PART I - CONTEXT
THE FORESTRY SECTOR IN UKRAINE

Brief ecological, social and economic country profile

Ukraine is situated in central Europe; it occupies the southwestern and southern parts of the eastern European plain (which corresponds to more than 94 percent of its total area). The country stretches 1 316 km from west to east (from 22 to 40 degrees E) and almost 900 km from north to south (from 44 to 52 degrees N); it is a total area of 603 550 square kilometres.

The climate is predominantly moderate continental, with the exception of a narrow strip along the southeastern shore of the Crimea that is characterized by submediterranean conditions. The main continental features increase moving eastward, while local microclimatic variations in weather factors (precipitation, humidity, wind regimes) are related to the altitude. For example, on the Carpathians Mountains, which are located in the Western corner of the country, the average monthly precipitation regime is around 1,000 mm.
The coldest month is January, with an average temperature ranging from -7°C in the northeast to 4°C along the southern Crimea. The warmest month is July, with an average temperature of 18°C in the west, 19°C in the southeast, 22-23°C in the south, and up to 24°C along the southern Crimea. Average annual precipitation amounts to 550-650 mm in the mixed-forest zone, 450-650 mm in the forest-steppe zone, 300-350 mm in the south, more than 1 000 mm in the Crimean Mountains and more than 1 500 mm in the Carpathians.

There are three main geographical zones in the flatlands of Ukraine: mixed forests (Ukrainian Polissya), forest-steppe and steppe. The highland and mountain regions include the Ukrainian Carpathians in the west and the Crimean Mountains in the south.

The soils of Ukraine are diverse, encompassing some 650 types and varieties. The most fertile soils, chernozems (black soils), comprise some 60 percent of all agricultural lands in the country, particularly in the forest-steppe and steppe zones. Arable lands cover 57.5 percent of the country's territory (Andrian et al., 2000).

Ukraine is defined as an industrial-agrarian country and the agro-industrial complex represents the largest sector of the economy. It produces nearly 50 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and two-thirds of consumer goods, directly or indirectly forming 70 percent of the total budget and employing nearly 40 percent of the labour force (Smolinihi et al., 1998). Of the main crops, grain, sugar beets and potatoes represent the largest share, both in terms of quantity output and price. Despite the recent quantitative decline in livestock production (horned cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and poultry), the country is still able to meet the domestic demand.

A decline in productivity of arable land has been recorded since Ukraine became part of the Soviet Union. This has meant that rural populations have lost connection with their environment (National Report of Ukraine on Conservation of Biological Diversity, MEPNS, 1997). To prevent a continuation of this negative trend, land reform was initiated in 1992 in an effort to promote denationalization and a redistribution of State properties. As a result, most of the former collective farms have been transformed into joint-stock companies. Privatization of forest State properties has not yet been included in the program.

The leading industry in Ukraine includes ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, machine, ship and instrument building, space technology and aircraft construction, power engineering, mining (the country is particularly rich in coal, iron, ore, manganese, nickel and uranium), as well as food and textile industries (Pelkonen et al., 1998).

Since its independence declaration in 1991¹, the Ukrainian economy has been undergoing a difficult transition period from a centrally planned to a market-based system. Due to a combination of outdated technologies inherited during the Soviet era and the lack of internal and foreign investments, the country suffers from a high inflation rate, a low average salary (less than US $100 a month in the state sector), and high rates of unemployment, especially in industrial cities (see macro-economic indicators in Table 1). Not surprisingly, there has been a remarkable exodus of qualified specialists to neighbouring countries that offer higher incomes and more favourable working conditions (Andrian et al., 2000).

Table 1: Main macro-economic indicators

Recent developments in the forestry sector

Even though Ukraine has relatively scarce forest cover (only 15.7 percent of its territory is considered forested; see Table 2), it has a high level of forest productivity (both as growing stock and net annual increment)², when compared with other European countries (UN/ECE, 1999).

According to the current Ukrainian legislation, all forests form the State Forest Fund³, which is managed according to the existing Forest Code'⁴. The system of forest ownership is the same as that during the socialist regime; forest land is still managed by the Forest Fund with no privatization ⁵. The lack of allocation of woodlands to local communities, private companies or small private owners is creating unfavourable conditions for forestry development and is stimulating greater public awareness of proper management of the ecosystems (Pettenella and Andrian, 1999).

