LVM senior official Dace Ozola explains: “We had no snow this winter, spring came very early, and the ground is bone dry. Till this day we were highly concerned whether the seedlings would have sufficient moisture to grow normally. But true to legend and lore, rainfall appeared right after a brief frosty period, bringing renewed energy to workers and, of course, the young trees.”
The forest rejuvenation season is in two stages: spring and fall, with the former the most intense period. In spring 2014, it will affect a total of 8402 ha, and 556 ha this coming fall. Right now 62% of the planned volume of trees have been planted, with 53% of the total pine and 69% spruce.
602 ha out of 820 ha birch are already in the ground and thriving, the rest will be planted in the fall. Also of note, 81.3 ha of pine have been sown, instead of the initially planned 70 ha.
LVM renews its forests naturally and artificially: for every tree felled, at least two are planted. All decisions in the rejuvenation periods methods, species and time frame, are made in tandem with the decisions on clearing wooded areas. For productive and ecologically-sturdy growth, quality renewal is necessary with the appropriate species in the areas cleared.