"This is another disadvantage of cutting down the Carpathian forests - there is nowhere to hide from the sun," Yehor says, while our company climbs the forest road to the place of the next felling.
This time I have doubts - is he not bending the stick? After all, together with two fellow conservationists, he came to the Carpathians to show me where foresters break the law. And not at all to praise foresters and their work.
The road is wide enough for a logging truck and, no matter what, the forest does not always hide travelers from the scorching afternoon sun.
A little later I understood what the "trick" was. This road, like many others in the Carpathians, should not have existed at all. There could be a path here or just a dark forest, but not a road exposed to the sun.
It does not lead to a mountain village or a sports base. It does not flow into another road that leads somewhere. And it in no way helps to develop tourism in the Carpathians, as the foresters assure. They also say that the new roads make it easier and faster to extinguish forest fires . However, an alternative opinion claims that forests burn where roads have appeared.
The real main function of this and many other new forest roads is to reach those Carpathian forests that until recently could not be cut down. You can say that this road leads nowhere.
At the beginning of August, I spent one day in the Carpathian forests together with Yehor Hrynyk and his colleagues from the "Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group" to see with my own eyes how "successfully" foresters ignore or juggle laws in order to cut down forests where this cannot be done .
The first stop at the beginning of the day is on the highway a few kilometers before Vyhoda - once a "small town", but under the new law - a village in the Kaluska district of the Ivano-Frankivsk region. The arrow on the green background of the pointer indicates that the "Polyuk" tract is located on the left. Like all the forests that we will see this day, it belongs to the "Vyhod Forestry" branch of the state enterprise "Forests of Ukraine".
There is a lot of mud and puddles on the dirt road, which you have to go around with bushes. We are walking on a straight path, because the real Carpathian Mountains begin already further beyond Vyhoda.
There is an artificial forest on both sides of the road. To see "artificiality" you don't need a diploma of botanist or forester. Red oaks rise to the right of the road. Their leaves with sharp "rays" really turn red in autumn. But the problem is that it does not decompose on the ground and forms a carpet through which other plants cannot break through.
The tree comes from North America, but in our country it was planted in forests until recently. Because it grows well, therefore it is profitable to grow it for wood.
But this oak creates a lot of problems for the forest and its inhabitants. Therefore, the Ministry of Environment recently banned the planting of its and other alien species of trees in forests, which caused a real wave of indignation on the part of foresters.
On the other side of the forest road there is a pure spruce forest. Common spruce, or spruce, as it is called in the Carpathians, is not just a local species, but also a certain symbol of the Carpathians.
The problem is that here, where we are going, at an altitude of less than half a kilometer above sea level, there were no "pure spruce" forests until they were planted by man. Instead, there were mixed ones where, in addition to spruce, beech or fir grew.
And it's not for nothing, because a pure spruce forest does not feel too good in the local climate. It's another matter - in the mountains, at an altitude of a thousand meters or more - here spruce trees do well in a forest without other trees.
At some point, Yehor checks his smartphone, and from the forest road we dive into the forest without the slightest hint of a path. We move down the slope of the stream, along which the forest stream runs, until we enter another forest.
"Otherness" catches the eye. American oaks are not even mentioned here. Instead, our relatives appear. And in addition to fir trees, you can see beeches.
I ask Tetyana Shamina from the "Ukrainian Nature Protection Group" to hug the trunk of one of them together. We lack ten centimeters to close the circle. This beech is no less than 120 years old.
But not all the trees here are old. This is a sign of a normal natural forest - like a normal human society, it is of different ages. There are those recently born, young trees in the prime of life and those preparing for the next life.
In trees, it, that is, the "next life", is absolutely possible and very important.
Egor draws my attention to the so-called dead wood around. Here it is in the assortment: a thick stump that has been rotting for many years, an old tree that has fallen after its roots have rotted, and a tree stump. This is the name of a long-dead tree that broke at a height of several meters, but is still standing.
Environmentalists like to say that dead wood has more life than living wood. And there is no exaggeration in this statement. Dead wood gives life to many species of fungi and small animals that decompose the wood so that the chemical elements can return to the circle of life.
For example, stag beetle larvae feed exclusively on dead wood. And the fact that it is included in the Red Book, leads to certain reflections. Many less noticeable but no less important insects and other invertebrates live next to it.
