Belarus is ready to cooperate with Armenia within framework of 10  million seedling planting program

ArmInfo.Belarus is ready to cooperate with Armenia within the framework of the 10 million seedling planting program. On March 12, Vitaly Drozhzha, Minister of  Forestry of the Republic of Belarus, told reporters about this,  answering a question from ArmInfo.

<In principle, we are ready to supply a similar volume of seedlings.  However, there are issues that we need to resolve. I think that in  the near future we will achieve some positive results in this  direction>, he noted.  The Minister praised the fact that Armenia  pays very serious attention to afforestation of its territory.   <Forests in the Republic of Belarus occupy almost 40% of the total  territory. In Armenia, this figure is 11%, and it is encouraging that  you set a goal to double this figure by 2050, at least, " Drozhzha  said.

<We will do our best to assist you. We have fairly good experience in  forestry, starting from growing planting material using European  technologies up to forest inventory, administration, cutting, and so  on>, he said.  According to him, the issues of cooperation in the  field of the forest sector will be discussed at a meeting with the  Minister of Environment of the Republic of Armenia Erik Grigoryan.  Drozhzha reminded that in 2018, the Belarusian side supplied 50  thousand seedlings to Armenia, and the so-called Friendship Forest  was founded.

To recall, having ratified the Paris Agreement, Armenia committed to  increase the size of forest territories by 285 thousand hectares by  2050, which implies the planting of 800-900 million trees. This means  that up to 30 million seedlings should be planted at an annual rate.  This process automatically implies the creation of new nurseries of  seedlings, the creation of additional jobs, active interaction with  communities adjacent to forests, and so on.

Earlier, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that in 2020, 10  million trees will be planted in Armenia. Tentatively, these works  will cover 3300 hectares, however, it is possible that some of the  seedlings will be planted on the territory of communities that need  to increase green areas.