What will happen to protected areas during a land reform?

Nature reserve experts express serious concerns that the land reform may affect the reserves, national nature parks, reserves and other institutions of the nature reserve fund (NRF). Danger can also threaten other valuable areas – coastal protective zones, forests, etc.

In particular, there is risk that a significant part of the  nature reserve fund still does not have limits despite the rather active efforts of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources in recent years. That means that their boundaries are not determined directly on the area by the relevant services and are not marked physically – by columns, information boards, paint, etc. According to the relevant ministry, according to the results of inventory data of territories and objects of the nature reserve fund submitted by the executive authorities at the local level, ensuring the implementation of state policy in the field of environmental protection, by 01.01.2018 the nature reserve fund of Ukraine has 8296 territories and facilities with a total area of ​​4.318 million hectares within the territory of Ukraine (actual area 3.985 million hectares) and 402500.0 hectares within the Black Sea.

And according to the Civil Service for Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre (State Geocadastre), only 27% of the Nature reserve fund (NRF) have boundaries in kind. The situation with coastal protection zones is even worse.

In addition, a number of nature reserves do not have land documents, territory organization projects, etc. This often causes the seizure of the reserve territory. Although it should be noted that the Law on Nature reserve fund clearly states: the project for the establishment of the Nature reserve fund institution is valid before the development and approval of the project for the organization of the NPF institution. However, as practice shows, deribanschiki (those who rob lands) and civil servants, do not differ in knowledge of the law.

A striking example of attempts to deriban (rob) Nature reserve fund lands is the Hutsulshchyna National Nature Park within the Kosiv district of the Ivano-Frankivsk region. Due to bureaucratic red tape at the level of the Cabinet of Ministers during almost all its existence since 2002, it has not been able to draw up all the necessary documents, although the park management has made a titanic effort to do so.

Currently, Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), which, having a status of  a non-governmental organization and funding powerful foreign donors, is essentially the brain center of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, is planning a series of further deregulation measures.

According to BRDO land expert Oleh Pilat, this will also be an effective way to prevent corruption. «It is proposed to simplify the procedure for land registration to eliminate corruption risks,» Pilat says. «Now it is bureaucratized and complicated, lasts about 8.5 months and there are abuses at every stage.

It is possible to simplify separate administrative procedures without risks, almost to eliminate them. For example, eliminate the certificate of the number of lands. Cancel the examination of land management documentation for land plots. Perhaps, to cancel the approval of the land management project by the State Geocadastre. We studied both statistics and consequences – if you cancel these administrative services, it will have little effect on the outcome of land use. These are formal procedures that duplicate each other. There is a more radical offer – to completely turn the land registration procedure into an electronic procedure. For you to see all this process – all stages  from the permission for carrying out procedure of land allotment and finishing with registration of the land plot on the public cadastral map.

In the land management project, only 30% of the documentation is new data. The rest are duplicated in various documents. It is also necessary to ensure the information interaction of the State Land Cadastre with other state information resources – the state register of individuals and legal entities, the register of property rights, the urban cadastre».

According to the expert, a separate job is to coordinate the types of data that are used in this area and in related areas. For example, data that are used in the spheres of land management and urban planning. «Now, for example, we are working on the harmonization of data about the purpose of the land plot and the functional use of the territory, essentially the same, but used in different spheres,»  Mr. Pilat says.

This statement was made at a press conference on the implementation of the anti-corruption action plan under the public-government initiative “Together Against Corruption” at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center a week ago. Been asked about reasons despising the environment and consumers while carrying about the BRDO, Mr. Pilat responded that the Better Regulation Delivery Office really does not have a sector that works on environmental issues. The main purpose of the BRDO is to promote small and medium-sized businesses. There is a construction sector, an agricultural development sector, a transportation sector, an IT communications sector, but we really don’t have environmental experts.

Later, during a Facebook discussion, Mr. Oleg provided us with some important clarifications.

«But it’s not true that we don’t consider those data that are important for environmental protection,” the BRDO representative added. – We also process those data that ensure the preservation of certain objects. For example, we are working on the harmonization of data that are in the state land cadastre and in the system of urban planning cadastre. If they are coordinated, it will be less expensive to reflect them in electronic databases, cadastres. The state and business will spend less money to understand what this data is, and the public will benefit from the fact that the official data will be coordinated in different data systems».

Oleh Pilat: The proposed changes do not reduce, but on the contrary increase the protection of the nature reserve fund (NRF) and water protection zones. Now, when a land plot is formed with a certain designated purpose – you do not see it in the public domain. Nowadays you can see a land plot on the public cadastral map when it has already been formed with a certain designated purpose, which may contradict the nature protection regime of the territory. We suggest that you see this from the permitting phase of the land development project with geo-referencing on the Internet. If the plot is not allocated within an the nature reserve fund (NRF) or water protection zone in accordance with their nature-conservation regime, you will be the first to see this and react. In addition, we are interested in the development of the Water Cadastre and the Cadastre of Territories and Objects of the Nature Reserve Fund. We have joined the start of work on the creation of the Water Cadastre and are waiting for the results of the State Ecological Academy of Postgraduate Education and the Department for the Creation of the NRF Cadastre. We are interested in making the data of these cadastres publicly available for consideration during land management works. We are also working to ensure that all data of the State Land Cadastre are publicly available.

Oleg Listopad: Let’s put it this way: as long as they don’t have these cadastres and data, there won’t be any changes (simplifications) either? In order not to happen as with the book of complaints: the paper one was liquidated, and the electronic one is still not clear how it should work – no status, no responsibility, nothing.

Oleh Pilat: Of course, we need to work on it gradually. It won’t appear right away. All three cadastral systems, which I have mentioned at the level of current regulations, have status. Responsible persons are also present, except for the nature reserve fund (NRF) cadaster case. According to this cadastre, I have not found a person responsible from the the Ministry of environment and natural resources, but there are developers in the person of the Ecological Academy.

Oleg Listopad: I would use the words “strictly consistent”. Because I am very worried that the simplification will be earlier than these really working and fullfilled bases.

Oleh Pilat: Yes, there really is such a risk. Now in the race to show results, there may be a significant risk of more populism than consistent, open and calm work.

So, we are closely following the reforms and how they affect the state of our nature.

Oleg Listopad

Translated by Daria Moshkivska