NEWS

From October 24 to October 27, 2016 Expocentre Fairgrounds, Moscow, will host the VIII International Forum “Forest and Man” where the representatives of the countries of Europe, America, Asia, the Russian companies, national industry associations from around the world are to meet.

The aim of the forum is to discuss the topical issues of timber industry development, to search for effective solutions to the key problems of the industry. This year the motto of the forum is the “Investments in innovative development and in environment”. The program includes the plenary session, round tables, and seminars. The participants will also visit the international specialized exhibition “Lesdrevmash 2016”.

The specialists of the Laishevskoye Forestry together with the students of Laishevsky Technical School were engaged in the additional planting of young trees in the quarter 13 of Yantykovskoye District Forestry. The trees were planted on the territory of 10 hectares. The activists planted the planting material using a special hand tool – Kolesov’s planting iron.

This is the main tool at the forest plantation. In the CIS countries the most forestries use LPL-5.5 for manual planting of various trees seedlings in an industrial scale in areas where it is impossible to use the machines. The abbreviation LPL-5.5 means a tree-planting shovel weighing 5.5 kg. But this name is rare; much more common is Kolesov’s planting iron. Currently, the use of tree-planting shovel is the most convenient and fastest way to manually plant the trees. The tree-planting shovel was invented in 1883 by Alexander Kolesov. He was the Director of Kharkov Agricultural School. A forest nursery was founded at school, and for the convenience of young tree planting Kolesov invented LPL-5.5. His attempts to find a simple and convenient tool for pine seedlings planting had many times no luck. The first shovel (Kolesov’s planting iron) weighed only about 2 kg, the size was twice as small as LPL-5.5, and its life lasted only a year. The service life of today’s Kolesov’s planting iron is about a decade. So, by trial and error, having tried and made dozens of shovels for planting, the agronomist has finally found a unique variant of form, weight and dimensions which could facilitate and accelerate the process of pine seedlings planting.

When using the Kolesov’s planting iron, the seedlings should be planted by two people. The one who operates the planting iron is called a shoveler, and the other who dips the tree seedlings into the well is a planter. The first thing the workers should know that the seedlings must be planted in pairs only. Before starting, each worker should be familiar with the operating process chart. The distance between the workers should be at least 2.5 m. The legs of the worker who holds a planting iron should not be on the way of the shovel movement. If on the way of tree-planting shovel there is an obstacle such as a stone or a root, the planting location should be moved. The main rule of occupational safety is a careful study of the process.

As part of the campaign the “Clean Forests of Tatarstan” the experts of Zeya Buylary Nature Sanctuary together with the pupils of the Secondary School No.6 of the Buinsky District have cleaned up the nature sanctuary of Mokraya Savaleevka Village. The activists have cleared the forest from littering, fallen trees and dead wood. In the course of the event 1.5 cubic meters of garbage were removed.

The autumn stage of the campaign the “Clean Forests of Tatarstan” started on September 15, 2016 and will last until November 15. Every year the executive authorities of the Republic of Tatarstan, teachers, students, educational institutions, commercial organizations, youth associations, and residents of the republic took an active part in the forest cleaning.

Every year the school forestry unit council of Leskhozskaya Secondary School announces a competition for the best birdhouse. The environmental competition for the best birdhouse generates a vivid interest among schoolchildren. The questions arise of the design and forms of the birdhouse, of the possibility to build the “multifamily houses”. The parents enthusiastically engage in the birdhouse making too. In 2016 the competition for the best birdhouse is the forty-seventh in succession! The activists made 91 birdhouses. The most of them – simple, functionally useful, so to speak traditional – were made under the guidance of R.T.Faizrakhmanova, the teacher of Technology. There are also creatively different and unusual birdhouses – real bird palaces and towers. The decision on competition winners was made together with Arskoye Forestry. The Commission unanimously gave the following votes:

I place – Fakhriev N. (11 grade), Galiakhmetova Z. (8 grade), Khabibrakhmanov R. (9B grade), Mukhametsafin N. (1 grade), Garipov R. (5 grade), Zinnatov M. (10 grade), Mukhametsafina R. (7 grade);

II place – Sibagatullina L. (3 grade), Shaimardanova A. (7 grade), Fattakhova Z. (7 grade), Sibagatullina D. (6 grade), Fattakhov S. (5 grade);

III place – Nigmatullin R. (9B grade), Galyavetdinova I. (7 grade), Salakhov A. (1 grade).

The birdhouses were placed in forests of Surnarskoye District Forestry.

