In Ukraine forest management is organized on the basis the State Programme, approved by the Cabinet of Ministers in Resolution “On State Programme Forests of Ukraine 2010-2015”, 16.09.09 № 977.

The State Programme “Forests of Ukraine” defines the guidelines in forest management:

– to provide the industry with qualified managers and workers;

– to improve rational use of forest resources;

– to increase the percentage of forest cover to the optimum level in all natural zones;

– to improve the productivity and quality of forests;

– to provide the industry with qualified managers and workers ;

– to enhance nature-protective functions of forests, to conserve the biological diversity;

– to improve the resistance of forest ecosystems to negative factors and climate change;

– to encourage the introduction of sustainable forest management;

– to intensify the activities in protective afforestation and forest agro-melioration;

– to elaborate regulative and legal basis in forest management and to harmonize it with the international principles of sustainable forest management;

– to intensify the state control in protection, conservation, exploitation and regeneration of forests.

– to develop research and education in forestry;

– to improve social protection of forestry workers;

– to promote international cooperation development in forestry industry;

– to implement recreation and tourist infrastructure;

– to provide the industry with qualified managers and workers;

– to improve the efficiency of forestry management.

EXPECTED PROGRAMME OUTPUTS

Bypass awareness volume of forestation area by people.

All activities are aimed to improve forest condition and quality, ecological and protective functions and their productivity. The expected outcome of these activities is to finalize regulative and legal basis in forest conservation and regeneration, to elaborate the regulative system for the sustainable forest management and forest resource exploitation with special emphasis to social, ecological and economical requirements.

It is also very important to introduce new environmentally-friendly harvesting technologies of selective and gradual felling methods, water and landscape protective functions, harmonization of forest management according to the natural zones and the intended forest use, introduction of IT and GIS in forest management. That is to improve forest management in organizations under the administration of the State Committee of Forestry and other users, to develop social issues, forest research and education, to enhance international collaboration. As a result the Ukrainian forests will be management according to the principles of sustainable development.

As a scenario analysis shows, the Programme being implemented is to improve characteristics of the Ukrainian forests and to increase the volume of timber harvested. In general the programme is expected to improve social, ecological and economical forest functions and to promote successful social and economical development of Ukrainian regions.

The output of the Programme is the increase in forest covered area of 0,5 million ha, in the forest cover from 15,6% to 16,1%, in the growing stock of 16,7%. Along with the increase in forest harvesting activities, it will improve biological diversity in forests, have a positive influence at the local, regional and global levels, reduce land degradation and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, therefore it would mitigate global climate change.

According to the Programme, the calculation of CО2 sequestration shows that on average 1 hectare of ten-year-old plantation would absorb around 0,7 ton of carbon, and next ten years about one ton would be sequestered annually. That proves the important contribution the Programme would make to the implementation of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and UN Convention on Biodiversity.

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