Millions of cubic metres of Ukrainian timber could be illegally logged and traded through Europe and Eurasia, with experts claiming that rampant corruption within ‘Forests of Ukraine’ (Ukraine’s largest state enterprise), imperfect legislation, and poor enforcement of the laws have led to a surge in trafficked timber.
That is according to Dmytro Karabchuk, a scientist and founder of Forest Initiatives and Society (FIS), and Mykhailo Bohomaz, an ecologist and forestry head for WWF-Ukraine. They warn that the volume of illegal timber cut is many times larger than the 28,500 cubic metres reported by the Ukrainian government:
“Conventionally speaking, millions of cubic metres of firewood are harvested illegally every year.”
Dmytro Karabchuk and Mykhailo Bohomaz spoke about the vast volumes of timber that are felled and turned into biomass and furniture.
Speaking to Ukrainian media, Mr Karabchuk and Mr Bohomaz have revealed the three most likely scenarios where millions of cubic metres of wood are illegally cut down and traded from Ukraine’s east and west borders every year:
Scheme 1 – Introducing “The Black Lumberjacks”
Accounting for 30% of all illegal timber logged across the country, harvesting crews arrive in forests without legal permits, cut down trees, and just as quickly take them to their sawmill (often illegal), where they cut them into boards or firewood. There may be an option when they deliver the wood to another customer, for example, a furniture company where they have a separate agreement. If we talk about high-quality “black lumberjacks”, they are currently divided into several groups, Mr Karabchuk said:
“The first link goes into the forest and chooses trees that suit them, such as a beautiful oak. They see that there is an approach to that oak, that it is of good quality, and mark it with fluorescent paint that glows at night. The next brigade arrives, conditionally, at midnight. They have that tree’s GPS coordinates, find it, use her night goggles to check the tag, cut it down, and cut it into pieces. The third brigade – arrives in the morning on a truck. They load these logs and take them to the customer, processing plant, or sawmill. And at each stage, law enforcement officers or forest guards have either nothing to show or something insignificant.”
Scheme 2 – Proceeds from “excess” forest
In addition to Black Lumberjacks, both experts allege that corrupt forest officials are taking advantage of the inherent difficulties in controlling the volume of timber being felled across the country. Accounting for 30% of all traded illegal wood, they allege that trees that are intended for harvesting are being cut down in the presence of a logging ticket and all other permits, with an additional 10, 20, or even all 50% of the “extra” wood added to them over time:
“Official” forests are sold through official channels—stock exchanges and supplied under previously concluded contracts. However, the “surplus” is sold “on the left. Large enterprises can often profit from such a scheme. When part of their wood is bought legally at an auction, a certain percentage – 20-30% – is added to the unaccounted for products, mixed with the legally purchased ones.”
Scheme 3 – “Illegal-legal” logging
The most common racket, accounting for 40% of “shadow” wood, the experts allege that fictitious “sanitary” cuttings are used for harvesting rather than just forest protection. When, for example, a tree is sick, it must be removed to ensure the safety of neighbouring trees. According to ecologists, foresters are now removing healthy trees under the guise of sick ones.
“The documents for such a forest seem to be completely legal. There is a logging ticket, the only legal permit for legal felling, and all other permit documents necessary for issuing this logging ticket. But the grounds that served to decide to cut down this forest are falsified. It is clear that it is impossible to do this without the participation of corrupt forestry workers,” Mr Karabchuk said. “If we take the general picture, it turns out that the forest in Ukraine is not just sick, but mega-sick. Because today, according to the general picture of forest use in Ukraine, about half of our wood (over the last 5 years in total) is harvested by sanitary felling,” said Mr Bogomaz.
It’s time to end the shadow trade in Ukraine’s timber
According to Mr Karabchuk and Mr Bohomaz, the solution could lie in a new law, Draft Law No. 9665, dubbed “the law on firewood.” Under the law, authorities can punish violators “for the transportation, storage, sale of trees, shrubs or wood, and the legality of whose origin is not confirmed.” Mr Bogomaz believes adopting this law would make it much easier for law enforcement officers to track violators in the forest: “This law is very important for the protection of the forest,” he said.
- To learn more about the new law and its potential to end the trade in Ukrainian illegal timber, click here for Wood Central’s special feature from June.
