23.08.2023, Bernd Wippel, unique land use GmbH, Head of Forestry Department and Volker Sasse, SFI-Project leader, took part in a field trip to the forest enterprise in Korоsten (approx. 160 km north-west of Kyiv) and its wood processing capacities as well as a tree nursery in Ovruch (approx. 35 km north of Korоsten). Both facilities of State Enterprise “Forests of Ukraine” appeared brand new, exceptional modern and very well organised.
The tree nursery is laid out over a large area, and the equipment and infrastructure is very modern. The nursery opened just a year ago and produces container plants, mainly pine, some larch. Chief Forester and production head informed about excellent breeding successes. An intense debate arose on whether artificial planting should not be concentrated on calamity and clear-cut areas. German experts raised the question whether the enormous potential of natural regeneration should be used wherever possible order to take advantage of natural silvicultural processes.
At the visited wood processing facility in Korosten the production capacities were also impressive by modernity and cleanness. In contrast to these capacities the figures presented by the management of the daily firewood quantity produced seemed low. The Сhief Forester also presented the safety equipment for fighting forest fires. For this task, this unit is a focal station for the region. Theys forestry unit also has new timber harvesting technology, such as modern forwarder for skidding logs. In contrast to the usually proclaimed “strained financing of forestry” the visited facilities showed the huge investment potential of Ukrainian state forestry sector.
