Beech forests listed as UNESCO World Heritage destroyed in Zakarpattia

The practice is in fact quite legal, because not all the forests are formally listed as conservation areas.

The deforestation is said to be facilitated by state forest enterprises under support of local authorities. The timber is then sent for export under quite a legal scheme. The report notes that those forests have no analogues anywhere in Europe.

The problem is that there are areas in the territory of the national park that do not belong to a conservation area, and such areas are under control of local state forest enterprises. It is about 1,300 hectares of forest, with many unsuccessful attempts made since 2009 to put them under protection. Since then, about 40 hectares of valuable forest have been cut down.

It is noted that all attempts to negotiate with the foresters or local officials have proved useless. They claim the feasibility of such deforestation, justifying it by local economic adversities. It is said the export of timber generates revenues to local budgets. However, local residents argue the economic profit is not shared with them.