Total forested area has been rapidly declining since the end of the last century and it now totals 9 494 000 ha⁶. This area is almost equally shared between coniferous and broadleaved stands. There are two main categories of forests. Some 36 percent of the total fund is designated as protected "first group" forests, which implies free access, use of recreational resources without charge, and non-commercial collecting of flowers, berries, fruits and mushrooms⁷. The "second group" forests are managed mainly for production, including timber and non-timber resource utilization.

The amount of forest cover greatly varies from region to region (see Figure 1), ranging from 34 percent in the Carpathian region to an average of four percent in the steppe (Synyakevych, 1998)⁸.

Figure 1: Forest cover in Ukraine (in %)

After the establishment of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety (MEPNS)⁹, forest management was considered an important part of its overall environmental and natural resources policy. Felling operations are still carried out under the control of the State Forestry Committee (SFC), but they are now approved by the MEPNS. The main functions assigned to the SFC are forest management and control; the implementation and regular updating of forest inventory (State Forest Cadastre); and the reforestation and felling programs.

Due to overlapping responsibilities between the MEPNS and SFC and an overly bureaucratic ministerial system, the implementation of forest policy is not always effective. Improvements in the forestry sector are also hindered by reduced law enforcement (in particular, with reference to unauthorized logging), lack of public investment and suitable technical assistance.

Recent changes in national policy are aimed partly at restoring the poor condition (both in terms of volume and sanitary conditions) of timber resources, and therefore tend to reduce the annual projected felling volumes. In fact, in analyzing age distribution of the main tree species, the existing Ukrainian forests are characterized by a predominance of middle-aged tree stands. This is primarily due to the intensive harvesting that occurred during and after World War II. The lack of a balanced proportion between mature and over-mature trees is seriously compromising the ability of Ukrainian forests to regenerate annual growth after harvests.

To partially compensate for this imbalance, the MEPNS has given greater priority to expanding the forest area¹⁰, mostly by creating new forest plantations. Currently, one-half of Ukrainian forests are artificial, with a particularly high percentage of forest plantations in the steppe zone (more than 60 percent of all forests in the region). Between 1987 and 1996, a total area of 39 400 ha was planted, mainly with pine and oak species (UN/ECE, 1999).

Furthermore, most of the forests of Ukraine are exposed to a diffuse and high level of environmental pollution mainly due to industrial emissions, which in turn has a negative impact on their health. In particular, much harm was done to forests by the Chernobyl catastrophe¹¹.

The main issues in the process of economic transition and their effects on the forestry economy

Significant changes in size, structure and in the supply and demand trends of wood products have been caused by the recent political and economical upheaval. While economic activity fell by almost 50 percent following the collapse of the Soviet Union, consumption of forest products declined even more sharply by roughly two-thirds, falling to some 17 million cubic metres by 1993.

A partial reorganization of the entire sector took place as a consequence of the privatization of State-owned properties¹² initiated in 1992. The traditional forest sector has been divided into two main branches: forestry has remained in public hands while most of the woodworking enterprises have been privatized ¹³.

The fiscal system in forestry has not been modified since its introduction during the Soviet era. It is based on payments for wood and resin harvesting, which are expected to cover planting and maintenance costs.

Reduced public spending and investment, when linked with irregular and low salary payments, is creating additional constraints in developing proper management of the existing forest resources. In addition, the private sector lacks the potential to invest in the production and renewal of old equipment, and so having not enough competitiveness in relation to other industries.

Finally, although forests in Ukraine are officially considered an important public resource to be improved and restored, in fact, many non-timber products and services are still neglected. The resources required for effective development of recreational, hunting and ecotourism services are largely underestimated, and this contributes to a general apathy in public opinion toward proper management of forests (Andrian et al., 2000).

FORESTRY EDUCATION

Brief historical introduction

The geographic area that includes existing territories of the Republic of Ukraine¹⁴ (see Figure 2) was once largely covered by forests. As a result, local communities typically maintained a co-operative relationship with nature and its resources.

Figure 2: Ukraine territories in ancient time (1 millennium AD)

(Source: Gensiruk & Nizhnik, 1995)

The first official acts regarding forest use and protection date back to the eleventh century, during the Kyiv-Rus Kingdom¹⁵. Specific plans for sustainable management of forest resources were first prepared in the fourteenth century, when people began to realize the importance of maintaining a constant supply of wood for building and energy purposes.

