News & Events in Belarus
Lukashenko: Forestry is as important for Belarus as agriculture
Aleksandr Lukashenko takes part in the national subbotnik in the Pripyatsky National Park, April 2020
When speaking at the Belarusian People's Congress in 2006, the head of state outlined the main task for Belarus in foreign trade for the next five-year period: to reduce the export of raw materials and increase the export of high-tech products and technologies and to discontinue sale of round timber. The forestry industry was in for drastic changes. In the new episode of BelTA's Youtube project "After the fact: Lukashenko's Decisions" we will talk about the forestry industry of Belarus, how Lukashenko's decisions impacted its development and what, in the opinion of the president, can get us rich?
How large is the forest cover in Belarus?
Let's start with some statistics. Belarus is one of the ten states in Europe with major forest cover. Forests occupy 40% of the country's territory. The average age of trees is 57 years. The most common species are pine and birch. Rossony District has the largest forest cover in the country. We also have Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the largest relict forest in Europe. Some trees are about 600 years old there. Why are we telling you all this? To show that forests are not only a natural resource, but also a valuable resource that requires proper management. Let's be honest, this is not something Belarusians have always been good at.
“Forests are a strategic resource of our country, and we have no right to mismanage it as we do it today. Today you can get rich on timber. Meanwhile we subsidize the industry from the budget. It is important to streamline the forestry and logging industries in the shortest possible time. The forestry industry is taking the central stage. For us, it is growing even more important than agriculture,” the head of state said during a working trip to Ivatsevichi District in 2006.
The president gave orders to tighten the rules in the forestry industry, to eliminate mismanagement, to invest in the industry modernization, to use modern full-cycle technologies, to allow private companies to work in logging but under strict control. Enterprises were expected to reduce costs and improve product quality. And in no case sell timber on the cheap.
"The way timber is processed and sold in Belarus can be considered a crime against people,” the president said during a trip to Ivatsevichi District in 2006. Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that forests are the national wealth of the Belarusian people, a natural resource, growing in importance every year. ts rational use is the most important issue.
Despite the significant forest reserves and wooded areas, the share of the timber industry in Belarus' gross domestic product is only 2.3%. This is a low figure when compared with the EU countries where the industry contributes more than 25% to the economy. “This is the first evidence of a criminal negligence of our forest resources,” the Belarusian leader noted.
How many trees are planted in Belarus every year?
Since then the industry has planted as much as they have logged. This requirement has been prescribed in the Forest Code. Today, millions of seedlings are grown in nurseries, but once the country was badly lacking planting material. With the support of the state, modern greenhouses were built; fields for growing seedlings were allocated. A national breeding and seed-growing center was set up in the country.
Belarus' First Deputy Forestry Minister Aleksandr Dragun spoke about the national forestry breeding and seed production center. “When the president visited the breeding center, he was approached with a request to allocate an additional plot of land. We were given 20 hectares of land around it. We have made a good use of them and built a modern center there. Thanks to the president's decisions, we have started to engage in science. We have built three more centers, in addition to the main one. Thanks to these decisions, the work continues.”
Forests do not grow on their own. Every year, specialists plant new forests on at least 30,000 hectares. The Forestry Ministry operates about 80 nurseries and four biofactories. For example, last year we grew 400 million pieces of planting material and planted 35,000 hectares of new forests. These are mainly conifers such as pine and spruce. We also plant oak, maple, ash, birch, alder and linden. Scientists are constantly working to improve the survival rate and productivity of forest crops.
“The matter is about the creation of forest crops with root balls. The main task of the centers is to carry out the selection of forest plants and create highly productive high-quality planting material. Every year, 30-33 million root-balled plants are grown in Belarus,” Aleksandr Dragun said.
The centers are engaged both in cultivation and also in science, processing of forest seed raw materials and storage. Their job is to provide forestries with high-quality seedlings.
Why does Lukashenko demand rational use of forests
On the order of the president, at least one hundred kilometers of roads in wooded areas are built annually. They are needed in order not only to harvest new natural resources but also to restore them in a timely manner, fight diseases and pests, and quickly eliminate forest fires. Last year, 25.7 million cubic meters of merchantable timber were harvested by all types of logging. Axes and saws were replaced by innovative equipment. What is important is that this equipment is produced domestically. One new-generation harvester replaces 30 people with chainsaws. Timber trucks, loaders, brush cutters, chippers, lifts for collecting cones are also in service. All equipment, without exaggeration, is world-class.