Everything that we see around says that we got into a real natural forest. If someone cut it, it was long ago and in small quantities. Fortunately, it is not intended for this. After all, wood harvesting is not carried out in all, but only in certain forests designated for this purpose. This one has a recreational function.
But Yehor draws my attention to the column. The inscription "VRS-23" under the number of the forest plot means that this year foresters are going to carry out a selective sanitary felling here (abbreviated as VSR or VRS).
If an infectious disease spreads among people, it must be cut off: close cinemas, suspend schools and kindergartens, and maybe even limit the use of public transport.
The trees also have their own diseases and pests. For example, the typographer bark beetle settles in weakened trees and kills them. Trees also suffer from contagious "cancer", although it has nothing in common with the real one except for the name.
If we act according to human logic, then diseased trees in the forest should be isolated from the rest. That is, to cut them down so that others do not suffer. This is called selective sanitary felling.
Her main task is to "heal the forest". Although, of course, no one will throw the wood obtained in this way into the trash. The law allows such felling to be carried out in various forests, not only those that exist for timber. It is logical, because forests must be protected.
The problem with sanitary logging is that, from a scientific point of view, their effectiveness is at least questionable.
Yes, if a tree infected with a bark beetle is detected very quickly and immediately cut down and removed from the forest, it can really save the rest of the trees. But in practice this is extremely difficult to do. When it comes to bacterial infections of trees, sanitary felling cannot solve this problem, although foresters do not agree with this.
But the main problem lies in something else. We can see ax marks on several old beech trees down the trunk. The foresters chose them to be sent under sanitary felling. But the trees are healthy, and if they threaten anyone, it is only birds or bats that can settle in their hollows.
It is about such trees that ecologists say that they are important from the point of view of biodiversity .
"Nature reveals remarkable knowledge of geometry - it loves correct forms," says Petro Testov, another participant of our raid.
As we climb to our next site in the Svichiv Forestry, he shows me the mountain slopes opposite. In the middle of the green forest here and there you can see cut patches with surprisingly regular contours.
These are already traces of solid sanitary felling . It is not difficult to guess that the counters resort to them when not individual trees are sick, but an entire forest area at once.
The bitter irony is that in practice it is almost impossible for the forest to be sick with "rectangles" or any other shapes with regular contours. But it is often "sanitized" just like that. That is, healthy trees are cut down along with sick ones (if they were there at all).
Peter has at least several guises. For the past year and a half, he has been actively helping the military as a volunteer. At the same time, he has been engaged in environmental protection for many years. And once a long time ago, as a traveler, he traveled around several dozen countries of the world and almost all of Ukraine, with its mountains, forests, rivers and territories.
But "..who increases knowledge, increases grief." The longer he was engaged in nature conservation, the more difficult it became to enjoy its beauty.
"For me, tourist competitions often ended with several criminal cases," he says.
On both sides of the forest road, artificial spruce plantations are drying up in some places. Foresters often point to this fact, saying, no matter what, you have to cut down to save the rest of the forest. But the fact is that the forest often dries up at the edge of the felling, and this is not accidental. If it is cut down, a new edge will dry and so on. It is an ancient snake that bites its own tail.
We stop at two posts, the letters and numbers on which tell us that this year the foresters are going to carry out solid sanitary felling here. One is on an area of 0.9 hectares, the other is on 0.6 hectares (this is the case when arithmetic will really come in handy).
The columns are literally at arm's length from each other. So, two plots are actually one, artificially "broken". This trick has a simple explanation.
If a forest farm wants, that is, needs to carry out continuous sanitary felling on an area of more than one hectare, it must first carry out an environmental impact assessment procedure. OVD, as it is abbreviated, should generally accompany any projects that may affect the environment - the construction of a power plant, a new road, etc.
For this, experts gather and weigh all the risks to nature that this or that project may create. The public is also involved in the process. And then the Ministry of Environment looks at the arguments and makes a decision - to allow the project or not. And if so, under what conditions.
In a forest, an environmental impact assessment may reveal that it is not possible to cut down the entire area at once, even if it is necessary. Because it, for example, protects the slopes of the stream. Or red book plants grow on it. Or there are still healthy trees on the site, and cutting them down together with dry or diseased ones is not only pointless, but also harmful.
