2020

The Spring Season of Reforestation has Come to an End, Tending of Young Stands has been Started

The spring season of reforestation is over – more than 28 million high-value forest trees have been planted on more than 10 300 hectares of state forests. However, this does not mean that activities in the forest have stopped. In order for the young forest to be of high quality and durable, agro-technical tending work is underway in the areas managed by JSC “Latvia's State Forests” (LVM), and the tending of young stands will be resumed in July.

“The first forecasts that the afforestation works would continue successfully as early as from February, however, did not come true. The cold nights and the relatively small amount of sunlight during the day introduced their own corrections. We started a stable planting season at the beginning of April, planting more than 1 400 ha of forest every week,” tells Edmunds Linde, LVM Forestry Planning Manager.

The remaining afforestation work will continue in the autumn. It is planned to plant a total of 10 475 hectares of forest in 2020 and restore 5 460 hectares naturally.

Agro-technical tending is needed to provide enough sunlight and nutrients

In order for the young forest to grow beautiful and resistant to wind and snow, it must be taken care of providing the most favourable growing conditions for the trees. Each stage of tending work, which is implemented in the forests managed by LVM, has its own goal.

Shortly after planting, agro-technical tending is carried out to free the young plantings from grass shading and root competition, allowing the trees to grow peacefully. This year, it is planned to cultivate 27.2 thousand hectares this way, mainly artificially regenerated areas that are up to four years old. Great attention is paid to pine and birch plantations. These tree species are sensitive to shading and need sunlight.

“Agro-technical tending is a type of work that is performed depending on the need in the specific area. If summer is dry and cold, there is no need to take extra care of the areas, but if summer is rainy, warm or even hot, there will be more areas that overgrow and where agro-technical tending is needed. Therefore, agro-technical tending works are currently underway in all regions,” tells LVM Forestry Planning Manager.

Tending of young stands to take care of the quality forest of the future

It is planned to resume intensive tending of young stands in the state forests in July; works are interrupted every spring during the bird nesting period. In spring and early summer, tending of young stands is not carried out in deciduous and pine forests that are up to ten years old, as well as in up to 30-year-old spruce stands. The works are not performed in micro-reserves and their buffer zones, specially protected nature territories, water and bog protection zones.

The tending of young stands is carried out not only to create a stand composition suitable for the growing conditions and to improve the growing conditions of trees by creating healthy, sustainable stands that allow trees to grow faster and healthier, but also to reduce the risk of snow and wind damage and promote diversity of species, visual quality and cultural heritage and reduce future logging costs. A brushcutter and chainsaw are used to take care of young stands.

LVM experts urge people to be attentive when in young stands, where rich raspberry crops grow, and to move around carefully so as not to damage the young forest seedlings under their feet.