On October 29, 2025, ICO “Environment-People-Law” had a meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Economy, Environment and Agriculture as part of the discussions on legislative proposals developed by EPL team for bringing the Ukrainian legislation on biodiversity conservation in compliance with the Birds and Habitats Directives.
EPL lawyers presented their proposals on banning trade in protected species to some laws of Ukraine on species protection, in particular to the following acts:
Law of Ukraine “On the Fauna” of 13.12.2001 No. 2894-14;
Law of Ukraine “On Fisheries, Industrial Fishing and Protection of Aquatic Biological Resources” of 08.07.2011 No. 3677-VI,
Law of Ukraine “On the Flora” of 09.04.1999 N 591-XIV;
Law of Ukraine “On Game Management and Hunting” of 02.02.2000 No. 1478-14-III
EPL lawyers also informed about the developed amendments to the Criminal Code of Ukraine regarding introduction of a criminal liability for violations of legislation in the field of species protection in accordance with the Habitats and Birds Directives and the Directive on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law, In particular, the experts spoke about the Draft Law on Amendments to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses (expanding the list of offenses and revising sanctions) and on establishing criminal liability for violations of legislation in the field of conservation of natural habitats and habitats of species.
The ministry representatives informed that the ministry itself also already has certain legislative developments in these areas and it is worth exchanging these developments to ensure synergy of efforts and avoid unnecessary disagreements.
It is important to state that participants of the meeting also discussed the possibility to adopt a Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which would approve at the state level the list of designated sites of the Emerald Network with a reference to the geocadastral map. The Resolution itself is short, its main part consists of the lists of territories of the Emerald Network. It was emphasized that the approval of such a list is of great importance for attracting EU funding for such sites, since the European Union does not finance those sites that are not officially approved by the state. The Ministry representatives expressed their reservations, in particular regarding potential resistance to the adoption of such a Resolution due to potential restrictions on the use of Emerald Network lands. EPL experts explained that the approval of Emerald Network sites does not create significant obstacles to the traditional use of these lands and all details are determined by management plans. It was decided that in order to dispel myths surrounding this issue, a presentation for officials will be developed, which will clarify potentially problematic issues.
The issue of obstacles to the creation of new Emerald Network sites was also discussed, since in wartime conditions, biogeographic seminars through which such sites are identified are not held.