It is obvious that foresters are, to put it mildly, not happy with the OVD procedure. Fortunately for them, if a continuous sanitary felling is planned on an area of less than one hectare, OVD is not required!
Therefore, instead of one plot of one and a half hectares, it is much easier to cut down one plot of 0.9 hectares and next to it another plot of 0.6 hectares. Then you can not worry about ATS.
Environmentalists know about this simple scheme, and so do law enforcement officers. That is why the foresters decided to do everything honestly - to amend the law so that solid sanitary felling can be carried out without an environmental impact assessment procedure. One of the authors of draft law No. 9516, by the way, is Oleksandr Matusevych, who at one time headed the Vygoda Forest Farm.
Under the scorching sun, on the "road to nowhere" we go to our third and last of the planned locations for the day.
In some places, streams with crystal clear water flow from the slope. Like a hundred years ago, it can still be drunk without the slightest fear for health. Perhaps nowhere else in Ukraine, except Crimea, you will not find such clean water in the middle of nature. But the larger stream, which collects these streams to carry their waters to the Svichy River, is completely muddy - there is not a trace of that "crystal" left.
In the Carpathian rivers, you can see something similar after a heavy downpour. The water level is obviously rising, it is raging and can cause real trouble. But today is not the weather at all.
"This means that somewhere upstream, the forest is being felled, " says Yehor. "In our Carpathians, it is a very common topic when foresters simply drive along the stream with tractors and timber trucks. When they drive along the stream, they raise huge silt, plus - with the soil drains from the felling places and this kind of nonsense happens."
Ukrainian legislation does not directly prohibit vehicles from driving through streams. But the Svicha River is part of the landscape reserve of local importance "Svicha River with Mizunka tributary". Therefore, according to Yehor, in this case, it is definitely a violation of the law "On Nature Reserve Fund".
There is also another argument. "Vyhodskoe forestry", like many other forestry farms of Ukraine, has an FSC certificate.
These three letters, which stand for "Forest Stewardship Council", can be seen on some food packages next to a stylized image of a tree. International auditors give such a certificate to forest farms, which in their work are concerned about the preservation of biodiversity more than our national legislation requires.
Foresters need such certificates in order to sell their products to Europe. But in practice, they do not always guarantee that this or that forestry is truly environmentally friendly.
"Unfortunately, a huge number of violations remain unnoticed by the auditors, " says Petro Testov. that there are such violations on it".
After a section of steep ascent, we reach the plateau, which is the final point of our "ascent". The ground under your feet is not visible in the literal sense, because it is all covered with a layer of small branches that remained after cutting down the forest.
Yehor says that until last year there was a real natural forest here, 140 years old, if you believe the documents. But when the road reached him, which, according to the foresters, is needed for extinguishing fires, continuous sanitary felling began here. As if some parasites really took over this forest.
"I believe that it was illegal felling, because the forest here does not show any signs of drying out, it is a normal natural forest," Yehor says. with resin, a bunch of green needles. And a plus - I was in this forest in the fall and saw everything myself, how it looks.
This is illegal from an ecological point of view, from the point of view of biodiversity protection. It's just that we are stupidly losing the priceless remnants of ancient forests.
In Europe, people simply, excuse me, boil them in boiling water to preserve them. In Ukraine, we simply score on it and have what we have."
The vast majority of illegal or unjustified logging is carried out under the guise of being completely legal and justified. Foresters inform about them in advance on special resources.
Any of the concerned citizens, if they wish, can deal with these "announcements", which are called logger tickets, and go to the Carpathians or elsewhere to see for themselves how loggers follow the laws. Let's assume they don't follow. Then there may be several options.
If it turns out that individual trees or a section of the forest have already been cut down, it will be almost impossible to prove the violation. Even if circumstantial evidence in the form of living green branches hints at them.
It is possible, as was the case in the first plot in the "Polyuk" tract, to see perfectly healthy trees, which are also important from the point of view of preserving biodiversity, which foresters are going to cut down. In this case, you can, and even should, turn to the State Inspectorate, which deals with similar issues. Petro Testov says that this is exactly what he and his colleagues have done more than once. But there was so little point in it that in the end they abandoned the matter.
