More than 2,000 hectares of wooded protection strips in the central and southern districts of Moldova have been rehabilitated during four years within the Moldova Agricultural Competitiveness Project (MAC-P), the subcomponent “Support for the Rehabilitation of Wooded Protection Strips”. Deputy Minister of Agriculture Ion Apostol told a news conference that the wooded strips now occupy 1.7% of the arable land. Under the European standards, the area should be extended to at least 4% during the next few years, IPN reports.
Ion Apostol said the wooded strips are about 30,000 hectares in area. Over 5,000 ha of these are managed by the state, while 24,000 ha are privately owned. The project to rehabilitate the wooded strips is managed by forestry companies and emphasis is placed on the prevention of soil degradation. There were planted high-yield trees, mainly walnut trees and acacias. Besides yielding wood, the wooded strips also prevent soil erosion and keep moisture in soil. They also protect the adjoining farmland and help increase their productivity. In the long run, the project aims to improve the environmental conditions. The first results will be achieved in three-six years, while the maximal ones in 12 years.
Ion Talmaci, technical vice director of the Forest Research and Management Institute that is managed by the Forestry Agency “Moldsilva”, which is responsible for he elaboration, promotion and monitoring of this component of the MAC-P Project, said the rehabilitation of wooded strips was a dynamic process that involved over 70 mayor’s offices. At the initial phase, there were drawn up a number of guidelines to help the involved sides learn about their tasks and roles. The involved forestry companies cooperated each with 10-12 mayor’s offices with which they signed wooded strip rehabilitation and guarding contracts.
About 12,500 saplings were provided free to mayor’s offices for rehabilitating the wooded strips. About 23 million lei was allocated from the state budget for restoring the wooded strips. The World Bank provided US$2.3 million in support. This money was used to purchase agricultural machinery needed in the tree planting works. The machinery will be transmitted to “Moldsilva” and will be used in works to extended forests in Moldova.
