Support for the development of forestry in Ukraine by the European Union was the topic of a meeting between Deputy Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine Oleksandr Semenets and experts from the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine and the EU project Institutional and Policy Reform for Smallholder Agriculture (IPRSA).

The parties discussed the current state of forestry reforms, the legislative work that brought Ukraine closer to the EU, and further technical assistance to Ukraine.

In particular, the meeting focused on:

• Ukraine’s implementation of EU Regulation 2023/1115 on the making available on the Union market and the export from the Union of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation. The document is aimed at preventing deforestation in forestry and certain areas of agriculture. In particular, its implementation will improve the traceability of timber origin, which will help reduce illegal deforestation.
• Implementation of new projects with the involvement of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations), in particular, the implementation of a project to assist in the digitalisation of forest management was agreed.
• Expert support from the IPRSA project, including joint work on the necessary legislative initiatives – draft laws “On trade in goods that may lead to deforestation and forest degradation”, “On attracting investment in afforestation”, and the Forest Monitoring Methodology.

The participants of the meeting also agreed to organise a study visit to Latvia, where Ukrainian experts would be able to learn about the experience of forest monitoring and control and adopt best practices in forest management.

According to Oleksandr Semenets, Ukraine is currently at the final stage of forestry reform. Therefore, the expert support provided by the partners will help implement European standards of forestry management and will be another step towards the EU.