Forest Roads 2025: the first projects are already completed
In 2025, SFE “Forests of Ukraine” plans to build and reconstruct over 200 kilometers of forest roads. Construction work on the first scheduled sections has already been completed. Tender procedures for some of the designed road sections are also ongoing via Prozorro.
It is worth noting that the implementation of forestry activities, as well as forest protection and preservation measures, critically depends on access to forest areas and the development of forest road infrastructure. Accordingly, the routes of future forest roads are determined based on the scope of planned forestry activities, as well as ecological, economic, and social considerations.
Recently, the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) announced its intention to initiate the development of a regulatory act that would “regulate the mechanism for selecting sites for forest road construction”. However, even at present, the process of forest road construction goes through a complicated procedure.
According to Resolution No. 724 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (as amended on October 25, 2024), the location of forest road sections is determined based on forest management materials, which themselves undergo a lengthy process of design, approval, and confirmation by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine. If necessary, changes and clarifications to the forest management materials are made through their updating process.
Each year, the regional offices of SFE “Forests of Ukraine” submit proposals to the enterprise’s investment plan, justifying the need to include specific road sections in the construction schedule.
Key criteria for deciding on the construction of a forest road:
Ability to respond quickly to forest fires: fire-fighting equipment will be able to reach remote forest areas much faster.
Improved logistics to logging sites: the skidding distance to hard-surfaced roads is minimized, reducing the cost of timber harvesting and transportation.
Reduced load on local roads: minimizing the movement of heavy machinery on public roads.
Easier access to timber for consumers: by establishing intermediate storage sites for harvested timber.
The next stage after the approval of the investment plan is the design phase, which is carried out in accordance with current construction regulations.
Depending on the planned load, predominantly two types of forest roads are designed – of the first type, arterial, with a carriageway width of 4.5 meters, and of the second type, with a carriageway width of 3.5 meters. The pavement structure is determined during the design phase, with maximum use of local materials taken into account to reduce construction costs. Sometimes it is appropriate to use a soil subgrade stabilization technique by adding mineral binders—cement or lime.
So the whole process is standardized and clearly regulated. The location, technology, materials – everything is determined by the relevant documentation and expert opinions, not by the foresters’ wishes.
We cannot fail to comment on the NACP’s statement that officials of one of the enterprise’s branches “unjustifiably planned, in 2023, the construction of a forest motor road, even though part of that road had already been built in previous years.” This concerns Dovzhanske Forestry in the Zakarpattia region. The road here was first started in 2015, but under the former forestry enterprise only partial cutting of the roadbed was completed. The forest road’s route had not even been fully cut out and cleared. When the project was adjusted in 2023, the expenses incurred for the work performed were not included in the estimate documentation. A tender was held, and a contractor was selected. Therefore, the essence of the controlling authority’s claims remains unclear.
The density of forest roads in Ukraine is many times lower than in European countries. That is why the development of forest infrastructure is one of SFE “Forests of Ukraine” key investment priorities and is one of the essential prerequisites for the sustainable development of the forestry sector. This is, in particular, provided for by the Law of Ukraine “On the Prohibition of Clear-Cutting in Mountain Fir-Beech Forests of the Carpathian Region” and by the State Forest Management Strategy of Ukraine until 2035, approved by Order No. 1777-r of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 29 December 2021.