The State Agency of Ukraine for Forest Resources plans to launch a pilot project of an electronic register of logging permits in March, Viktor Melnychenko, the director general of the Forestry Innovation Analytical Center at the agency, has said. “This software solution will allow controlling logging permits issued for the use of a certain amount of raw materials. Now this will be a pilot project, and in future, to attract all forest users regardless of subordination, it is necessary to make appropriate changes in the regulatory framework,” he explained.
According to him, the center began the development of an e-register of wood felling licenses in December 2018. The register will allow controlling the annual volume of harvested wood. The expert noted that in the autumn of 2018 the Verkhovna Rada adopted law No. 5495 on preservation of forests, which limits the annual harvesting volume to 25 million cubic meters.
According to Melnychenko, the register will also keep records of documents that were the basis for the issue of logging permits.
A wood felling license is a permit for logging, which contains information about the place and volume of logging. This document is issued by the regional forestry and hunting directorates under the State Forestry Agency.
The total area of forest areas in Ukraine is almost 10.4 million hectares, the forest cover of Ukraine is 15.9%. Some 7.6 million hectares of forests (73% of the forest fund of Ukraine) are subordinate to the State Forestry Agency.
