Having regenerated an area of 13,803 hectares, AS “Latvijas valsts meži” (LVM) has concluded the spring forest planting season. The remaining forest regeneration and afforestation work, covering 127 ha, is planned for the autumn of 2024.
This year forest regeneration work began on 13 March with mechanised forest sowing. In total, 571 hectares of forest were sown using this method, completed in 45 days by two sowing machines that dispersed 183 kg of seed.
The largest volume of forest regeneration was carried out using hand tools. Forests were regenerated and established in this way across 11.9 thousand hectares, which is 96% of the total forest regeneration and afforestation volume planned for the spring. The greatest number – 17.8 million container seedlings – were planted this year using a planting tube. Bare-root seedlings with an improved root system, meanwhile, are planted with a spade or a planting spear – the plan this year is to plant and supplement stands with 9.9 million bare-root forest seedlings with an improved root system in this way.
Forests were also regenerated this spring by mechanised planting – this year forest will be regenerated in this way across 1,216 hectares, which is 9.5% of the total regeneration volume.
There are places in Latvia's state forests where natural forest regeneration is also carried out. This regeneration method is used in places where seed is successfully dispersed from neighbouring stands, or where the forest can be successfully regenerated from the root or stump shoots of the felled stand. A forest can be regenerated naturally if the neighbouring stand or the felled stand was of good quality. In total, natural forest regeneration is planned across 5.3 thousand hectares in 2024, and natural afforestation across 0.2 thousand hectares.
“Regenerating forest by planting is a responsible stage in the forest growing cycle, and in ideal conditions it should be completed in as short a period as possible. This is greatly helped by mechanised forest regeneration solutions, which LVM has used in its operations since 2018. Particularly significant were this spring's trials of the world's most powerful forest planting machine, PlantMax, in Latvian conditions. During the tests, 30 hectares of forest were regenerated in the Engure district. In places where there were few stumps, level terrain and long compartments, productivity reached 2,700 spruce container seedlings planted in a single hour, which is about one hectare. By comparison, using hand tools a person can plant an area of about 0.3 to 0.5 hectares in a day in previously prepared soil,” says Juris Katrevičs, LVM silviculture expert.
LVM nurseries grew 27.7 million high-quality forest seedlings for this spring's regeneration needs: 14.5 million pine, 7.7 million spruce and 3.7 million broadleaf seedlings. A further 1.8 million seedlings were grown to supplement regenerated areas.