Polyus is supporting a reforestation project in the Boguchansky District, after local forests were left devastated following recent wildfires. The Company is working in cooperation with the local forestry office, whose specialists prepared the soil and sowed the seeds in Spring 2021, with around two million pine trees having already sprouted.
Following the wildfires, the soil was damaged and no trees survived to help naturally restart the reforestation process, meaning artificial repopulation methods were required.
The forest floor is now covered with six-month-old tree seedlings, with each and every needle being carefully monitored by specialists. Before the wildfires, this area was densely populated, but before this project began it was almost bare, with only grass and bushes. This encouraged Polyus to take action and help revive the area.
Sergey Bryukhanov, Forestry Officer for the Boguchansky District, commented,«The reforestation efforts in the Boguchansky District being carried out by Polyus Krasnoyarsk started in March, with specialists from the Boguchansky Forestry Office beginning to plan, treating the soil and the sowing the seeds. Bulldozers and other heavy equipment were required to create firebreaks, dividing the forests into separate sections with 25 hectares of empty space between them to prevent the spread of future fires. The next step was to start sowing the seeds, using trees that are native to the region».
Aleksey Shlyatsev, Senior Reforestation Specialist at Polyus Krasnoyarsk, added,«The first set of results show that around two million conifer seeds have sprouted in more than 450 hectares, with planting of young trees continuing into next year. Initiatives such as this are new for Polyus, but we always take extra care to preserve the biodiversity of the regions where we operate. The project will continue throughout next year, when we will plant seedlings instead of seeds».
Vadim Plyakin, Director of Legal Affairs at Polyus Krasnoyarsk, commented,«The young trees will be monitored by the district’s forestry offices, and the pines will regularly be monitored over the coming years».
This article was originally published at: http://krasnoyarsk-news.net/society/2021/09/13/238334.html