E-Accounting for Wood Products of Forestry in Ukraine: Problems and Ways of Improvement

Illegal logging leads to the destruction of a significant area of forests, which have economic and socio-ecological value, as an integral part of the country's natural capital. One of the ways to reduce illegal logging and control the use of forest resources is properly organized accounting, particularly e-accounting. The article aims to reveal the methods of e-accounting of wood products of forestry in Ukraine to prevent illegal logging, as well as to determine ways to improve it. Investigating the problems of e-accounting of wood products, the authors use abstract thinking, analysis, and synthesis to summarize the essential connections between forestry management issues and accounting methods. Empirical evidence in the study is data from the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine and the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. An analysis of the proposals of foreign scientists was carried out using the methods of analogy, comparison, systematization and generalization to determine ways to improve the e-accounting of wood products in Ukraine. The dynamics of illegal logging of wood was analyzed. Methods of e-accounting of wood products in Ukraine were disclosed. It was found that currently, e-accounting of wood products cannot be called systematic because it does not cover forest resources of wood origin at the root, by-products, by-products from wood, and all products of non-wood origin. Based on the analysis of the results presented in foreign publications, the key directions of the improvement of the e-accounting system in the forestry of Ukraine were determined: methodological (improvement of methods of collection, analysis and evaluation of accounting/management information); informational (expansion of data sources, in particular through more active use in the accounting of the natural meter); technological (implementation of innovative forest monitoring technologies and integrated decision support systems). It is vital to combine e-accounting of wood products with other components (various types of reporting, forest health monitoring data, cost accounting for the restoration and protection of forest areas, assessment of forest sustainability, etc.) to form an integrated forestry management system, the implementation of which will contribute to solving the problems of climate change.