The press service of the occupation prosecutor’s office reported it.

“The Sevastopol Interdistrict Environmental Prosecutor’s Office inspected compliance with the legislation on specially protected natural areas within the Maksimova Dacha Nature Park and the Baidarsky Nature Reserve. It was established that 45 trees of the Prickly Juniper species, which is listed in the Red Book of the city of Sevastopol, were cut down on the territory of the Baidarsky Reserve”, - the statement reads.

According to the occupation agency, these illegal actions caused a change in the historical natural landscape with habitats of rare species of animals and plants, violated the integrity of the natural-territorial complex, and caused damage to almost 450 thousand rubles (165,150 UAH).

The local “prosecutor’s office” sent the materials of the inspection to the “preliminary investigation body”. According to the results of their consideration, the occupation department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in the Balaklava district of Sevastopol opened a criminal case under Art. 262 of the Criminal Code (violation of the regime of specially protected natural areas and natural objects).

According to the results of an inspection conducted by the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office earlier, the occupying inquiry department of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Leninsky district of Sevastopol opened a criminal case on the fact of cutting down nine elm trees, Mahaleb cherry trees, and Eastern hornbeam trees in Maksimova Dacha Nature Park.

According to “Fleet 2017”, judging by the photos of scattered twigs in Saharna Golovka, where 300 junipers were recently destroyed, poachers were more interested in the trunks of Red Book plants, used for making souvenirs.

“It turned out that it is possible to impose restrictions on the sale of souvenirs of certain species of plants only if they are in the Red Book of Russia - the protection status of the subject is not enough. However, control over the sale of similar products in the city is underway“, - the statement reads.

Souvenir sellers must have documents proving that the material for their products was extracted legally in the region where the plant is not listed in the Red Book. But there is no reason to be sure that there is no Crimean juniper that is legally sold. It is also difficult to impose fines on sellers of such souvenirs because illegally produced junipers for souvenirs are sold covertly.

“Prickly juniper is listed in the Red Book of Sevastopol, and tall juniper in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. When finding juniper souvenirs, the task arises to determine which juniper they were made of. If the wood is of “federal importance”, the ban on trade in such products applies throughout Russia, including occupied Crimea. But when it comes to endemics listed in the regional Red Book, no one can ban the sale of souvenirs from Sevastopol wood, made by a legal entity in another region", - the statement read.

What is known

• In the area of the village of Saharna Golovka, Balaklava district, occupied Sevastopol, 300 juniper trees, which are listed in the Red Book of the city, were illegally logged.

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