More than 100,000 trees have been digitized in Kyiv, according to Oleksandr Voznyi, head of the Department of Environmental Protection and Climate Change Adaptation at the Kyiv City State Administration.
“Our online map of trees is being actively updated and as of today contains more than 107 thousand plantations. By creating this resource, we aimed to conduct a clear inventory and understand how many trees there are in the capital, what condition they are in, and to provide the community with effective control tools,” he wrote on Facebook.
Voznyi noted that a significant amount of work has been done by the utility companies of Desnianskyi, Holosiivskyi and Pecherskyi districts, which have digitized all street trees and the vast majority of parks and are now working in parks.
“Seven parks in Desnianskyi and one in Holosiivskyi districts of the capital have already been added to the online map. We have also started digitizing the Partisan Glory Park in Darnytsia district and the Eternal Glory Park in Pechersk district of Kyiv,” he said.
The resource will contain a photo of each “digitized” tree, information about its location (with reference to the exact coordinates), species, trunk diameter, height and condition.
The online map is still being updated. Since it is created using high-precision maps, it will be made public as soon as it is possible from the point of view of security issues.
The State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine has planted 240 million trees in 2021, it is planned to increase this figure by a quarter, to 300 million in 2022, according to a press release from the department on Tuesday.
“This year, enterprises subordinate to the State Forest Resources Agency have planted 240 million seedlings and saplings. In addition, additional 9 million woody plants have been planted on the lands of other forest users,” head of the agency Yuriy Bolokhovets said.
The State Forest Resources Agency clarified that 59.5 million out of 240 million trees have been planted as part of the presidential program Green Country, which provides for planting 1 billion trees in three years, its implementation began in the summer of 2021.
It is clarified that 51 million trees have been planted in Zhytomyr region, Rivne region – 29.5 million, Volyn region – 23.3 million, and Chernihiv region – 15.6 million.
In the forest-steppe regions, 66.5 million trees have been planted, including in Kyiv region – almost 20 million, Poltava and Sumy regions – almost 10 million each, Cherkasy region – 8.2 million, Kharkiv region – 6.2 million, Vinnytsia region – 5.2 million, Ternopil region – 4.4 million, and Khmelnytsky region – 3.7 million.
In addition, in the steppe regions of the country, foresters have planted 21.3 million trees, including in Luhansk region – 6.6 million, Zaporizhia region – 4.4 million, Kirovohrad region – 3.8 million, and Kherson region – 2.7 million.
According to the State Forest Resources Agency, 30.3 million trees have been planted in the Carpathians in 2021, including 15.1 million in Zakarpattia region, in Lviv region – 8.1 million, and in Chernivtsi and Ivano-Frankivsk regions – 3.5 million each.
The decree of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on planting 1 billion trees within three years from the start of its implementation in June of this year as of November 8 was executed by 3.53%, in total 35.38 million trees were planted (plus 8.14 million over the past week) on a total area of 6,078 hectares.
The relevant information has been posted on the website of the state program Green Country.
It is clarified that the leading regions in forestation are Zhytomyr region, where 12.69 million trees have been planted, as well as Volyn (3.25 million), Chernihiv (2.27 million), Lviv (2.24 million), Kyiv (2.07 million) and Rivne (1.98 million) regions.
The least number of trees were planted in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions: 19,000 and 46,000 trees respectively.
As reported, Zelensky in June 2021 signed a decree on the implementation of the Green Country project in Ukraine to increase the number of forests in Ukraine. The goal of the project is to increase the forest area by 1 million hectares in 10 years. It is also planned to plant 1 billion trees in Ukraine in the next three years.
According to head of the State Agency for Forest Resources Yuriy Bolokhovets, planting 1 billion trees is necessary to minimize the effects of global climate change, create protective belts of trees to protect against dust storms, as well as increase the country’s forest cover from the current 15.9% to the minimum required 20%.
The decree of President Volodymyr Zelensky on planting 1 billion trees within three years will be implemented, it will be implemented on 170,000 hectares, the total cost of the project is about UAH 2 billion, Head of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine Yuriy Bolokhovets has said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine. “For planting 1 billion trees, about 170,000 hectares are needed. We have already found up to 100,000 hectares of our own territories that require afforestation. These are sites of fire, areas where forests have been destroyed as a result of various factors. Another 70,000 hectares are land of local authorities, the head of the agency said.
He said that the State Forest Resources Agency proposed that the territorial communities, which land plots were in the zone of implementation of the Green Country presidential program, either plant a forest on its territory, or transfer these plots to the agency for afforestation. According to Bolokhovets, today, more than 20,000 hectares are in the process of being transferred from the communities to the enterprises of the State Forest Resources Agency.
“The second question is financing. We need UAH 2 billion for three years. I am absolutely sure that the forest industry, due to going from the shadows and more efficient work, is able to earn this money itself. And we will do it,” the head of the agency said.
Bolokhovets said that planting 1 billion trees is necessary to minimize the effects of global climate change, create protective belts of trees to protect against dust storms, as well as increase the country’s forest cover from the current 15.9% to the minimum required 20%.
The head of the State Forest Resources Agency also noted the increase in the procurement of seed material for forest reproduction several times. His agency is also creating infrastructure for large-scale seeding and building nurseries for growing quality planting material.
“This year we have already significantly increased the planting in comparison with previous years. Next year, we will at least double the planting. I am absolutely convinced that we will implement the President’s task,” Bolokhovets said.
PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE, PRESIDENT ZELENSKY, STATE FOREST RESOURCES AGENCY, TREES
The area under New Year trees (spruces, pines, firs) of the State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine exceeds 5,000 hectares, Viktor Melnychenko, the director general of state enterprise Forestry Innovation Analytical Center, has said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine. “The New Year campaign has already started – wholesale buyers are starting to buy Christmas trees from about the beginning of December. Prices have not changed much from year to year – the wholesale price is UAH 60-70 per running meter”, he said.
According to Melnychenko, the sellers later pass unused trees to zoos for animal feed, while used ones are processed for fuel.
He also noted that Forestry Innovation Analytical Center has developed an application for Android software – yalynka.info – to verify the legality of a Christmas tree origin. The application can be installed for free from Google Play Market. It allows checking the Christmas tree on the individual number on the label (plastic screed) and the self-adhesive label. The tag and the label deteriorate when removed and, accordingly, cannot be used again.
As reported, state forestry enterprises plan to sell about 500,000 Christmas trees this year.
