{"id":16793,"date":"2024-04-09T17:05:17","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T07:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/?p=16793"},"modified":"2024-10-21T20:19:39","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T10:19:39","slug":"ukraine-crime-ring-hits-global-markets-with-chornobyl-timber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/ukraine-crime-ring-hits-global-markets-with-chornobyl-timber\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine Crime Ring Hits Global Markets with Chornobyl Timber"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ukrainian crime syndicates are falsifying documents and selling deforested timber from within the Chornobyl exclusion zone, with syndicates converting the proceeds of crime into foreign currency, and using conflict and illegal logging to fuel an extensive criminal network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It comes as Wood Central reported,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/top-ukraine-official-linked-to-massive-european-pallet-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">back in September,<\/a>&nbsp;that a top Ukrainian official was connected to the EU&#8217;s largest illegal pallet racket &#8211; with more than 100,000 cubic metres of Belarussian timber fraudulently sold into the European Pallet Association pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, <a href=\"https:\/\/unn.ua\/en\/amp\/smuggling-of-timber-worth-millions-of-hryvnias-five-accomplices-of-an-organized-group-are-suspected\">Kyiv-based Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News (UNN) has revealed a sophisticated crime ring involving accountants, businesses, and brokers has been laundering more than UAH 43 million worth of timber (AU $2 million) from the &#8220;Red Forest&#8221; <\/a>&#8211; a protected forest within the 30km Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The latest heist adds to more than UAH 59 million (AU $2.3 million) damage to the forests, with gangs felling hundreds of 100-plus-year-old trees from the reserve and selling them illegally into the EU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to UNN, &#8220;the smugglers acted according to a well-developed criminal scheme,&#8221; adding that they &#8220;ordered the manufacture of timber products&#8230;and used falsified documentation to get customs clearance and ship the product into international markets.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"youtube-embed\" data-video_id=\"ulCkQoqYbHI\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Extreme Rewilding of Chernobyl: this is what happens when humans leave\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ulCkQoqYbHI?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>Chornobyl is a leading example of what happens when humans leave, and nature takes over. It&#8217;s the perfect example of extreme rewilding &#8211; footage courtesy of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@MossyEarth\">@MossyEarth.<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The reserve is the largest forest reserve in Ukraine &#8211; and almost 38 years after the nuclear disaster;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unep.org\/news-and-stories\/story\/how-chernobyl-has-become-unexpected-haven-wildlife\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">it has become an unexpected haven for wildlife.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the UN, researchers found the land surrounding the plant, which has been largely off-limits to humans for almost four decades, has become a haven for wildlife, with lynx, bison, deer and other animals roaming forests.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ), which covers 2,800 square kilometres of northern Ukraine, and represents the third-largest nature reserve in mainland Europe. Becoming an iconic \u2013 if accidental \u2013 experiment in rewilding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2020 Sergiy Zibtsev, a forestry expert at the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine, told the UN Environmental Programme that it was ironic that a nuclear accident had created a richer forest ecosystem.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The pine plantations in 1986 have given way to more biodiverse primary forests, which are more resilient to climate change and wildfires and better able to sequester carbon.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"613\" src=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226-1024x613.jpg\" alt=\"In July, Forest Europe mapped out the battle zone areas over Ukraine's vast forests. (Photo Credit: Forest Europe)\" class=\"wp-image-13294\" srcset=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226-1024x613.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226-300x180.jpg 300w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226-768x460.jpg 768w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226-696x416.jpg 696w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226-1068x639.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226-702x420.jpg 702w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226-1320x790.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226-600x359.jpg 600w, https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/image-7.png-1-fotor-20231130135226.jpg 1514w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">In July, Forest Europe mapped out the battle zone areas over Ukraine&#8217;s vast forests. (Photo Credit: Forest Europe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tandfonline.com\/doi\/full\/10.1080\/00207233.2023.2287345\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Since then, the area has been subject to extensive fires in 2020<\/a>, destroying 62,000 hectares of forests and &#8220;scorched earth&#8221; fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces,<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/d41586-022-01265-2\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">&nbsp;which destroyed critical infrastructure in and around the exclusion zone.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More than 3.5 million hectares of Ukrainian forests have been damaged and destroyed from combat since the start of the war, with officials now working with US tech mogul Peter Thiel to use AI-powered drones to demine large swathes of forests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To learn more about the Ukraine war and its impact on the global forest economy,&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/ukraine-crisis-report-calls-for-global-aid-in-forest-recovery\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">please review Wood Central&#8217;s special feature.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ukrainian crime syndicates are falsifying documents and selling deforested timber from within the Chornobyl exclusion zone, with syndicates converting the proceeds of crime into foreign currency, and using conflict and illegal logging to fuel an extensive criminal network. It comes as Wood Central reported,&nbsp;back in September,&nbsp;that a top Ukrainian official was connected to the EU&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[53,2,32,46,45,44,31],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[70],"class_list":{"0":"post-16793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-europe","8":"category-featured","9":"category-global-news","10":"category-industry","11":"category-sustainability","12":"category-sustainable-forest-management","13":"category-top-stories"},"authors":[{"term_id":70,"user_id":2,"is_guest":0,"slug":"jason","display_name":"Jason Ross","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg","url2x":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/J-Ross-headshot.jpeg"},"0":null,"1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16793"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16814,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16793\/revisions\/16814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16793"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodcentral.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=16793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}