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Like the rest of society, the Russian war against Ukraine has hit the country's forestry hard. Almost a third of the country's forests, or about three million hectares, have been affected by the war in one way or another.<\/p>\n
According to recent calculations by the Ukrainian Forestry Agency, the forest ecosystem has suffered damages of around half a billion euros. In addition, ten million euros worth of forest machinery and tools and 30 million euros worth of other property have been destroyed.<\/p>\n
Ukraine's forest sector has supported the country's war efforts by providing timber and equipment for the needs of the army for 25 million euros.<\/p>\n
One in seven of the state's forest workers, or about 5,000 in total, have joined the army. According to recent official information, 68 of them have died and 113 have been wounded.<\/p>\n
In Ukraine, a law has also been approved, based on which wood can be cut for the needs of the army even from forests that are otherwise subject to logging restrictions.<\/p>\n
The war is strangling Ukraine's forest sector anyway. Before the Russian invasion, almost twenty million cubic meters of wood were cut from Ukrainian forests every year. More than 12 million cubic meters of felling is predicted for this year.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, the increased prices of wood balance the situation.<\/p>\n
Europe's largest forest owner<\/strong><\/p>\n Of the approximately ten million hectares of forests in Ukraine as a whole, 3.4 million hectares are in economic use. The forests are more than 99% owned by the state, which makes the Forestry Agency of Ukraine, which manages the forests, the largest single forest owner in Europe.<\/p>\n In Ukraine, the ecological role of forests has traditionally been emphasized, and half of the forests have been subject to various use restrictions. During the war, however, many laws were changed to facilitate logging and timber sales.<\/p>\n The focus is already on the post-war period, when foreign companies and investments, as well as income from exports, are needed when the country is rebuilt.<\/p>\n All this has caused the environmentalists to get up on their hind legs. In its opinion, under the guise of war, the state has begun to realize its long-term goal of significantly expanding the economic use of forests.<\/p>\n On the other hand, some laws regulating timber sales have been tightened as part of the fight against corruption.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like the rest of society, the Russian war against Ukraine has hit the country’s forestry hard. Almost a third of the country’s forests, or about three million hectares, have been affected by the war in one way or another. According … Continue reading