Since the beginning of martial law, the situation from the point of view of environmentalists has become even more complicated.
Now, in order to carry out such an unscheduled inspection of a forest farm, the ecoinspection must receive approval from the Ministry of Environment. It definitely takes more than one day and, even if all the stars in the sky come together, and the State Inspectorate still reaches the forest, it will definitely not be a surprise for foresters. And the tree will be left with a stump - "no body, no business".
Petro says that a few years ago, when he worked in Mindovkill, in the Brusturyansk Forestry in Zakarpattia, fellow environmentalists discovered planned solid sanitary fellings, which were illegal. The Ministry quickly gave permission, the State Inspectorate went to the place in three days and actually recorded the violation. But since the felling had not yet taken place, everything ended with an administrative case against an ordinary forester who made a mistake.
And even such a result is difficult to consider a victory. Foresters can quite legally plan a new felling in the same place in a short time and carry it out, if nothing gets in the way again.
Nevertheless, at my request Yehor wrote an appeal to the State Inspectorate, where he asked to carry out an unscheduled inspection of the Vyhoda forest farm, and promised to let me know what would come of it. Meanwhile, the State Inspectorate replied that it was waiting for the permission of the Ministry of Environment to conduct an unscheduled inspection.
The Forest Stewardship Council, which certifies our forest farms, has a complaint response system. That is, if any farm violates the established requirements, it can be deprived of the certificate, and at the same time - from the European market.
At first glance, this should be an effective mechanism. But Petro Testov says that no matter how much he and his colleagues turned to this organization, there was no point. Except for one case.
"Once we decided to seriously cut down. We wrote many complaints to all possible authorities, " says Petro . "Foreign auditors came. One of their visits was enough for the Tsuman State Forestry Farm (Volyn Oblast - UP), which had been certified for five years , instantly lost its certificate. Because almost everything there could be was broken."
But the result ate up so much time for ecologists that they do not consider this tool to be effective. The difficulty lies in the fact that the work of the auditors is financed by the forestry companies themselves. They depend on each other, so they are not at all determined to spoil the relationship.
The problem with forests is that people often measure their value to the country and its society exclusively in terms of cubic meters of wood or its value. With similar success, you can judge a book just by the number of pages, font, or paper weight. And likewise, the characteristics of food are not reduced to calories and even the content of iron, vitamins and fiber. Although all the listed factors are really important.
Wild natural forests are complex systems. Complex not in the sense that "how they are arranged, only ecologists can understand." And in the fact that they are inhabited by different types of trees, of different ages, including dead ones. And also other plants and many fungi and animals, the existence of which most of us have no idea.
All of them are connected by their own "internet", through which they exchange molecules, energy and information. And thanks to this complex web of obvious and not so connections, the forests managed for many thousands of years without sanitary felling and any human intervention in general.
Logging not only destroys forests, but also makes them fragile in a predatory world with a changing climate.
The tools that are in the hands of foresters today should ideally be aimed at making forests truly healthier and more efficient and not just "timber fields".
However, very specific examples show that these tools are used to legalize logging that has nothing to do with what is called sustainable forestry.
Sanitary felling is continuous and selective, by the way, only one of the loopholes in the legislation, which allows foresters to cut down the forest where they want. There are others, but this is a topic for a separate conversation.
Protecting the forest from loggers, even when there are such loopholes in the laws and regulations, is still possible, though very difficult. But foresters want to remove almost the last restrictions on their way. This is explained , in particular, by the requirements of wartime, as well as "European experience".
In addition to the already mentioned draft law No. 9516, which proposes to simplify continuous sanitary felling, this spring the State Forestry Agency published the project "Rules for felling in the forests of Ukraine".
The "Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group" says that almost all of their proposals for this document were rejected by the State Forestry Agency. If it is adopted as it is, it will spell disaster for Ukrainian forests.
He proposes to cancel the restrictions on continuous sanitary felling in high-altitude Carpathian forests. And it also allows the felling of trees important for biodiversity, and removes a whole series of other safeguards that at least somehow restrain the appetites of foresters.
"Ukrainian Pravda" addressed a request to the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine regarding the planned changes in the legislation, but at the time of writing, did not receive a response.
