NEWS

It is against this background that in 2015 the Ministry has carried out works on establishment and care for forest seed breeding objects:

Establishment of seed plantations – 23.26 ha;

Establishment of clone bank – 16.7 ha;

Care for forest plantations – 43.8 ha;

Care for permanent forest seed production areas – 20 ha;

Care for clone bank – 17.5 ha;

Care for plus stands – 48.1 ha;

Care for genetic reserves – 118 ha;

Care for provenance trial plantations – 18 ha;

Care for test crops – 13 ha.

Survival, growth and state of future forests depend on quality planting material.

In the republic the Forest Breeding and Seed Center where 12 million containerized softwood seedlings are cultivated annually is on-stream. In the institutions – Forest Establishments – subordinated to the Ministry there are 55 forest nurseries where a wide range of softwood, hardwood and fancy breed is cultivated. In 2015, the sowing in the base forest nurseries on the total area of ​​26.6 hectares was carried out. Following the results of nursery inventory in 2015, the subordinated institutions have grown 52 308 thousand units of planting stock.

1.7 thousand people were involved in the campaign. Among the active partners of foresters and environmentalists there were 878 tenants of woodland, 148 enterprises and organizations, and 46 horticultural societies and cooperatives. The participants of the campaign have cleaned and removed 973.9 m3 of solid household and other waste.

540.9m3 of dead wood and fallen trees were collected and removed along federal and regional roads and highways.

The Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan sums up the autumn inventory of forest plantations, nurseries, and areas where measures to promote natural regeneration have been taken. Within the best agrotechnical terms the forest plantations were taken care; the works in forest nurseries were completed; the seeds were collected; the soil for forest plantations of 2016 was prepared.

So, the total amount of seed raw materials and seeds having quality certificates amounted to 1515.3 kg of which: Scots pine – 260.9 kg (including - 56 kg of seeds of selected Scots pine), fir spruce – 301.3 kg, Siberian larch – 53 kg, weeping birch – 639.5 kg, and green ash – 150 kg.

110.6 kg of seeds of fancy breeds and other shrubs (Caragana arborescens, blood-red hawthorn, rugosa rose, dwarf ninebark, common chokecherry, common cherry, bush honeysuckle) were harvested.

The harvesting of seeds of English oak, fir spruce, Scots pine, fancy breeds and other shrubs are currently is on.

The Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan has summed up the Russian autumn environment-oriented campaign “Live, the Forest!” which lasted till the first frost. 157 thousand residents of the republic have been involved in tree planting; 1.6 million units of different planting stock over an area of 497 hectares have been planted.

The Ministry thanks everyone for their support and participation in tree planting – such a way we all care for the nature conservation and the future of our children who must breathe clean air!

The State Forest Inspectors of the Republic of Tatarstan and the State Nature Conservation Inspectors of the Republic of Tatarstan carried out 35 raids in the forests during which the inspectors found 9 unauthorized landfills of solid household waste. By now 7 of them have been eliminated.

During the campaign 99 name plates, panels and other hardscaping located in the forests were repaired. 29 springs were cleaned and equipped.

At the seminar of research foresters of Russia and Germany that has just come to an end two projects “Optimization of mixed stands of English oak and small-leaved lime” and “Wood plantations development and use in the Republic of Tatarstan” were discussed.

In order to implement the projects, the test discount areas in oak plantations of Kaybitsky Forestry were established where currently two specialists – of the Ministry of Forestry and of Dresden University of Technology – are working. The sample areas in the plantations of aspen and birch in the Sabinsky Forestry for 2016 were also established.

 Following the results of the seminar and working meetings the Protocol on Joint Activities of German-Russian Reforestation Projects was signed.

The further work on the projects will be continued in Germany to where a delegation of the Ministry comes at the end of November.

100 pine seedlings were planted by the inspectors of the Baltasinsky State Nature Sanctuary together with pupils of Karaduvanskaya secondary school. At the same time, 3 hectares of the nature sanctuary’s territory were cleaned up.

The nature sanctuary’s inspectors are frequent visitors of the school where they carry out outreach activities and arrange environmental competitions. In turn, the schoolchildren participate in environmental campaigns held by the Baltasinsky State Nature Sanctuary.

Forest fire season is closed earlier than in the last year. This is because of the early advent of autumn rainy weather, due to which the forests were filled with moisture. During the period from April to October all scheduled preventive measures for forest preservation and protection were taken. 23 fire chemical stations have been involved; ground and air patrol of forests has been performed.

In compliance with the Master Plan for Wildfires Fighting in the Republic of Tatarstan for 2015 the number of forest fire units was 814 of which 253 were on a regular basis. There were 22 senior officers of firefighting teams and 1023 units of equipment.

The Master Plan for Wildfires Fighting also provided for the involvement of workforce and means of companies using and non-using forests (voluntary fire brigade and other organizations) the total number of which was 5638 people equipped with 2002 units of equipment. Also the awareness of public was raised with media coverage.

Currently, the oak woods of Tatarstan occupy 193.1 thousand hectares or 15% of the total forest area. After an unprecedented drying of oak woods and reduction of the oak area after the winters of the 1940s and 1970s, almost only in the forests of Kaybitsky Forestry the oak trees older than 350 years with a trunk diameter of 1.5 m still remain healthy.

The reality is that the future development of forestry is no longer possible without scientific research to be put into practice. The Republican wood rehabilitation program took into account the laying of objects of unified genetic and breeding complex of oak in Kaybitsky Special Seed Forest Establishment, identification of plus stands; the focus on the creation of a permanent seed base of oak was determined. A team of specialists of the Ministry has studied the world's best technologies for cultivation of ball-rooted English oak planting material and long storage of oak acorns in European countries, including in Germany.

In this regard, the visit to oak woods of Kaybitsky, Tetyushsky and Kzyl-Yulduzsky Forest Establishment and discussion of oak wood reforestation issues has been planned.

The German scientists have been already introduced with forest land of the Sabinsky Forestry, discussed with Tatarstan experts the possibility of planting material provision for plantations, visited the Forest Seed Selection and Production Center of the Republic of Tatarstan and studied the plantations of aspen, birch and willow.