Legal Problems of Land Protection and Restoration during the Martial Law in Ukraine

Abstract

The article deals with environmental and legal problems related to pollution, degradation and damage to Ukraine’s land resources as a result of the introduction of war by Russia on Ukrainian territory. The authors analyse legal gaps and conflicts in the field of land legal relations regarding the protection and restoration of the lands of Ukraine. The article also studies the ecological situation of land plots affected by military operations. The scientific work raises the question of the implementation of such land protection measures as conservation and reclamation in the post-war period of time in Ukraine and their legal consolidation in the current legislation of Ukraine. The authors researche innovative technologies for land reclamation based on foreign experience and the basis of the work of domestic scientists of the «Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry named after O. N. Sokolovsky». This is primarily phytoremediation and remediation of degraded soils by growing such crops as giant miscanthus, sunflower, and corn. These plants will make it possible not only to restore the lands of our country quickly but also to produce cheap and ecologically clean eco-oil in the future, allowing the development of the country’s economic potential. Such lands will be suitable for organic farming in Ukraine in the future. In the article, the scientist, based on the study of the legislative framework of the current land legislation of the state, proposes to adopt the «National program for the protection and restoration of lands of Ukraine in the post-war period», to make changes and additions to the normative legal acts that regulate legal relations regarding the reclamation and conservation of lands, as well as to adopt such documents as the Law of Ukraine «On Conducting Soil Monitoring» and the Regulation «On Conducting Reclamation on Contaminated, Damaged and Degraded Lands of Ukraine». The approval of such documents will provide an opportunity to regulate the legal mechanism of restoration and protection of lands through the conservation and reclamation of Ukraine’s damaged, degraded, and polluted lands.