Roslesinforg: fires can speed up the renewal of forests Rosleskhoz. They also find the damage from ground fires grossly exaggerated.
“Indeed, a top fire burns out the environment to the ground, disrupting the natural course of forest life. A grassroots fire, on the contrary, is like a wolf, a forest orderly, “Roslesinforg pointed out.
Last year, according to the department, about 9 million hectares were covered by fire, and only 15-20 percent of the plantations were killed, and therefore the losses can be considered greatly exaggerated. “Natural anomalies, namely forest fires, have always occurred in Russian forests, and they often speed up its renewal in this way,” the experts explained.
As for the damage from the fires of the past summer, the estimates can be presented only in a year. According to Roslesinforg experts, a significant part of the forest is able to recover without human assistance. They explained that if the fire covers 10 hectares of forest, this will not mean that the entire forest will die. It takes up to 15 years to renew a completely burnt site.
Forest fires, according to Roslesinforg, release valuable nutrients hidden in the forest floor. The ground cover is burned out, and the seeds fallen from the preserved trees can take root better, and the cones open better at high temperatures. Nevertheless, forest fires should not be confused with bursts of grass, which only have negative consequences.
In August, the head of the Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC) Valery Fadeev sent to Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko a letter in which he pointed out the problems of fighting forest fires in the country. The presidential adviser reproached the officials responsible for the protection of forests for excessive bureaucracy, which is useless during periods of extreme danger of fires across the country. He noted that serious fires are repeated for the fourth year in a row, but such damage to the environment, as in 2021, has not been observed during the entire period of observations of the HRC.