Legal regulation of forest fire protection: the European experience for Ukraine
Authors: Liubchych A. , Sydorenko S. 
Published: March 2020

Problem setting. The article analyzes the status of the main normative legal acts in force, both domestic and international legislation. Some aspects of the legal regulation of forest fire protection are revealed. It is noted that Improvement of the forestry regulatory framework is a key and essential aspect for the development of an advanced state.

Analysis of recent researches and publications. Commitment to reforestation after logging, sanitary felling after forest fires, diseases or as a result of winds and sailboats is a sustainable practice in European societies and an important aspect in the relationship between forest owners and society. At one time, this issue was paid attention to scientists: E.M. Gulid, O.V. Gulak, V.V. Deca, D.S. Chris, O.I. Lozynsky and so on.

Target of research. The purpose of the article is to analyze the aspects of legal regulation of forest protection against fires. Special attention will be paid to comparative legal research on forest protection in Ukraine and European countries.

Article’s main body. According to Art. 13 of the Constitution of Ukraine forest, like other natural resources of Ukraine (land, water, subsoil), is a national property that is the object of property rights of the Ukrainian people. Currently, the total land area of the forest fund of Ukraine is 10.8 million hectares, of which 9.5 million hectares is covered with forest vegetation, that is 15.7% of the territory of our country.

According to V.P. Pechulyuk, legal regulation in the field of forestry in Ukraine cannot be called optimal and in line with international standards. In this context, scientists should agree that the important step in ensuring the fire safety of domestic forests is the full functioning of such monitoring system at the central, regional, local and local levels, its appropriate informational implementation, taking into account the specific features of individual regions regarding the level of fire safety. Forests at one time or another and the coordination and interaction of joint efforts by designated authorities, local governments and the public to minimize fire safety or mitigation.

In view of the above, international instruments covering aspects of cooperation in the field of forest fires are few international agreements and acts of the European Community. Such as:

1. Ghana / Province of British Columbia (Canada). Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Republic of Ghana and the Government of British Columbia, 1999 (On fire fighting training and advice).

2. Finland / Burkina Faso. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Finland and the Government of Burkina Faso on Finland’s support in the fight against landscape fires, 1998

3. Indonesia and Malaysia. Standard Procedures for a Memorandum of Understanding on Disasters between Indonesia and Malaysia. This is the document that sets out the procedure for implementing the Memorandum of Understanding and so on.

Conclusions and prospects for the development. Therefore, based on the above, on the basis of international regulations, the FAO’s recommendations regarding future actions on the legal aspects of forest fires management in Ukraine should be taken into account: regularly update information on international agreements and national legislation; further develop a plan for the development of international agreements and develop new contours of relevant operational guidelines and operational plans; including fire logistics; further review and evaluation of national forest fire legislation; to develop guidelines for the formulation of national legislation on forest fires.