Forest News: Zaazerskoye Experimental Production Forestry

The forestry lands are located within the territory of Pyshnyansky, Staysky, Kamensky, and partially Lepel rural councils, covering a total area of 9.5 thousand hectares. Of these, the forest-covered area amounts to 8.6 thousand hectares. The new forestry building, since the nineties, is situated on the outskirts of Lepel. The team consists of 38 employees, including 16 felling workers and 12 foresters.

Equipment in Use

Various operations within the forestry employ MTZ-82 and MPT-461.1 tractors, an "Amkodor" loader, GAZ-66 vehicles for personnel transport and UAZ-3909, as well as seven "Minsk" motorcycles, over a dozen chainsaws, and eight brush cutters for forest thinning.

Thinning and Harvesting

Since the beginning of the year, the forestry has been involved in allocating plots for main use – so-called clear-cutting. Plots totalling 38 hectares have been allocated. The plan for next year is 27 hectares. Eight thousand cubic meters of timber have been harvested. Forest thinning for tending and intermediate cuts, as well as forest cleaning, are also being carried out. Since the beginning of the year, 19 hectares of forest have been cleared, with 580 m³ of timber harvested during this process. Sanitary felling has been conducted over an area of 15 hectares, yielding 350 m³ of timber.

Planting and Tending of Young Growth

This year, one hectare of forest has been planted in the Zaezersky region. Tending of young forest has been carried out on twenty hectares, thinning on eighteen, and cleaning on four hectares of forest.

Timber Harvesting

From tending felling sites, approximately 5 thousand m³ of timber have been harvested since the beginning of the year, against an annual plan of about 10 thousand m³. At main use felling sites, using the forest enterprise brigade and a "Harvester" forest machine, approximately 4 thousand m³ of timber have been harvested.

Firewood Supply

The forestry supplies firewood to the population, with approximately 2000 m³ of firewood already sold since the beginning of the year, as well as to some organisations. Lepel Housing and Communal Services have purchased about eight hundred cubic meters, 150 m³ were supplied to Zaezerskoye and 180 m³ to Chareyshchina.

Supplementation, Research, Modernisation

The forest, covering an area of 25 hectares, is supplemented with forest cultures, typically pine and spruce. The forestry unit has its own nursery, where 264 million units of planting material – pine, spruce, and birch – are grown. The planting material is sold throughout Belarus and to Russia. On the basis of the forestry unit, about five hectares of larch have been planted, which are being cared for and researched. The forestry unit is mastering new logging technologies, during which, when clearing, about one-third of the tree crown is trimmed in advance in the hope of improving timber quality. However, the results of the experiment will not be known soon, as it takes about eighty years for a tree to grow, as we know.

In case of fire

In case of fire, the forestry unit has organised a daily duty team – after working hours and until 8 PM on weekdays, and from 10 AM to 8 PM on weekends. The team is equipped with a vehicle, a tractor with a PKL-70 plough. Two foresters and a foreman are on duty.

Mini-arboretum

A unique mini-arboretum has been opened in the yard, near the forestry unit building. Seventeen species of trees and shrubs are planted here. A much larger arboretum, covering eight hectares, is located in the area of the former brick factory; it is adorned with gazebos, a pond, and bridges. And the trees and shrubs there are countless! The forestry unit employees regularly tend to their arboretums, mowing their territories.

Viktor LYASHCHYNA.