The modern concept of forest culture, research and education dates back to the beginning of the nineteenth century when specific forest documents and papers were written. In fact, at the end of the century when the country began to be industrialized, the large demand for wood and wood products resulted in a need to educate specialists in forestry management and timber exploitation.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, the forestry industry gained a greater role and so a more modern approach to forest use was born. New forests and shelterbelts (to protect agricultural crops) were planted around the forest-steppe and steppe regions. In particular, steppe reforestation operations, as well as the reforestation of sandy areas and ravines, were accelerated in connection with one of the first Ukrainian forestry field campaigns¹⁶.

In 1899, an extensive research program was initiated for the first time in Ukraine, and a large number of sample plots were used to study pine regeneration. Yet, forestry research activities were still represented by a small number of scientific institutions; the former Novoolexandriyisky Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, founded in 1869 in Pulavy, played a key role. In 1915, the institute was transferred to Kharkiv, declared the capital of Ukraine by the Soviet Republic. It was, from this point, responsible for editing the scientific journal "Proceedings of Novoolexandriysky Institute". In Kyiv, the Polytechnic Institute rapidly developed specific interest in the forestry sector, and a department specialized in forestry was launched. Very soon all the major forestry research activities were transferred there.

During the same period, the most relevant scientific forestry activities were concentrated at the Faculty of Forestry of L'viv Polytechnic in the western part of Ukraine, which was then under Austro-Hungarian rule. In addition to lectures, researchers studied ecological and biological aspects of forest distribution and growth in the Carpathian area. Important ecological concepts representing the foundation of modern silviculture principles were developed during this period and are still applied in Ukraine. The classical principles of forest resource protection and sustainable forest utilization have since been developed by the Galychnyan Forest Association, jointly run with several Polish researchers¹⁷.

After 1925, all public activities in the forestry sector were reorganized in Kharkiv and the Forest Research Office was opened. From this point, office staff ran regular research on forests, forest regeneration and forest exploitation¹⁸. In 1929, the Ukrainian Forestry Scientific Research Institute (UFSRI) was founded in Kharkiv, which was later reorganized into the Ukrainian Scientific Research Institute of Forestry and Agroforestry Melioration (USRIFAM). Its main task was to organize field research and investigations.

During the same period, the Ukrainian Academy of Forestry (UAF) was established in the town of Podebrady near Prague, and was successfully run by a key group of scientists and lecturers; some 100 Ukrainian students worked during this period at the Academy.

Until the beginning of World War II, the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute was the only centre in Ukraine for training forest technicians and specialists. After the end of the conflict, the USRIFAM was reorganized to offer vocational and training courses.

In 1945 in Kyiv, the Institute of Forest was founded at the Academy of Science of the UkrSSR. Such forestry issues as forest typology, hydrology, soil science, agrochemistry, microbiology and timber species interaction have been investigated at this leading institution. As a consequence, the Forest School of the Ukrainian Typologists and a Comparative Plant Ecology was founded. In 1956, the Institute of Forest merged with the USRIFAM.

Also in 1945, in western Ukraine, forestry research and teaching activities were improved at the Institute of Forestry and Wood Technology in L'viv. The Institute started with three programs in: forest engineering, mechanical woodworking and economic engineering. In 1949, a fourth Faculty of Forestry was added¹⁹.

Additionally, some relevant research in forestry has been promoted by Ukrainian scientists in foreign countries. The most relevant example dates back to 1945 when, in Regenburg, Germany, the Ukrainian Institute was opened; the results of research were carried out by a talented group of emigrants and were published in two volumes of "Forests and Forestry in Ukraine".

Yet another organization, the Institute of Mountain Forestry, opened in 1964. The Institute, located in Ivano-Frankivsk, developed proper management techniques for mountain forest utilization, in particular as it relates to erosion control. During recent years, the Institute of Carpathian Ecology was established to address applied forestry science and the preparation of basic thematic maps to classify high mountain vegetation in different botanical districts.

During the Soviet era, forestry education was centralized in a few selected schools throughout the Soviet Union. One of these schools was the Ukrainian State University of Forestry and Wood Technology (formerly the Institute of Forestry and Wood Technology) in where a large number of students from other Soviet republics and from other socialist countries were trained.

Since its independence, Ukraine has launched several reforms to redesign its socio-economic structure. The higher education system has been thoroughly modified and there have been substantial changes made to traditional forestry study courses. The institutions that offered study programs in forestry remained the same, but some modifications were made in the curricula, and totally new items were introduced.

