MOGILEV, 10 February (BelTA) – Reforestation, improvement of the woodworking practices, and export growth will be among the priorities of Belarus' forestry policy in 2017, Belarusian Forestry Minister Mikhail Amelyanovich told BelTA before the final board meeting of the Mogilev State Industrial Forestry Association on 10 February.

Forest maintenance and protection were named among the priority tasks for forestry specialists in Mogilev Oblast and across the country for 2017.

The country has developed a large-scale program for modernization of the woodworking industry. Considerable efforts were made to implement this task in 2016, and the effort will be continued in 2017. Mogilev Oblast is working hard to mechanize the wood production processes through the application of special equipment at key forest use sites and the upgrade of different wood production facilities. Plans have been made to purchase splitting equipment, timber dryers, machinery for the manufacture of wood chips to be supplied to utilities and construction companies and boiler houses. “The plans are vast and ambitious, but I believe that the forestry specialists of the region will fulfill them and improve their performance in the near future,” Mikhail Amelyanovich said.

He noted that the Mogilev State Industrial Forestry Association was the second best performing regional association in the country in 2016. “Over the past year, the association fulfilled all the social and economic development targets. That was thanks to the great performance of the forestry sector, the increase in the industrial output, and the development of hunting tourism. Considerable economic results were achieved,” Mikhail Amelyanovich noted.