Demining and Digital Services: The EU Delegation to Ukraine Explores Ways to Support the Ukrainian Forestry Sector

Support from the European Union for Ukraine’s forestry sector is extremely important, and most importantly, it will continue in the future – as confirmed by our European colleagues. This was stated by the Head of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine, Viktor Smal, during a meeting with Giuseppe Aristei, Head of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Section at the EU Delegation to Ukraine.

«We discussed specific projects where we could effectively cooperate with European institutions. First and foremost, this concerns forest demining. Unfortunately, the process is still progressing too slowly, as forest areas are very difficult to clear of mines», - Viktor Smal noted.

According to him, the process of clearing forests of explosive hazards can be accelerated through the use of armored, remotely operated forestry machinery – harvesters. These machines can carry out clear-cutting in mined forests, allowing demining teams to operate more efficiently afterward.

«Another area for potential cooperation is the further development of our digital services. I presented the digital timber traceability chain we have created, as well as plans for its further development. To ensure full transparency, we need additional tools», - the Head of the Agency emphasized.

In particular, these include:

• LiDAR forest scanning, which will make it possible to create a 3D map of forest areas with an accurate assessment of actual timber volumes;
• A GPS-based platform for monitoring timber trucks, enabling tracking of their location, load status, and whether the required documentation is in place once transportation has begun;
• Electronic Timber Accounting System 2.0, currently at the stage of technical documentation preparation;
• An online platform for declaring all timber transactions, which will allow tracking of timber flows after their sale on the domestic market.

«It is important for us to receive comprehensive support within the framework of specific projects, including technology, technical components, training, and software. Equally important is ensuring that each project has a clearly defined financial implementation mechanism. Therefore, we agreed with Giuseppe to establish a joint working group between the State Forest Resources Agency and the EU Delegation to Ukraine, which will regularly assess the needs of the forestry sector and identify ways to provide support», - Viktor Smal concluded.