A new Peasant Forest is being planted on the site of the country’s largest illegal logging
16 April 17:56
10,000 hectares of former forestry land that had been left without an owner for a long time have finally found someone who can revive them: the restoration of the Selyansky Forest has begun in Rivne region. The start of this work was announced on Facebook by Yuriy Bolokhovets, Director General of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine,” "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“Once upon a time, it was really a forest. Today it looks like a scorched desert. The inventory counted almost 500 thousand stumps,” the official wrote.
Why this became possible
The village forest is a total of 16 thousand hectares of forest plantations in the former Volodymyrets district of Rivne region. The land used to be a collective farm. In the 2000s, 6,000 hectares were transferred to the state, which allowed us to preserve part of the plantations. However, almost 10 thousand hectares remained in a “suspended” state – unguarded, under the threat of fires and massive illegal logging. The then manager did not ensure the protection and preservation of the forest.
After the inventory, which was completed at the beginning of the year, experts recorded UAH 3.41 billion in losses, the equivalent of the annual budget of an average Ukrainian city. All materials were handed over to law enforcement agencies.
How the forest was restored
The peasant forest is being restored using new technologies and seedlings with a closed root system. They are grown in Volyn, in a modern forest nursery complex built by the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” on the basis of the Kivertsi superforestry.
The peculiarity is that instead of pure coniferous plantations vulnerable to fires, pests, and climate change, mixed, more sustainable forests will appear in Rivne region, including both coniferous and deciduous tree species.
Who is now responsible for the Village Forest?
These are the lands of local communities. The State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” is involved as a contractor that performs forest planting on the reclaimed areas.
In April 2024, at the initiative of foresters and thanks to the position of the regional authorities, the remnants of the Selyansky Forest were transferred to the protection of the Rafalivsky supra-forestry of the SE “Forests of Ukraine”.
As of today, the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” has already formalized the permanent use of 7.6 thousand hectares. A clear investment plan for the restoration of the territory has already been developed.
According to preliminary estimates, the restoration costs will amount to at least UAH 20 million, provided there are no force majeure events, primarily fires.
On average, each million invested will restore about 40 hectares of forest.
According to the Polissia Forestry Office, a branch of the State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” responsible for the forests of Volyn and Rivne regions, “this is not just an investment, it is a conservation strategy: if the territory had been transferred to legal use earlier, communities would have received more than UAH 1.28 million annually in taxes alone.”
