Assessment Of Environmental Damage Caused By Illegal Harvesting Of Saxaul In Uzbekistan And The Legal And Methodological Framework For Ecosystem Restoration

This article proposes a verifiable procedure for documenting and assessing environmental damage caused by the illegal harvesting of saxaul in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Unlike the initial version of the manuscript, the analysis is based not on unverified judicial practice, but on specific provisions of current legislation and a case reported by a state authority. Annex 14 to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 290, the provisions of legislation on the plant world, and Article 79 of the Code of Administrative Responsibility are examined. Annex 14 establishes a coefficient of 1.4 times the base calculation amount per stacked cubic metre of saxaul harvested on relevant categories of State Forest Fund land, and a coefficient of 2.0 for forests and tree-and-shrub vegetation in protected natural areas. An official report on a raid conducted in Tomdi District on 11 February 2026 records 5 m³ of saxaul, environmental damage amounting to UZS 29 million, and a separate fine of 25 base calculation amounts, equivalent to UZS 10.3 million. The reported damage-to-volume ratio is UZS 5.8 million per cubic metre; however, the initial report does not disclose the land category or the components of the calculation. Therefore, this figure cannot be treated as a universal rate. The article also systematises data indicating that 823,000 trees were planted across 658.2 hectares under the United Nations Development Programme’s “Green Aral Sea” initiative during 2020–2025. These figures demonstrate the scale of restoration activities but do not, in themselves, confirm seedling survival. The proposed procedure distinguishes between recording the incident, determining the land category, applying the legally established rate, specifying the administrative fine separately, and substantiating restoration measures.