The municipality of Velyka Omeliana discussed the powers of local self-government bodies in the implementation of the state land relations and environmental protection policy. The meeting was organised by the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in the Rivne Oblast together with the Main Directorate of the State GeoCadastre in the Rivne Oblast and the Department of Environment Protection and Natural Resources of the Rivne Regional State Administration.
At the event, heads of the municipalities learned about the activities and powers of these agencies and discussed challenges and problems faced by local self-government in relation to land relations and environmental protection. Ruslan Syvyi, Head of the Regional Office, told more about this:
“The meeting also explored the liquidation of makeshift rubbish dumps, the issuance of mining licences, the provision of land plots to war veterans and the use of forest lands.”
In his speech, Mykola Shustov, Acting Head of the Main Directorate of the State GeoCadastre in the Rivne Oblast, talked about the main objectives of implementing the state national infrastructure of geospatial data policy, surveying and cartographic activities, land relations, land management in relation to the State Land Cadastre and state control over the use and protection of land. In addition, he emphasised the priority areas of work of the State GeoCadastre.
He also spoke about the cooperation of the Ministry of Infrastructure with international partners in the field of spatial planning, as well as the introduction of another important function for municipalities — registering functional zones with the State Land Cadastre (according to the comprehensive spatial development plans to be prepared).
Volodymyr Zakharchuk, Director of the Department of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of the Rivne Regional State Administration, joined the event as well. He spoke in detail about the activities of the Department and its role in solving environmental issues of the region and touched upon the cooperation with the municipalities of the oblast.
Volodymyr Zakharchuk pointed out that forests should be under effective management, and municipalities should decide whether to manage them themselves by providing forest lands for use to a municipal enterprise or to transfer them to state ownership.
Ruslan Syvyi firmly believes that the event has boosted cooperation between the senior officials of municipalities and state bodies and contributed to the strengthening of horizontal communication among the heads of municipalities of the oblast and the development of joint solutions to address problematic issues.
“This event is an important step on the path to improving the land and environmental resource management at the local level.”