SE “Forests of Ukraine” will plant more than 5,500 hectares of new forests in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, announced the general director of the state-owned enterprise, Yuriy Bolokhovets.
SE “Forests of Ukraine” intends to plant mixed forests that are more durable and resistant to climate change. For planting, petioled oak, maples, pines, ash, and shrub species were selected. The enterprise will transfer over 800,000 seedlings with a closed root system to the region.
According to the general director of the enterprise, the area of forests in the Odesa and Mykolaiv regions does not exceed 140,000 hectares. They are mainly used for recreation, felling is exclusively sanitary (firewood). The income from the sale of wood, in particular in the form of firewood, would not be enough for southern forest farms even for salaries. Forestry in the region was chronically subsidized: staff worked on a quarter and half-time basis, there were no fuel and lubricants, cultivators.
Bolokhovets called the lack of qualified personnel one of the main problems of the industry. There are currently more than 400 vacancies in the Southern Forest Office – forest master, forester, assistant, etc.
The reform carried out in the industry enabled the SE "Forests of Ukraine" to optimize work and make a profit, which made it possible to find investments for the development of the southern region.
SE “Forests of Ukraine” intends to make the development program of the southern region long-term.
As reported, the state specialized economic enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is one of the largest forest users in Europe and the largest forest user in Ukraine. It belongs to the sphere of management of the State Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine. The enterprise manages 6.6 million hectares of land of the state forest fund.
Forestry reform began in Ukraine in 2016. Within its borders, the sale of raw wood at electronic auctions has already been implemented. Since 2021, an interactive map of the location of wood processing facilities has been operating in a test mode in a number of regions.
In the industry, the project "Forest in a smartphone" has been implemented, which contains a list of logging tickets for harvesting wood and allows you to check the legality of felling on the department's online map.
From June 1, 2023, Ukraine launched a pilot for the electronic issuance of logging tickets and certificates of origin of timber materials.
