FOREST REGENERATION
Every year in Belarus new forests are created on the sizeable areas, more than 100 t of forest seed are stored up.
2010 forest regeneration and forestation were realized on the area of 29 thousand ha. In the forest nurseries of the forest enterprises there were produced 274.7 million items of standard planting material. Altogether more than 260 different forms and species of woody plants are grown by the enterprises of the Ministry of Forestry.
In the forests of the Ministry of Forestry the share of forest cultures is increasing which are created using the selection seed and planting material: 2006 – 11%; 2007 – 12,6%; 2008 – 16,7%; 2009 – 17,9%; 2010 – 25%.
In the forest fund there were realized many activities on creation of the permanent forest seed stock, this enables successful enhancement of the forest fund structure, increasing the productivity and sustainability of forests. To harvest the best forest seed for new forests the selection forest evaluation was realized, more than 1.1 thousand ha of advantage stands were marked out, 1683 ha of forest seed plantations were created and 278 ha of permanent seed sites formed.
At the moment in the cold stores of the forest seed shops there are kept more than 17 t of coniferous species seed. This can handle the need of forest enterprises for this sowing material for 3 years in case of crop failure.
For the near-term outlook in the field of forest regeneration there are set the following tasks:
- Till 2012 modernization of the facilities on forest seed processing in the Republican Forest Selection and Seed-Growing Center and Gorki forest enterprise; application of the latest technologies of growing of large-sized planting material and in forcer in 12 permanent forest nurseries;
- Forestation and putting into use of more than 4 thousand ha of the not fruitful former agricultural lands;
- Organization of the production of equipment for forest nurseries and cultures in engineering plants of the republic.
Genetic and selection basis of forest regeneration in Belarus in the context of implementation of Convention on Biodiversity
Forest regeneration and forestation in Belarus guarantees:
obligatory forest regeneration on cleared areas, fire-sites and other categories of land during 2-3 years after their formation;
compliance of tree species with conditions of vegetation;
rational use of forest resources lands;
preservation of forest biodiversity and gene pool;
enlarging of oak, ash, bass forest area;
creation mainly of mixed forest stands;
improving of protective and recreational characteristics of forests, their productivity and sustainability;
preservation and increasing of the percentage of forest land in the Republic of Belarus;
satisfaction of social and economic needs for various forest products.
Projection and production; technical acceptance of work and inventory of forest and plantation cultures, protective stands; natural forest regeneration maintaining; underwood preservation of main species in clear fellings; attendant regeneration in selective fellings of final harvest and in improvement fellings are accomplished according to Technical codex of common practice “Instruction on Forest Regeneration and Forestation in the Republic of Belarus”.
Priority directions of genetic and selection forest regeneration in republic are:
- development and improving of forest seed stock;
- selection of forest tree species;
- preservation of forest genetic resources.
Development and improving of constant forest seed stock (CFSS) must provide forestry enterprises with valuable seed of forest tree species. It is planned to use by forest creation 50% of seed from the CFSS and 50% from the best natural stands.
For that there are developed two directions: population and plantation seed growing.
Forest seed stock of population selection includes: advantage trees, forest seed reserves, forest seed plots. It is intended allotting of commercial selection seed stands.
Main task of forest selection is quality improving and productivity increasing of forests through heredity and variability control of woody plants. The objective of forest seed growing is getting of varietal seed and earmarking for a given area.
To achieve these goals the following selection methods are used: mass, group, individual, combined and mutational selection, cultivation of separate cells and tissues.
For improving of quantitative and qualitative attributes principal direction it is planned to use population selection.
For improving of qualitative attributes of trees and wood, mass augmentation in short growing cycles individual selection is used.
Both directions foresee initiation of posterity trial plots.
The key pillar of scientific base for selection activities is developing of long term program of forest genetic improvement.
They are two directions of forest genetic resources preservation: preservation of population and species gene pool in-situ (in natural stands) and ex-situ (outside of natural stands). Primary is the first direction, because it allows preserving of gene pool of forest species in corpore.
These tasks are solved by the Forest Selection and Seed-Growing Centre and its branchs, as well as in forest species gene bank attached to Forest Research Institut.
| 
