gets the impression that a forest can grow without being cut down. It can, but what will be the quality of this forest, its productivity, how effectively will it perform various ecological functions? Without an axe, how can we replace derivative spruce forests created in the past in the beech zone of the Carpathians, which are drying out over large areas, or forests massively damaged by pests and diseases in the context of climate change?"

Tkach emphasizes that Ukraine cuts forests in limited volumes. On about 50% of forest areas, there is a ban on main felling or a restricted use regime. In Ukraine, the use of annual wood growth (excluding natural tree mortality) in recent years has not exceeded 55-60%, which is lower than in European countries.

"If forests are cut down too much - it's a problem. And if they are cut down too little, it's also a problem because mature and overmature forests accumulate. Any living organism sooner or later reaches its final stage and needs to be replaced," explains Tkach, quoting forestry classic G. Morozov who stated that "cutting down a forest is synonymous with its renewal."

Many Problems Exist

"First of all, we need to maintain the so-called principles of sustainable forest development," says Tkach. "That is, to conduct forestry for maximum ecological, economic, and social effects. In the process of forest use, economics and ecology must be interconnected because the wood obtained is used for the benefit of people."

State forestry enterprises operate based on forest management materials developed for the next period. According to them, a forester has no right to cut earlier or later - only when determined by the forest management organization project, which is compiled on a scientifically based foundation.

A big problem recently has been related to pine forests in Polissya. In conditions of climate change, the transformation of hydrological conditions leads to the weakening of these forests. This problem is acute in many European countries and on other continents.

Laws Need Improvement

The current legislation and regulatory framework do not sufficiently consider the peculiarities of forest functioning in modern conditions. There is an urgent need to develop and approve Ukraine's national forest policy, the state program "Forests of Ukraine until 2030", a strategy for adapting Ukraine's forests to climate change, and to revise the regulatory framework governing logging in forests.

In the state budget of Ukraine for 2021 and subsequent years, it is extremely important to provide appropriate expenditures from the general fund for forestry. The absence of these expenditures is unacceptable as it leads to the suspension of activities of many enterprises in the industry.

Using Poland's progressive experience, a law on the state forest financing fund should be adopted, which would allow applying a flexible mechanism for financing forestry enterprises considering the specific features of their functioning.

The tax burden on forestry enterprises needs to be substantially revised, as its reduction will increase revenues to the state and local budgets. Many other legislative issues also require urgent attention to ensure proper forest management in Ukraine.