About 40% of Belarus's new forest roads are being built in the Vitebsk region

Have you ever wondered why spruce plantations are more often planted in the forests of the Vitebsk region, or why about 40% of all new forest roads in Belarus are built annually? A correspondent of "VV" learned about this from Natalia Gornak, an engineer for construction at the Vitebsk State Forestry Association.

Everyone knows that to plant a forest, you need to grow a tree, but not every tree can take root, as much depends on the soil. The features of the forest fund of the Vitebsk region include waterlogged and hard-to-reach plantations; loamy and clayey soil areas with pronounced relief are more common, which cannot but affect forestry activities.

The specifics of the soils are reflected not only in the nature of forest crop plantings, but also affect the accessibility of forests, which, according to the forest management project, require care, are designated for any type of felling, or other forestry work.

As noted by specialists of the forestry association, today 10.4% of the areas with reserves of mature and overmature stands intended for timber harvesting are located in hard-to-reach places. In this regard, the State Forestry Association is focused on the use of multi-operational machinery and the creation of forest roads. The construction of transport networks in the forest is necessary for the development of the annually increasing calculated logging area (annual volume of timber harvesting by main use felling, indicated in the forest management project), timely reforestation work, measures to combat forest diseases and pests, as well as the elimination of forest fires.

All forest roads are built and regulated according to the state program "Belarusian Forest". Over the past 10 years, about 1 thousand km of forest roads have been laid throughout the country, of which from a third to almost half are built annually in the Vitebsk region.

This year, according to the plan for the construction and financing of forest roads approved by the Ministry of Forestry, the Vitebsk State Forestry Association needs to build and commission 36.9 km of forest roads.

Currently, forestry roads of Vitebsk and Liozno forestry enterprises have been commissioned, and 6 roads (28.40 km) are under construction – in Beshenkovichi, Lepel, Liozno, Tolochin and Glubokoe experimental forestry enterprises. Also this year, the construction of another 5 roads will begin, 32.9 km of which are to be developed in 2021 and commissioned in 2022.

"Vitebskiye Vesti".