The area of forest lands managed by the Gomel State Forestry and Agricultural Association is 1,864,900 hectares.
Of this, 1,606,500 hectares are covered by forests.
Coniferous forests occupy most of the forest land in the Gomel region – 992,500 hectares.
Deciduous forests occupy 494,100 hectares.
A distinctive feature of the Gomel region's forest lands is the larger area occupied by oak groves than in other regions of Belarus: 109,000 hectares.
The total forest stock of the Gomel State Forestry and Agricultural Association is 340 million cubic meters. timber per hectare of forested area there are 206 cubic meters.
The average age of forests in the Gomel region is 56 years. (the composition of the forest stand is 6С1Д2Б1ОлчКЛЕОсГр).
- Young stands - 21.3%,
- Middle-aged - 39.3%,
- Mature - 23.9%,
- Ripe and overmature - 15.5%.
- Pine stands - 60.6%,
- Birch - 20.6%,
- Black alder - 8.7%,
- Oak - 6.8%,
- Spruce - 1.2%,
- Aspen - 1.2%,
- Maple, ash, hornbeam - 0.7%,
- Other species - 0.2%.
The key areas of forestry are reforestation and afforestation, forest seed production, and nurseries.
Annually, about 7,000 hectares of new forests are created in the Gomel Region through sowing and planting. In recent years, due to the development of dying pine stands, this volume has increased to 10,000 hectares.
Of the total volume of forest plantations, coniferous and hardwood species account for 95.6%, and softwood species (birch, linden, black alder, etc.) account for 4.4%.
Last year, 6,108 hectares of forest crops were planted with selective planting material, which is 163.7% of the planned area and 54.8% of the total forest sowing and planting area, while forest crops with closed-root planting material accounted for 11% (i.e., 1,100 hectares).
The Gomel Region has a forest seed base of approximately 3,000 hectares, including 250 hectares of forest seed plantations, and the area of genetic reserves is approximately 2,000 hectares. We harvest an average of over 2 tons of Scots pine seeds annually (depending on yield).
Every year, we increase our harvest of selected Scots pine and English oak seeds, and to obtain high-quality forest seed, we use 13 cone dryers, which are installed in forestry enterprises across the region.
To ensure high-quality forest restoration, nursery development is being systematically carried out at the forestry institutions of the Gomel State Forestry and Forestry Organization.
As of June 1 of this year, the Gomel Region has 10 permanent forest nurseries with a total area of 150 hectares (in the Buda-Koshelevo Experimental, Gomel Experimental, Zhlobin, Kalinkovichi, Miloshevichi, Mozyr Experimental, Petrikovsky, Rechitsa Experimental, Svetlogorsk, and Khoiniki forestry enterprises).
Over the past 10 years, four new nurseries have been created with a total area of 20 hectares (in the Buda-Koshelevsky Experimental, Gomel Experimental, Petrikovsky, and Rechitsa Experimental Forestry Enterprises).
The average annual production of standard planting material in nurseries has increased by 117% in recent years, reaching 54 million units this year, including 14 million units of selected planting material, more than 2 million of which are closed-root.
For cultivation; 51 greenhouses, with a total area of over 2 hectares, are used for standard planting material. An average of 22 hectares of land is used for open-root cultivation, over 1 hectare for closed-root cultivation, and 0.4 hectares for green space.
