Around 9,000 residents of the Vitebsk region became active participants of the republican campaign "Forest Week-2019", the Vitebsk State Production Forestry Association informed a BELTA correspondent.
Nearly 4,800 people were employees of the region's forestry enterprises, and over 4,000 were residents of cities and districts, activists of public organizations, and staff of enterprises, organizations, and institutions. Participants of the environmental campaign worked at 333 sites. Through joint efforts, 817 hectares of forest crops were created in the region, almost 3,000 trees and other planting material were planted, 48 recreation areas were restored and improved, and 298.5 cubic meters of waste were removed.
A large volume of work was carried out on April 20, the day of the republican subbotnik (voluntary work day). In particular, employees of the traffic police department of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee's Internal Affairs Directorate, together with young traffic inspectors from Gymnasium No. 7 and Secondary School No. 46 in Vitebsk, planted several hundred spruce saplings on a specially designated strip near the R20 Vitebsk-Polotsk highway in the Vitebsk district. "Overall, schoolchildren in the Vitebsk region made a significant contribution to the successful holding of Forest Week. Following the campaign, the Vitebsk State Production Forestry Association will recognize the most active school and class with commemorative souvenirs and valuable prizes," the association noted.
In 2019, Forest Week was dedicated to the Year of Small Motherlands and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders. In this regard, many forestry enterprises in the region initiated the establishment of commemorative plantings designed to perpetuate significant events and figures for these places. For example, employees of the Orsha Forestry Enterprise planted a chestnut alley in honor of the liberators of their city. Employees of the Postavy Forestry Enterprise and the 1st Military Hospital of the Border Guard Service of Belarus planted a maple alley. In Rossony, a linden alley was established in memory of the local Great Patriotic War veteran Pavel Ivanovich Rubis. A mixed complex of red oak, mountain pine, Amur velvet, and ornamental shrubs adorned the dendrological park of the Lepel Forestry Enterprise. In total, 20 new commemorative plantings and alleys appeared in the region.
Forest Week is held in Belarus every year. The main goal of the campaign is to attract public attention to solving state-level tasks in strengthening the ecological, economic, and social role of forests.-