Vitebsk region forestry enterprises will create more than 3.5 thousand hectares of new forests in 2022
This summer, there were many hurricanes in the Vitebsk region. In total, gusts of strong wind destroyed about 800 hectares of forest. The most affected were the forests of the Shumilino forestry in the area of 309 hectares, as well as Rossony (99 hectares), Gorodok (105 hectares), Beshenkovichi (85 hectares), and Verkhnedvinsk (56 hectares) forestries. As for the creation of new forests in areas damaged by hurricane winds, in the spring of 2022, we plan to restore the forest over an area of more than 600 hectares and plant about 2.7 million plants.
In general, next spring, the largest volumes of forest crop creation will be in the Orsha, Shumilino, Tolochin, Begoml, and Verkhnedvinsk forestries.
In the remaining areas damaged by hurricanes, measures will be taken in forestry institutions to promote natural forest regeneration. Those plots where it is impossible to create a new forest due to soil conditions will be left for further natural forest regeneration.
The State Forestry Enterprise added that when afforesting areas damaged by windbreak and windfall, preference will be given to planting material with a closed root system, grown from forest seeds with improved hereditary properties. Subsequently, this will significantly increase the survival rate of forest plants and reduce the costs of their supplementation and care.
In percentage terms, 65% of the areas will be occupied by European spruce plantings, 25% by Scots pine, and about 10% by hardwood species – pedunculate oak, common ash, Norway maple, etc.