- Of the six state-owned enterprises in Bulgaria, only the SWSFE has purchased a Harvester, the concept of which is to carry out thinning to create more sustainable forests.
- 100% is the afforestation after the huge fire in the region of the Kresnа Gorge in 2017.
- Up to now, more than 20 000 ha have been afforested on the territory of the SWSFE, and another 300 ha will be afforested next year.
In 2020, the Project ” Climate-Smart Forest Management for Central and Eastern Europe” CLIMAFORCEELIFE (LIFE19CCA/SK/001276)” has started, in which SWSFE and WWF Bulgaria are associated partners from the Bulgarian side. The activities of the project are financed by the European Commission in the amount of 55%, and the remaining funds come from the economic activity of the Enterprise. The harvester was purchased for the implementation of activity C1.2 “Modern methods for thinning of coniferous plantations ” on the territory of State Hunting Unit Vitoshko-Studena, State Forest Unit (SFU) Radomir, SFU Nevestino and SFU Kyustendil on a total area of 1000 ha. In the demonstration sites, forest plantations will be thinned using non-traditional methods and modern technique.
The need for this technique is dictated by current trends in logging. The lowest level of mechanization of logging processes is reported in Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. This is due to relatively cheaper labor (Moskalik et al. 2017). However, the number of people employed in forestry and logging decreased by 1,300 (9.8%) in 2017 compared to 2005 (explained by Eurostat 2020 statistics). During the preparation of the project, the following problems with forest plantations were identified:
- In the 20th century, coniferous plantations were created on huge areas at low altitudes, mainly from Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra;
- The purpose of coniferous plantations is mainly anti-erosion;
- In recent decades, these plantations (especially Pinus sylvestris) have been exposed to harmful impacts – drought, untimely felling or not being thinned (Milev et al. 2017, Ministry of Environment and Water 2019).
By experimenting with modern logging methods with specialized equipment, the option to make forest plantations more resistant to climate change will be revised.
According to the “CLIMAFORCEELIFE” project, 6 ha are currently afforested with drought-resistant tree species – Quercus ithaburensis, Quercus ilex , Quercus pubescens, Quercus coccifera, Pinus nigra on the territory of the SFU Petrich, SFU Sandanski and SFU Gotse Delchev.
