Ukraine, Together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Launches Development of a Project to Support Resilient Forest Landscapes

During a working meeting held as part of the expert-level Forest Europe conference in Sweden, Head of the International Relations, Science and Public Communications Sector of the State Forest Resources Agency, Mariana Ostrovska, and FAO Chief Forestry Officer Ekrem Yazici discussed the operational modality for developing the full project documentation for the GEF-8 project.

«This is an extremely important project for Ukraine’s forestry sector. It is рассчитано for 5 years, and its total value exceeds $6 million. The привлечённые funds will significantly support the forest sector as well as forest restoration efforts. In particular, within the framework of GEF-8, it is planned to strengthen Ukraine’s capacity to produce forest reproductive material», - Mariana Ostrovska explained.

According to her, the implementing agency is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and following a proposal by Deputy Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture Taras Vysotskyi, the State Forest Resources Agency and the Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry and Forest Melioration (URIFFM) have been designated as the executing agencies of the project.

Mariana Ostrovska added that one of the key areas of GEF-8 is the modernization of the forest management planning system: the forest restoration strategy should be based on scientifically determined forest site conditions, taking into account climate change.

«To achieve this, a modern genetic and molecular laboratory is required, so we discussed attracting funding for its establishment. Genetic and molecular research will help assess the adaptive potential of forest species under climate change conditions and fully implement EU regulations on forest reproductive material», - she emphasized.

The project’s objectives also include:

• developing policy, an enabling environment, and training for forest landscape restoration;
• implementing restoration systems across different climate zones;
• exploring investment opportunities in green financing to scale up forest restoration.

«The forest sector places special emphasis on the scientific foundations of sustainable forest management. Therefore, the implementation of GEF-8 can become the basis for modern forest planning and the transition to close-to-nature forestry», - Mariana Ostrovska concluded.