Record-breaking forest planting season comes to a triumphant end 14.09

The RMK will be reforesting all clear cut areas to lay the foundations for a new generation of forest. The majority of forest plants are planted in spring, but a smaller amount has also been planted in autumn since 2012. Over the course of two weeks in September, one million bare-root spruce trees will be planted. Including the trees planted during the spring planting season, a record number of 22.7 million plants are being planted this year, of which 10.5 million are pine trees, 9.6 million are spruce, 2.45 million are birches and 140,000 are alders and oaks.

According to Toomas Väät, the Head of the Silviculture Division at RMK, the autumn planting seasons in the past nine years have been very successful. “A good amount of moisture and the cooler weather favour planting in autumn,” he explained. “Plus the autumn planting season helps to break up our workload, as over 20 million trees are planted in just a few months during the busy spring planting season. Proper planning of reforestation work is even more important in autumn, because we can also plant in areas with mineral soil, which prevents frost heaving."

Väät added that in addition to favourable weather conditions, the autumn planting season is good for planting in areas where work is not possible in spring due to the nesting season or the protected species living there. This autumn, another 20,000 plants will be planted on cutting areas with increased public interest in accordance with agreements entered into with local communities.

In recent years, RMK has increasingly forested areas in which forests have never previously grown, such as low-value grasslands, quarries and areas of shrubbery. A total of 500 hectares of such land will be regenerated this year, of which 36 hectares are areas where planting by hand would have been difficult due to the natural conditions. In these areas machine planting was used, which simultaneously prepares the soil and the plants.

"The spring planting season went really well, despite the restrictions we all faced during the state of emergency, which had an effect on just about everything we do,” Väät said. “But we followed the guidelines in our warehouses and in the forests." He added that he is particularly glad about the results and the record-breaking planting season given the unprecedented situation in spring.

The autumn spruce planting season lasts for two weeks. In addition to existing contracting partners, a further 132 RMK forestry workers are carrying out silviculture work. Public tree-planting events are not being held this year.

Additional information:
Toomas Väät
Head of Silviculture Division, RMK
toomas.vaat@rmk.ee
+372 52 05 734

Sille Ader
Head of Communications Department, RMK
sille.ader@rmk.ee
+372 5666 5896