Perspectives of the legislation on the Red Book of Ukraine development

The principal legislative document regulating the protection of the plants and animal species in Ukraine is the Law of Ukraine “On the Red Book of Ukraine”. However, Ukrainian legislation related to the Red Book of Ukraine (RBU) is not agile. It does not react to the modern challenges and does not operate by new opportunities provided, for example, through the Law “On Environmental Impact Assessment”. Environmental impact assessments (EIA) are required for many management activities, including woodcutting, mining, and melioration, and should protect the environment. On the other side, unfortunately, the section “Impact on flora and fauna” in EIA reports often prepared superficially and formally. This section usually does not contain real research results and does not offer real measures for the protection of endangered species. Since today, there are no known cases when the EIA report was issued considering the real conservation needs of the species listed in the RBU. This letter proposes introducing several amendments to the legislation on the RBU, which are required for its integration into the EIA. First, it is proposed to introduce individual protection requirements for each species included in the RBU, which will allow the implementation of appropriate environmental conditions in the EIA conclusions. Secondly, it is proposed to introduce the responsibility for conserving species for users and owners of sites where coenopopulations, individuals (for plants), or permanent habitats (for animals) of the RBU species are located. Third, it is proposed to introduce a mechanism for documenting the location of the RBU species. These changes would make it possible to identify specific legal entities and individuals for whom species protection obligations and the penalties for disturbance will be imposed.