Ukrainian foresters have planted more than 109 mln tree seedlings this spring
Companies of Ukraine's State Forest Resources Agency planted more than 109 million seedlings this spring, regenerating more than 15,000 hectares of forests.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources reported this on the Telegram messaging app.
"More than 109 million seedlings were planted by foresters this spring, which is almost 30 million more than planned," the statement says. "The enterprises, institutions, and organizations of the State Forestry Agency managed to regenerate almost 15,284 hectares of forests, of which 702 hectares are the planting of new forests."
The most tree plants were planted in the Rivne region, with 20,201 seedlings, the Kyiv region, with 12,035 seedlings; and the Volyn region, with 7,875 seedlings.
The forests are also being restored in the de-occupied territories, where it is safe as many forests were mined and contaminated with explosives by the Russian forces in the first month of the full-scale war. Last fall, foresters planted seedlings in the northern Sumy, Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions, which were severely affected by hostilities.
This year, the agency will continue in the southern Mykolaiv region, which was also touched by the hand of Russia's invasion.
Despite the ongoing martial law because of the war, Ukrainian foresters continue implementing Ukrainian President Zelensky's program "Green Country," which aims to restore as many forest areas as possible. Currently, a new infrastructure for forest creation is being actively developed. Last year, it was possible to open new centers for growing seedlings in Zhytomyr and Kirovohrad regions and expand the existing center in the Khmelnytskyi region.
This year, the construction of seven new selection and seed centers in Volyn, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions and expansion in the Ternopil region is planned.
"Due to the war, restoration of forests in Ukraine has become an urgent issue. As a result of fires caused by Russian shells, we are losing thousands of hectares of trees. It takes years to restore them. So, in the future, we will have to work a lot to recreate everything that the occupiers destroyed," said the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, Ruslan Strelets.
