Project justification the legal and administrative situation in

Project justification • the legal and administrative situation in the forest sector: shortcomings threatening progress of recent years; preventing the full use of the potential of the sector to contribute to the well-being of the country. • depopulation of rural areas, and low productivity • Urgent need for clarification of challenges, responsibilities, improvement of forest legislation and statutory instruments

2. Expected Outputs, Target Groups and Beneficiaries

Outputs (1) • Permanent fora for informed decision-making in forest policy, consisting of • (a) Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue (MSD) of invited actors on challenges of forests and forestry in Ukraine, organized around specific topics, and • (b) Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on forests and forestry, headed by the State Forest Resources Agency, and based on the existing ad hoc working group “Forestry. ”

Outputs (2) • A conceptual framework (roadmap) for the Ukrainian forest sector based on the assessment of past forest policy measures, perspectives and priorities. Roadmap for change Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5 Area 1 Area 2 Area 3 Area 4 Areas: fields of action (esp. public relations, afforestation, monitoring…)

Outputs (3) • Public relations strategy forestry, highlighting the fact that there is a higher potential of forestry for society (necessity of increasing harvesting level, role of forestry in increasing income in rural areas, providing environmental services).

Outputs (4) • Afforestation/reforestation strategy is prepared, including the regeneration of previous existing forests, the establishment of protective plantations and plantations for bioenergy, the establishment of forests on private land reserves. • Cf. forestoration issue

Outputs (5) • Recommendations for improvement of the system of forest reporting and statistical information, with adapted linkages to European and international reporting schemes on forests. and specification of the information needed for the national forest policy development

Stakeholders • permanent forest users (State Forest Resources Agency, Ministry of Agricultural Policy, Ministry of Emergencies, Ministry of Transport, other governmental agencies, and Kyiv city administration), • key stakeholders for the Ukrainian forest sector: (i) stakeholder groups of forestry, i. e. associations of foresters and forest worker groups, forest educational and forest research institutions;

Stakeholders (2) (ii) associations of the forest industries, i. e. wood processing industry, wood manufacturing industry, wood craftsmanship, pulp and paper industry, wood trade and transportation, wood energy use, wood-related ancillary industry, non-timber forest products and services, other forest and wood-related organizations; (iii) representatives of societal interests towards forests and forestry, especially nature conservation agencies and environmental NGOs, associations for hunting, recreation and tourism and other resource users.

3. Strategy and Methodology

First step Comprehensive analysis of the situation of forestry in Ukraine (forest sector analysis, forest policy analysis): • Institutional setup; • Decision-making processes and structures • Identification of best practices • Gap analysis • Cross-sectoral policy linkages • forest policy in the national development strategies.

Second step • In a second step, a road map forest policy in Ukraine will be drafted. Roadmap for change Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Area 1 Area 2 Area 3 Area 4 Phase 5

Third step • dissemination of project results and the publication of the respective findings in traditional and electronic media, respectively.

4. Impact

Project Framework: Impact • The Ukrainian forest sector will be equally based on the economic, ecologic and social pillars of sustainability. • Forestry substantially contributes to the achievement of national MDGs by having improved the situation of people living from forestry especially in rural areas, and to international commitments of the country with regard to climate change and biodiversity. • In addition, the potential of the forest sector to serve the needs of diverse societal interests (especially material, energy, nature protection, recreation, cultural values of forests) has been realized.

Conclusion • Forests are biotopes and real green factories at the same time • Their wise, sustainable use substantially contributes to the welfare of a country • Forests in Ukraine still have a high potential for additional ecosystem services (wood, biodiversity, soil and water protection, employment, recreation…)

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