7 February 2018 - By Sara Israfilbayova - azernews.az
Over the past 16 years, about 159,000 hectares of forest have been restored in Azerbaijan.
Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Azerbaijan Firdovsi Aliyev made the remarks at an event dedicated to the project on monitoring and assessment of forest resources to strengthen knowledge about the forest fund of Azerbaijan.
Addressing the event, Aliyev said that 52,100 hectares of new forest areas were created and 106 million new trees were planted during the period.
“In general, in recent years, after work on cleaning and restoration of arid territories, large-scale landscaping work was carried out. More than four million trees were planted on the territory of more than 4,000 hectares, a drip irrigation system with a total length of 11,000 kilometers was created,” noted the deputy minister.
He went on to say that the projects to create modern agroforestry, implemented under an instruction of the country’s leadership, should play an important role in the diversification of the economy.
“More than a million fruit trees have been planted on a territory of more than 4,000 hectares so far. Such measures, along with protecting the environment, play an important role in strengthening food security,” added Aliyev.
Currently, the area of forests is 1,021 million hectares in Azerbaijan or 11.8 percent of the country’s area. About 261,000 hectares of which are located in the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia. There is approximately 0.12 hectares of forestland per capita.
Forests in Azerbaijan belong to group I for their important degree and are spread differently throughout the regions of the country. One of the specific features of these regions is the availability of various natural resources, such as mineral water, energy and fertile soil. The forests serve a function that no other natural components can. Forests are the natural matters that promote the stabilization of such important biosphere components as water, air and soil.
The forests of Azerbaijan (85 percent) mainly cover the slopes of the Major Caucasus, Minor Caucasus and Talysh Mountains.
The forest policy of the country is managed by the Department for Forests Development under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.
The department takes care of the protection and preservation of forests, restoration and planting of forests, preparation of planting stocks, storage of forest trees and bushes, preservation of forests and other forestry actions, which includes the efficient and purposeful utilization of forest reserves and related spheres of agriculture. It also works on the improvement of the protection of forest soil, water preservation, a clean environment, sanitarian and hygienic actions, preservation of species of animals in the forests, ensuring biodiversity, the establishment of cultural, scientific and recreational complexes throughout nature, as well as the protection and expansion of the gene pool in the growth of forest seed.
Over the past few years, the forest area in the country increased from 11.4 to 11.8 percent.
Today, the country continues its successful policy of protecting the forests and realizing the greening projects.
Azerbaijan was ranked the 31st among 180 countries in 2016 Environmental Performance Index – ranking, evaluating how nations protect their ecosystems and human health, prepared by researchers from Yale and Columbia University.