“Why do I focus on forestry? Wherever I go, they lavish praises on our agriculture, agricultural machinery, facilities and so on. When we set out to restructure our economy, our goal was the following. We have land and forests. These are our resources. Let's rely on our resources and make something good of them. The agricultural industry operates smoothly today. They plant crops in an orderly manner and no one even notices it. We harvest crops in the same way. In terms of forestry, what are the problems today? Everything in terms of machines has been done. People have jobs. This is our resource. This is the second sector we should focus on. . <...> Agriculture and forestry are our huge resources that we must use,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said during a working trip to Minsk Oblast in 2915.
The president's stringent requirement is to export products with high added value only. Almost all woodworking, furniture and pulp-and-paper enterprises have been upgraded to solve this strategic task. As a result, wood processing depth in Bellesbumprom Concern has reached 100%. This means that the enterprises have achieved zero-waste production. Modernization made it possible to reach a qualitatively new level of technological development.
”We must export forestry products with high added value. Otherwise we will continue buying furniture from Germany, Slovakia or somewhere else made of our timber. We must strive to produce it ourselves. I understand that we cannot process everything and sell ready-made products with the highest added value. But recent history shows that we can do a lot. We have already started to deliver ready-made houses to France,” the head of state cited such an example of exporting high value added products in April 2020. Then, the Belarusian president was submitted the draft decree On forestry and timber sales.
What is the Belarusian forestry industry?
Today, the forestry industry consists of five sectors: logging, woodworking, pulp and paper, and wood chemistry. For example, more than 1,200 Belarusian enterprises produce furniture. They sell it into more than 70 countries. As for cellulose production, Belarus produced 1,600 tonnes in 2017, 290,000 tonnes in 2021 and has plans to reach 370,000 tonnes a year. This will become possible as soon as the bleached pulp plant in Svetlogorsk reaches its design capacity. This is the first such production facility in the former Soviet space. Figures speak volumes. Cellulose earns five times more than timber it is produced from.
”The president has always paid as much attention to the forestry industry as to agriculture. Forests occupy 40% of the country's territory and make a contribution to its economy. We all rely on forests. We love spending time in forests. Forests are also an essential raw material for the timber industry. The decisions made in the 1990's have been bringing positive results,” Aleksandr Dragun said.
He is convinced that thanks to the support and funding Belarus was able to build a self-sufficient industry, which meets the needs of the domestic market and sells abroad.
Given such rapid economic growth of the industry and its export potential, it is important to maintain reforestation efforts. The president has reiterated this many times. Every piece of vacant land should be planted with forests. Over the past three years, reforestation and afforestation operations have been carried out on the area of 145,000 hectares. This means Belarusians grow more trees than they cut down. This is no reason for complacency, however.
“We need to fill every bit of vacant land with forests. Let alone the places where forest has been harvested. Forest must be immediately restored over there. We need to plant trees over discontinued farms, around agrotowns and large villages for the future generations. Forests need to be planted in places where water towers and vehicle depots used to be. As well as [former] dairy farms and animal husbandry farms. We have so many vacant land parcels like that! Thousands and thousands [of hectares]! Why don't we plant trees where it is possible?! Or why do we do it lazily?” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized the inadmissibility of careless attitude to the vacant Belarusian lands while receiving the report on forestry in March 2020.
How does Belarus restore its forests?
Climate change, abnormal heat waves, and human carelessness. All this poses a threat to forests. More than 500 wildfires were extinguished this season. The head of state also praised the work of forestry enterprises during the drought period. A network of fire observation posts helps promptly respond to emergencies. There are more than 700 of them across the country. All towers are equipped with CCTV cameras. Specialists also believe an automated smoke detection system to be a highly promising tool. By 2024 this system is to cover all the forests across the country.
“Friendly countries are interested in Belarus' reforestation practices. When there was a huge wildfire in Kazakhstan, the ambassador came to us to ask for help. Armenia, all regions of Russia are studying our best practices. Delegations from Russia visit our centers every month. They studied our experience and hailed it as very advanced,” Aleksandr Dragun said.
The first deputy forestry minister said that the Belarusian president's decision to keep the forestry industry running was very far-sighted. “Belarus has preserved the industry which was founded during the Soviet times. Many countries envy Belarus because it was in no hurry to implement reforms. It has preserved the best practices and built on them gradually.,” Aleksandr Dragun said.
If you think that reforestation is the job specialists only can perform, you are mistaken. Each of us can do much more than plant just one tree, as popular saying goes. It is possible to start by taking part in subbotnik [a voluntary labor day] or the Forest Week nationwide campaign. This year the country held the 16th edition of the Forest Week campaign. Every volunteer joining the campaign is provided with necessary planting material and tools. Just do your bit for the environment....
“A forest is a forest. Almost half of the country is covered by forests. This is our asset, a God's gift. And we should not only preserve it, but take good care of it. We should harvest mature forest in time, process it, so that the country can make good use of it,” the Belarusian president told the officials who presented a report on the performance of the country's forestry industry in August 2023.
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