Recreation in the forest is a quite common type of leisure for Ukrainians, as our country's territory is rich in forested areas and covers 9.6 million hectares. Due to this, inventive entrepreneurs or ordinary citizens are increasingly trying to arrange entire recreational areas on lands covered with forest plantations. This was reported by the Land Fund of Ukraine.
But is such use always legal?
So let's figure out what forms of land use in the forest exist and which option is the most optimal for use. Let's start by focusing on the definitions of "forest" and "forest land plot." According to Article 1 of the Forest Code of Ukraine, the concept of a forest is defined as a type of natural complex (ecosystem) that combines mainly woody and shrub vegetation with corresponding soils, herbaceous vegetation, animal world, microorganisms, and other natural components that are interconnected in their development, influence each other, and the surrounding natural environment.
In turn, a forest land plot is a land plot of the forest fund of Ukraine with defined boundaries, which is provided or withdrawn from a land user or owner of a land plot for forest management or other public needs in accordance with land legislation. As a general rule, forest land plots, like any other, can be used, leased, or owned.
Ukrainian citizens can acquire forest land plots with a total area of up to 5 hectares as part of peasant, farm, and other closed land holdings for free or for a fee. They can also own forests created by afforestation on land plots acquired by them.
Forests created by citizens and legal entities on their land plots owned by them are privately owned by these citizens and legal entities.
As for the right to use forests, it is carried out in the form of permanent and temporary use. Forests on state or communal lands for forest management without setting a term are provided to specialized state or communal forestry enterprises, other state or communal enterprises, institutions, and organizations with specialized forestry units. This option is not provided for citizens or business entities, but there is a good alternative – temporary use of forests. All forests in state, communal, or private ownership can be the object of temporary use.
Temporary use of forests can be long-term – for a period of one to fifty years, and short-term – for a period of up to one year.
Long-term temporary use of forests is based on a contract for a paid use of forest plots allocated for hunting, recreational, sports, tourist, educational, and scientific research purposes.
Long-term temporary use of state and communal forests is carried out without withdrawing land plots from permanent forest users based on decisions of the relevant executive authorities and local self-government bodies made within their powers with the consent of permanent forest users and the executive body implementing state forest policy.
The authority empowered to provide forests for temporary use may conduct an on-site inspection of such a plot before approving the allocation of a forest plot for long-term temporary use.
Short-term temporary use of forests for harvesting secondary forest materials, incidental forest uses, and other purposes provided for by this Forest Code is carried out without withdrawing land plots from forest owners, permanent forest users based on a special permit issued by the forest owner, permanent forest user enterprises, institutions, organizations, citizens of Ukraine, foreigners, stateless persons, foreign legal entities.
At the same time, a temporary forest user does not have the right to transfer forest plots for temporary use to other persons (such as sublease of land).
Finally, according to Article 125 of the Land Code of Ukraine, the right to use a land plot arises exclusively after its state registration.
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