2015

Forest clean-up continues

Thanks to favorable weather condition and successful planning, the seasonal clean-up chores in new forest plantations  are half done – almost 20 thousand of 40.7 thousand hectares of young forest plantations  have been taken care of.

The largest forest planting  is held in the spring in order to resume again in the fall. This year, about 23 million high-grade tree seedlings were planted in a state forest area of 7.6 thousand hectares, with additional 1.2 hectares of existing forests being supplemented. The plan this year is to restore 14.6 thousand hectares of forests, both naturally and artificially. The company has also sown a new pine forest in an area of 64.5 hectares, using 21 kilograms of seeds.

In order for the forest to be durable against wind and frost, it needs to be tended. Every work stage has a specific goal.

Shortly after sowing, agrotechnical management is carried out in order to clear the young seedlings from grass shade and root competition, allowing the tree to grow without hindrance. "The plan this year is to tend to more than 24 thousand hectares of area, most of which consists of artificially-restored territories up to four years old. Most work will be done from August to October," says LVM Forest Restoration and Management Director Dace Ozola. At the moment, 6,979 hectares of young seedling plantations have been taken care of. The majority of them are pine-tree seedlings. Pine is very sensitive to shade; it requires sunlight.