Everybody knows that the forest is priceless wealth, but very few people think about the fact that natural resources are not everlasting. With the advent of autumn chills there comes a time for members of the Arsky school forestry unit to collect pine and spruce cones. The children collect the cones of such forest forming species as Scots pine and Norway spruce in order to get the seeds that are later used to establish artificial forests. They collect cones mainly on forest plantations – from young conifers. The foresters of Arsky Forest Establishment are ready to take the cones collected by young foresters. The head of the school forestry unit F.N.Gaynanova noted that the “cone arithmetic” strikes as widespread. For example, three tons of collected cones result in about 30 kg of seeds from which further about one million firs can grow.

The draft federal law elaborated by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia together with the Federal Forest Agency, amending the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, is aimed at implementing the National Plan for the forest cover percent conservation and growth. According to the draft, the forest cover percent should be a key measure of forestry effectiveness. It is offered to make its growth as one of the basic principles of forest legislation.

The draft law addresses the issue of economic efficiency of activity of forest establishments and qualified performers of forestry works on non-tenanted timberland.

The document sets forth the standards to be met by persons engaged in reforestation. This includes the provision of equipment, machinery, forest seeds and planting material required for qualitative reforestation.

The draft law amending the Forest Code also provides for the measures to economically encourage the timberland tenants to perform reforestation works to a good quality. For example, in the areas where reforestation is carried out in full and using the ball-rooted planting material and seeds with improved hereditary properties or planting material grown from them, the rental payment under the contract will be reduced. Also, if over 10 years the reproduction works are carried out in full, the entrepreneur receives the right to conclude a tenancy contract for another timberland.

Another vitally important aspect affecting the proposed changes concerns the new procedure for the establishment of “compensatory” forests on areas cut down when developing the mineral deposits, constructing pipelines, highways, power lines, placing the wood processing facilities in forest. The basic principle is that the territory covered by reforestation works should not be less than the area deforested.

In addition, the draft law provides that persons, who apply for transferring the forest reserve lands to the lands of other categories, are to provide for the establishment of “compensatory” forests on areas, not less than the areas excluded from the forest reserve.

Such “compensatory” forests will be established within the boundaries of the constituent of the Russian Federation on the territory of which the forest plantations are cut down against the facilities or transferred to the lands of other categories, according to the standards and in a manner to be determined by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Also the draft law contemplates the increasing of reforestation work transparency by regular posting in Internet the analytical information on areas on which reforestation is possible.

“The proposed amendments to the Forest Code of the Russian Federation will create conditions for reforestation works to be performed by the specialized forestry organizations having the necessary infrastructure, machinery, and equipment. The timberland tenant will be able to perform the works all by itself, but it should meet the standards for reforestation infrastructure availability. Thus, the forestry services market will appear that has a positive impact on the reforestation volume and quality.

The draft law creates additional incentives for high-quality reproduction of forests on timberland holdings using innovative technologies.

It will provide the elimination of such factor of forest cover percent reducing as “irrecoverable disposal of forest lands occupied by infrastructure facilities”. It will allow involving additional areas where reforestation is possible in allocation of felling,” commented on the legislative innovations, the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation – the Head of the Federal Forestry Agency Ivan Valentik.

As of today in the Republic of Tatarstan 2 research projects “Wood plantations development and use in the Republic of Tatarstan (LesPlan)” and “Optimization of mixed stands of English oak and small-leaved lime (OMSK)” are implemented.  The Russian parties to the project are the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan, Sabinskoye Forestry and Kaybitskoye Forestry. The German party to the project is the forestry department of Dresden University of Technology, Tharandt, Germany.

The project “Wood plantations development and use in the Republic of Tatarstan (LesPlan)” provides for the establishment of experimental fast-growing tree plantations, followed by the establishment of “industrial” plantations of aspen, larch, birch, and various clones of poplar. The purpose of the project is to detect species of woods that may provide an expedited afforestation, primarily on water and wind erosion areas in the Republic of Tatarstan.

The project was successfully launched in 2015. In spring 2016, the German scientists visited the Republic of Tatarstan. Together with the specialists of the Sabinskoye Forestry within the project “LesPlan” they have planted cultures on three experimental plots. 7 thousand units of planting material (poplar, aspen, larch, and birch) which survival rate was 90% have been planted.

According to forestry experts of Tatarstan, the implementation of “LesPlan” project will perform tasks aimed at forest cover percent growth in the republic. Currently, 17% of the total area of ​​the Republic of Tatarstan, or 1.27 million hectares, is covered by forest, while in the 19th century, the proportion of area covered by forest was about 50%. Same as the task of rapid afforestation, the fast-growing forest plantations should support the wood processing industry and bio-energetics industry.