Technical education in forestry

In accordance with current legislation²⁰, forestry education²¹ is based on the following levels:

• 1^st level: technical schools (teaching technical forest skills);
• 2^nd level: colleges and equivalent institutions (providing education to the level of Bachelor's degree);
• 3^rd and 4^th levels: higher education institutions, such as universities, academies and similar institutions (providing programs for Bachelor's and Master's degrees, as well as Ph.D. and doctoral degrees²²).

Forestry education is entirely provided and financed by State institutions through the Ministry of Science and Education (MSE). This ministry sets the general guidelines (referred to as directions) for each educational institution according to the expected future requirements of the industry. The MSE also defines the specialist courses that must be taught, while the institutions themselves may choose to teach a limited number of courses from a predetermined official list. This level of specialization is meant to correspond directly to the demand for highly educated professionals in the industry.

This chapter classifies the four levels mentioned above into two educational groups: technical education, which includes the first and second levels; and higher education, which includes the third and fourth levels. The figures are shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Main Ukrainian forestry education institutions and corresponding student enrolment

The first group (technical education) corresponds with the requirements of the industry and is designed to provide students with practical and technical training. Those who complete this program are trained for technical positions within the forestry services (both State and regional). The second group (higher education) is designed for those who intend to deepen their theoretical background and prepare themselves for high-level professional jobs.

Technical education in forestry can be subdivided into the two qualification levels²³: qualified worker and young specialist. For each of these qualifications the course contents, targets and level of specialized training are established by educational standards and are approved by the Cabinet of Ministers who review them once every ten years.

Qualified workers

To train as a qualified worker in forestry, two different options are available: 11 years of primary and secondary school, followed by one month of special forestry training; or ten years of primary school²⁴ followed by 11 months of special forestry training. In terms of employment, there is no relevant difference between the two study careers.

The core subjects of the specialized training are divided into four main areas:

• technology and work organization;
• work safety;
• development of market relationships in the forest economy;
• fundamentals of forest legislation.

At the end of the study course, students must pass an examination in order to gain an official certificate. In addition, "refresher" or "updating" technical courses are regularly organized by the State Forest Committee for its employees.

Young specialists

This level of education is provided by technical schools, forestry colleges and universities; students can be accepted only after completing 11 years of primary and secondary school. Students can either be full time or "extramural" (by undertaking a correspondence course). The second option is offered to students who can not attend lessons on a daily basis; in this case they are permitted to enter the school for study revision and exams only. This system is quite common and is mostly chosen by those who are already employed.

Each year, the MSE determines the maximum number of students who can be accepted by the educational institutions, for both programs. However, since the demand is twice that of available places, selective entry tests have been introduced to control enrollment.

Most students are financially sponsored either by the State or by companies that intend to employ them once they graduate. This system is changing, however. According to Mr Yurjy Cherney (1999, personal comment, the Director of the Forest Technical School in the Carpathian village of Bolekhiv: "during the last years, the number of students sponsored by the State has been strongly decreasing due to the overall economic crises; the lack of public investments resulted in a decrease of work positions offered by the traditional State administration. At the same time, the private sector in forestry is not able to compensate this trend".

The technical school system for young specialists consists of nine specialist forestry schools; three offering a study course focussed on harvesting techniques, and six on wood processing. These schools are distributed throughout Ukraine (see Figure 3) and are offering specific courses designed to meet local needs.

Figure 3 Geographic distribution of forestry universities and technical schools.

As a result of the recent reform, schools teaching harvesting techniques are under the control of the SFC, while those offering courses in wood processing are co-ordinated by the Ministry of Industrial Policy.

The course content. Programs are established by the MSE, in accordance with the SFC, and are relatively uniform throughout the country. Each school, however, may offer special teaching subjects in bookkeeping, logging, woodworking technology, forest equipment or hunting in conformity with approved subjects. A small number of subjects can be selected by the schools' decision-making bodies in order to meet the needs specific to their area, such as mountain forestry, management of radioactive forests, management of non-timber forest products, and fishing and hunting.

At the regional level, different stakeholders - mostly representatives from forestry, private and public enterprise - are involved in the process of curricula planning and revision. They may suggest, any time the stakeholder committee is convened, revision of the existing study courses or even the introduction of new subjects. These requests must be submitted to the MSE, which decides whether or not the recommendations match the planned programs. The central State authorities also decide the number of students that may be accepted every year.

