MINSK, 1 April (BelTA) – A nationwide campaign Forest Week will take place in Belarus on 13-20 April, the press service of the Belarusian Forestry Ministry told BelTA.
Initiated by the Forestry Ministry, the campaign encourages citizens to contribute to the planting of greenery across the country. Volunteers are advised to contact the nearest forestry enterprise where they will be supplied with the saplings and the necessary tools.
Spring forest planting work continues in Belarus. Last week alone Belarusian forestry enterprises planted over 8,300ha of forests, with 14,500ha of forest planted since the beginning of the year. Gomel Oblast is ahead of the other regions with 7,700ha of forest planted. Close attention is paid to restoring withered forest areas.
The Forestry Ministry reminded that Belarusian forestry enterprises intend to plant 33,100ha of forests this year. Most of the new forest will be planted this spring.
Belarus is one of Europe’s ten most heavily forested countries. Since 1945 the country’s forest coverage percentage has grown to reach a historic high of 39.8%. Every year at least 30,000ha of forest is planted, with efforts focused on planting mixtures of forest crops (two and more varieties). Over 90.9% of the new forest plantation work followed this principle in 2018. The approach is supposed to increase the resilience of Belarusian forests to various biological and climatic factors.