Specialists of the state enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” have planted more than 600 hectares of forests on land damaged by illegal amber mining in Rivne region.
They told about this in a story for the online news resource Podrobytsi.
According to foresters, over the years of illegal mining, “black diggers” have turned 4000 hectares of land into a desert, of which 2000 hectares are forest land. For more than 5 years, Ukraine has had a law on legal amber mining. Therefore, now these areas are officially mined by companies that have received special permits. According to the law, investors are obliged to rehabilitate all the mined lands. That is why they finance the planting of pine and birch trees by forestry enterprises in the affected areas.
Ivan Shvyrid, a forester at Volodymyrets forestry, says that today there are isolated cases of illegal amber mining, but in the mid-2000s it was a “psychosis” when both young and old surrounding forests planted during the Polish era were destroyed with shovels and pumps in a couple of years.
The workers mixed the fertile layer of soil in which trees can grow with sand and clay, the forester says. This made it unsuitable for plant life.
The first trees were planted on the mangled land 4 years ago. More than 80 thousand coniferous and deciduous trees were planted to make the 10.3-hectare plot look like a forest in the future. The plantations are now in good condition. Solar Craft LLC, which has a mining license, transferred UAH 298 thousand to the state enterprise for the work carried out by the forestry.
Journalists were shown another area that was recently reforested. The foresters promise that in 6-7 years there will be a full-fledged forest plantation.
Currently, both plots, with a total area of more than 25 hectares, are owned by the Volodymyrets village council. Its head Vasyl Kovenko said that the community wants to allocate these land plots for recreation, is looking for an investor, and is preparing a package of documents.
As EcoPolitic previously reported, according to eco-activists, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine has approved the destruction of forests for amber mining in Rivne region.