Study programs and accreditation. Courses, including all examinations sessions, last 180 weeks spread over a three-and-one-half years. Students must attend 106 weeks of theoretical lessons (about 3 800 hours), 18 weeks of practical activity and 11 weeks of training in a forest enterprise. The first two years of the program include the study of basic scientific and humanistic subjects, such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, Ukrainian history, literature and philosophy. From the second year onward, other technical and professional subjects, such as botany, ecology, technical drawing, dendrology, forest protection and mechanization, are taught.

To obtain a qualification certificate, students must pass both internal exams, held at the end of each semester, and State exams, held throughout a three-week period at the end of the course.

At the end of the study career, students are evaluated on the basis of nine main subjects, subdivided into three blocks:

1. silviculture, forest improvement and dendrometry;
2. forest dendrology and botany;
3. forest economics, organization of the forest enterprise and fundamentals of legislation.

The entire teaching process at the institution is regularly controlled by the MSE through accreditation and inspection.

The MSE issues official accreditation to the schools every five years, at the request of the school, which apply to be examined by a specific commission according to each speciality taught. The commission encompasses 30 professionals, including directors of other schools, university teachers and other specialists from the MSE. Periodical inspections, however, that monitor the schools' activities are planned by the MSE with a two-month notice.

Links with the labour market. At the regional level, direct connections exist between technical schools and local State forest enterprises. Foresters and managers sometimes lecture at the schools while practical training is offered to students via both technical schools and the labour market; thus providing graduates with better opportunities for their future job placements and career choices. The same opportunity may also be available in the private sector in forestry, but existing economical constraints as yet hinder the possibility.

Even if local schools have more flexibility in shaping their study programs than higher education institutions, the process of curricula definition and revision is still quite bureaucratic and entirely depends on State control. This lack of flexibility for HE makes adaptation to the changing labour needs very slow and prevents students from being current and competitive in the job market.

Research in forestry

In Ukraine, forestry research is exclusively performed by State-financed institutions; universities and higher education institutions concentrate on the fundamental research, while State research institutes focus on field investigations.

The existing research system consists of two institutes and eight stations, all of them dependent directly on the SFC, which provides regular targets and guidelines.

To date, all major climatic and natural areas are covered by an experimental 16-plots network and specialists consult regularly with the leading centre in Kharkiv. A total area of 25 791 ha is directly managed by forestry research stations, each of them fully equipped with buildings and laboratories.

The two main institutes are:

• Ukrainian Vysotsky Research Institute of Forestry and Agro-forestry Melioration
• Ukrainian Pasternak Research Institute of Mountainous Forestry

The first institute, founded in 1929, acts as the leading institution and addresses the following research items:

• forest management systems;
• reforestation technologies;
• forest pest and disease control;
• agro-forestry; and
• new information technologies in forestry.

The Pasternak Research Institute of Mountainous Forestry is specifically dedicated to the Carpathian area. It was founded in 1964 to develop ecologically friendly forest management in mountainous conditions and to provide experimental support to combat erosion in problem areas.

The network has been financially supported by the SFC, which originally covered the largest share of the budget (75-80 percent), while specific research contracts with forest enterprises and other public institutions represented a small portion.

The entire forestry research sector is suffering from an overall economic crisis. The final result of this situation was a reduction in scientific and technical personnel (see Table 5) and in the ability to update or gain access to updated information. No recent international subscriptions to periodicals and magazines have been renewed, and publishing activity is declining.

Table 5: Recent research staff distribution

State financing for research has been reduced since 1992, and the shares covered by various stakeholders have shifted from almost total State-budget support to a greater contribution from forest enterprises and woodworking industries (see Table 6).

Table 6: Forest research financing

The entire forest research system is still based on the traditional centralized scheme, which is characterized by the following problems and constraints:

• research programs are designed to meet specific administrative and contractors' demands from the State, rather than to respond to the true needs of the sector; the involvement of different stakeholders is promoted in setting goals;
• there is no proper awards system for the most productive scientists involved in research programs;
• the general tendency is to finance long-term theoretical studies, which are mostly oriented to academic publications and not considering the practical applications.

The future development of forest research depends on the ability to develop more market-oriented management by the SFC. In addition, the research process needs to be reorganized so that scientists can work toward more competitive results for the forest enterprises and woodworking industries, both nationally and internationally.

¹ On 24 August 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Ukraine approved the Act of Independence; on 1 December 1991, an all-Ukrainian referendum was held that supported independence with 90% of all votes. Consequently, Ukraine became a presidential parliamentary republic, with its capital in Kyiv.

