Donetsk, May 29 — DAN. About 50 percent of woodland in the Donetsk People’s Republic has been destroyed or mined during hostilities, said chairman of the DPR State Forestry Committee Alexey Shebalkov.
“The Republic’s forest coverage in relation to land area is 7 percent (195,000 hectares of forest overall), ” Shebalkov told the Donetsk News Agency. “According to our earlier estimates, at least 20,000 hectares of woodland (or 10 percent) were completely destroyed in fighting, and another 70,000 hectares are accessible in principle but we don’t know what happened: some forests might have been destroyed and some might have been mined. Mine clearance operations will be needed anyway.”
The ongoing fighting endangers the forests in the Slavyansk and Krasny Liman districts. They are largely coniferous forests; the fire danger period is about to begin, so wild fires are possible amid hostilities, he said.
Earlier reports said that Donetsk People’s Republic authorities planned reforestation of 300 hectares in 2023-2025.*jk
