On September 8, a delegation from the Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management began an official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), initiated by Committee Chairman Oleh Bondarenko.
The Ukrainian delegation is presented by the MPs: Committee Chair Onleh Bondarenko, Committee member Oleksandr Matusevych, Ihor Marchuk, Chair of the Subcommittee on State-Business Interaction and Investment of the Committee on Economic Development. The delegation also included Volodymyr Buchko, First Deputy Head of the State Forestry Agency for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalisation, representatives of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the State Forestry Agency of Ukraine, the State Service of Ukraine for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre, the State Regulatory Service of Ukraine, scientists from the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, the Educational and Scientific Institute of Forestry and Landscape Gardening, specialists from the Western Interregional Forestry and Hunting Administration, the Lviv State Forestry Expedition, employees of the Committee Secretariat, and assistants to the people's deputies who are members of the Committee.
The first day started with the meeting of the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity of Germany.
Dr Eckhard Heuer, Minister of Forestry and Hunting Policy, Sustainable Development at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany, welcomed the delegation and noted that Germany has been supporting the development of the forestry sector in Ukraine for over 20 years through Ukrainian-German agricultural projects. He emphasised that this support will continue, especially during this difficult time for Ukraine.
In his welcoming speech, Committee Chairman Oleh Bondarenko thanked the German side for the warm welcome and the opportunity to learn from Germany's experience in forestry. He emphasised that Ukraine highly values the political and expert support of its European partners, particularly Germany.
"Ukraine is a country with a rich forest heritage. Forests cover a significant part of our country's territory and are an important element of ecological balance, a source of biodiversity, soil and water protection, and have significant socio-economic potential.
However, russian military aggression against Ukraine has caused serious damage not only to people, infrastructure and the economy, but also to the natural environment. Almost 30% of forests have suffered varying degrees of damage. More than 60,000 hectares of forests in the temporarily occupied territories have been completely destroyed. Forests in the frontline regions of eastern and southern Ukraine have been particularly affected, where forest areas have been burned down or remain mined and inaccessible for economic activity.
Despite these challenges, Ukraine continues to move forward, working to restore and expand forest areas," said the Committee Chair.
Christoph Hilgen, an employee of Department 625 ‘Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Asia, Enlargement’ of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, spoke about the structure and activities of the ministry.
Stefan Adler, an employee of Department 513 ‘National Forest Policy, Hunting – Competence Centre ’Forest and Wood", spoke about general and fundamental issues of national forest policy, including forest strategy, the legal basis for forest protection and forestry, the promotion of forests, measures to improve the structure of agriculture in the forest sector, measures to protect the natural climate in forests, and forest associations. He also presented the EU Regulation on Nature Restoration: status and planning of national implementation.
Employee of Department 515 ‘Sustainable forest management, wood value chain’ of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany Friedrich Schmitz presented Germany's approach to sustainable forest management, fire prevention systems, national forest inventory, as well as issues related to carbon balance and remote sensing.
Hermann Intemann, an employee of Department 511 ‘Fundamental Issues and Coordination of Department 5, Reduction of Bureaucracy’ of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture of Germany, presented information on the application of the EU Regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR) in Germany.
In conclusion, Committee Chairman Oleh Bondarenko thanked the meeting participants for their substantive and constructive discussion of current issues in the forestry sector. He called for further cooperation and emphasised the Committee's openness to dialogue.
The official visit of the Committee delegation to Germany is taking place within the framework of the bilateral cooperation programme of the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) and with the support of the project ‘Technical Support for Forest Policy Development and Implementation of National Forest Inventory (SFI)’.