² The data concerning growing stock and net annual increment are taken from the last State Forest Cadastre (1996).

³ According to the Forestry Code of Ukraine, "the land plots, not covered by forest vegetation, but allocated for the needs of forestry, also belong to the Forest Fund. Forest Fund does not include: all types of green plantings within the populated areas, separate trees and groups of trees, bushes on agricultural lands, on the allotments, on the plots of land nearby the houses, country and garden plots" (art.4).

⁴ This Code was enforced on 21 January 1994 and represents the main legislative issue from which the sector is regulated.

⁵ "All forests in Ukraine are the property of the State"(art. 6).

⁶ According to the last forestry cadastre, Ukrainian State Forestry Committee, 1996.

⁷ Art. 36 of the Forest Code defines two categories of forests, according to their main usage.

⁸ The areas with the largest forest cover are relatively concentrated in three main regions: the Carpathian Mountains (mainly covered by spruce and birch stands); the Northern territories (which are largely characterized by Scotch pine plantations); and the Crimean Mountains, with a large coverage of Mediterranean pines.

⁹ During the former regime, the forestry sector was structured differently.

¹⁰ "At the present stage of development in the Ukrainian society, the forestry practice is shifting from "resource-oriented" toward "biosphere-oriented" approaches. Forest ecosystems are regarded primarily as important components of the biosphere, which are crucial for the stabilization and restoration of the natural equilibrium. A permanent solution lies in the sustainable use of forest resources, intensification of forest regeneration, and efficient protection of forests. This will require the following measures: expanding forested areas by means of gradual preservation of agricultural lands of low productivity with their subsequent reforestation (in areas where forests grew initially) or formation of meadows (in regions where forests were absent in the past); and rational, or even restricted, use of timber and wood in the consumption sphere (to be achieved partly via optimization of the forestry sector)" (National Report of Ukraine on Conservation of Biological Diversity, MEPNS, 1997).

¹¹ According to the estimation made by the MEPNS, more than 3 500 000 ha of forests have been affected by radioactive contamination. The same source declares that during recent years, the forests of Ukrainian Polissya are providing considerably less timber and non-timber products (e.g. mushrooms, wild berries and nuts, medicinal plants) than before the catastrophe. In fact, ministerial reports often overemphasize the damages caused by the accident; unfortunately a reliable network of monitoring units, providing systematic data, is lacking.

¹² The legislative framework for the privatization of the state-owned properties is provided by the law of Ukraine nr.24, 1992.

¹³ Data provided by the National Fund for Privatisation (May 1999) show a clear predominance of the building materials production sector, which represents the 32% of the total forestry sector.

¹⁴ The Republic of Ukraine was officially proclaimed on 24 August 1991.

¹⁵ Yaroslv The Wise approved several specific legislative acts that once regulated different aspects of forest management. In particular, specific permission had to be asked by the public to cut trees for private uses. Additionally, hunting was strictly regulated and totally prohibited for game species considered in danger of extinction.

¹⁶ During this period (1893 to 1910), silvicultural activities were developed in the partially wooded steppe zone and the important forest areas of Trostyany and Sumy were established.

¹⁷ The main activities of the Galychnyan Forest Association (which represented the western territories of Ukraine, bordering Poland) took place between 1882-1939 in L'viv.

¹⁸ All major results of this activity were published in 15 volumes of 'Works on the Forestry Research Science' and in the scientific research journal 'Lisovod Ukrainy', edited between 1925 and 1930.

¹⁹ Research and work at the Institute was mainly focused on the study of Carpathian forests, which required special management practices. Forest regeneration as related to felling techniques, wood productivity improvements, pests and disease control, modern inventory methods and the definition of the basic concepts for forest typology and nature protection, become key issues for research.

²⁰ Art. 42 of the law "On Education" and decree 65 approved by the Cabinet of Ministries on 20 January 1998.

²¹ "Professional education provides fundamental professional, and practical training of students for achieving adequate qualification levels in compliance with their interests and skills as well as improvements of scientific and professional training" (from Art. 42 of the law "On Education").

²² In the traditional Ukrainian higher education system, Ph.D (named "aspirantura") is differentiated from the doctorate ("doctorantura"), the latter being the second step in the academic career, specifically designed to acquire the role of university professor.

²³ According to the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers n° 65, 20 January 1998.

²⁴ Foreign languages (mostly German and English) are provided as compulsory items in this program.