Dmitry Kobylkin instructed to develop a project to create protective forest belts along the banks of the Volga. Tatarstan will become a pilot territory
Today, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia discussed the issues of protecting rivers from inflow of diffuse flow. The meeting was held by the Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation Dmitry Kobylkin; Deputy Minister Sergey Yastrebov, Head of Rosvodresursy Dmitry Kirillov, Deputy Head of Rosleskhoz Nikolay Krotov, Minister of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan Ravil Kuzyurov took part in the work.
At the meeting it was announced that the negative impact of unregulated flow coming from agricultural fields, farms, unequipped industrial sites, as well as transport infrastructure remains the problematic issue of pollution of the Volga river. Experts consider the creation of a natural barrier - water protective forest belts along the banks to be an effective method of protecting the river. The same method is considered by forest industry experts as a solution to reforestation problems in coastal areas.
The developments of the Republic of Tatarstan on this issue were presented by Minister Ravil Kuzyurov. He said that in Tatarstan there was a successful experience of planting protective forest plantations on the area of 57 thousand hectares. To implement the project on afforestation of the Volga river, the republic has production facilities for growing about 31 million units of planting material, of which 12 million pieces with a closed root system based on the largest in Europe Forest Selection and Seed Center.
According to preliminary estimates of experts, to create protective forest belts along the entire length of the Volga river it is required to plant 88 million seedlings on a total area of more than 35 thousand hectares. The Republic of Tatarstan in this matter expressed its readiness to provide other regions with planting material.
The Head of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia got acquainted with the assessments of all participants in the meeting and instructed the staff of the Ministry, Rosvodresources and the Rosleskhoz to jointly develop a project on creation of water protective forest belts aimed at solving problems in all regions in which the Volga river runs and where there is such a need.
The project meets the objectives of the federal project “Improving the Volga” of the national project “Ecology” and can be considered by the subprogram.
Responsible employees are instructed to work out the issue with 15 constituent entities of the Russian Federation from the zone of location on the banks of the Volga river. The pilot area for the development of technology will be the Republic of Tatarstan with creation of protective forest plantations along the banks of the Kuibyshev reservoir (Volga River and Kama River).