The project “Optimization of mixed stands of English oak and small-leaved lime (OMSK)” is focused on the study of optimization of the number of seedlings when establishing the artificial plantations of English oak and small-leaved lime. In the Republic of Tatarstan the forest community of English oak and small-leaved lime is in the north-eastern boundary of their natural habitat. The research object is the oak forests located on the territory of the Kaybitsky and Tetyushsky forest establishments of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The Kaybitsky oak forests play significant ecological and economic role for the region. Within the framework of the “OMSK” project in May 2016 the experts of Dresden University of Technology (Tharandt) and the experts of VNIILM (Tatar Forest Experimental Station) and Kaybitsky Forest Establishment arranged the first Nelder’s circle. In June 2016 the scheduled check of seedling survival as well as the supplement and tendance in the pilot circle were carried out. The planned mixed plantings according to Nelder make it possible to monitor the effects of competition between two species in a small confined space, as well as its impact on the quality of the oak wood.

The “OMSK” project is a unique experiment in Russia in respect of the latest researches on oak and in respect of the oak cultures planting in practice. The scientists of Dresden University noted that the data analysis that is to be obtained during the experiment is possible only in a few years. This kind of experience gives an incentive for a long-term cooperation between Germany and Russia in the field of forest research.

In the House of Government of Tatarstan a meeting of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Ildar Khalikov with the scientists and forestry experts of Dresden University of Technology (Germany) was held. The experts of the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan also took part in the event.

“Today, the leadership of the republic set task not only to preserve but also to make every effort for the development of forest plantations in Tatarstan. Forests cover only 17 percent of our territory. For us it is a very low figure,” said Ildar Khalikov. He recalled that in October 2015, Kazan hosted a conference with the participation of the Russian and German forestry experts. They discussed the issues of cooperation concerning implementation of advanced developments in the field of conservation, protection and reproduction of forests. This year, the similar event was held in Germany.

The conservation of forests as the main factor of environmental protection is of particular importance in connection with the implementation of promising research projects on the territory of the republic. The scientists of Tharandt city visited the Republic of Tatarstan within the framework of the German-Russian projects “Wood plantations development and use in the Republic of Tatarstan (LesPlan)” and “Optimization of mixed stands of English oak and small-leaved lime (OMSK)”.

Today, on October 17, 2016 the scientists of the forestry department of Dresden University of Technology, Tharandt, Germany, are expected to arrive at the Republic of Tatarstan. As part of the working visit the German experts will inspect their experimental plots in the Sabinskoye Forestry and Kaybitskoye Forestry, and discuss the results of the works performed. Looking back, on the territory of the Republic of Tatarstan 2 German-Russian projects “Wood plantations development and use in the Republic of Tatarstan (LesPlan)” and “Optimization of mixed stands of English oak and small-leaved lime (OMSK)” are implemented. The Russian parties to the project are the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan, Sabinskoye Forestry and Kaybitskoye Forestry.

The program includes the meeting of timber industry experts of Dresden University of Technology with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Ildar Khalikov.

The German parties to the project are Prof. Dr. Albrecht Bemmann, Prof. Dr. Sven Wagner, Dr. Martin Hofmann, Dr. Anne Moosmann, M. Sc. Anastasia Wallraff, Ass. iur. Kathleen Mikhalk., Thomas Huber.

The editorial staff of Lesnaya Gazeta celebrates its anniversary – 90 years. It is one of the oldest publications in Russia. The first issue titled the “Leaflet of Woodcutter” was released on October 17, 1926. This day is officially considered the birthday of Lesnaya Gazeta. 90 years are a whole era. During this period the name of the publication changed several times: “Listok lesoruba (Leaflet of Woodcutter and Wood-floater)”, “Lesnoy rabochiy (Forest Worker)”, “Lesnaya promyshlennost (Timber industry)”. Since 1990 and until now the publication is issued under the name “Lesnaya Gazeta (Forest Newspaper)”.

Lesnaya Gazeta several times became the winner of creativity competitions of the USSR Union of Journalists, awarded the diplomas of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, the Central Committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League and the USSR Ministry of Education, the USSR Chamber of Commerce for the active promotion of international economic relations. In 1976 the newspaper was awarded the Order of Red Banner of Labor. In 1986 it was presented in the pavilion “Sovetskaya pechat” at the Exhibition of Economic Achievements of the USSR. Lesnaya Gazeta is a winner of the National Environmental Award 2016 of the Russian environmental movement; in connection with the 90th anniversary, it was awarded the highest award of the Russian environmental movement - an honorary diploma and a medal “For the conservation nature of Russia”.

Today, Lesnaya Gazeta is read in Russia, the CIS countries, as well as in England, Italy, China, the USA, Finland, Japan and South Korea.