At the Branch “Pivdennyi Forest Office” of SFE “Forests of Ukraine,” experiments are underway with new technologies for forest creation through planting and seeding

This spring, at the Branch “Pivdennyi Forest Office”, it was decided to plant Pallas’s pine for the first time without first growing seedlings in nurseries!

The experimental method mirrors natural forest establishment and allows the trees to acclimate more quickly to site conditions.

To ensure a supply of high-quality seed, in 2023 the Branch “Pivdennyi Forest Office” acquired a modern conifer cone‐processing facility thanks to investments by SFE “Forests of Ukraine.”

At the same time, sufficient planting stock for forest regeneration has been grown.

As part of the experiment, 2.5 kg of Pallas’s pine seed material was sown over 1.4 ha. Nearly 70% of the seedlings have already germinated and begun to grow.

The approximate cost of afforesting such a plot with nursery‐grown seedlings is around UAH 18,600. Sowing seed reduces expenses by threefold!

There are many factors impeding the application of the new method – from soil characteristics to bird populations in the forests (which can damage the seedlings).

At the same time, establishing forest by direct seeding minimizes the costs of seedling preparation and cultivation and will increase the profitability of operations at the Branch “Pivdennyi Forest Office” of SFE “Forests of Ukraine.”

During the summer, several manual tending operations are planned for the forest cultures to oxygenate the roots and clear the site of weeds. If by autumn the survival rate of the forest cultures exceeds 50 %, the experiment will be considered successful. In the future, this will enable a substantial reduction in forest regeneration costs.