Forest is ecology, health and economy

Since early morning, green forces have been working on the territory of the Borovlyansky special forestry. The large-scale campaign "Give the forest new life" has also joined the Council of the Republic of Belarus. This region suffered seriously during the July 2025 hurricane. Then the bad weather damaged about 120 hectares of forest. Of this, 70 hectares have already been restored. On October 17, senators will land approximately 16.5 thousand seedlings on an area of 3 hectares. Young trees will become part of the future forest stand.

Natalia Kochanova, Chairman of the Council of the Republic of Belarus:

"In fact, this is a good initiative by the Ministry of Forestry. Conducting such visits for tree planting is great because we understand: this is primarily about ecology. It is not only the health of our people, but also a significant economic factor. After all, forests are truly what we have, and what we can export. Not only in the form of timber, but also in the form of products that our enterprises produce today. Therefore, we always take great pleasure in participating in such campaigns."

Today, senators planted about 16.5 thousand seedlings on an area of 3 hectares.

Sergey Aleynik, Chairman of the Permanent Commission of the Council of the Republic for international affairs and national security:

"Belarus is Europe's light. And today we fill these lungs with fresh oxygen, planting new seedlings that will sprout. We work not for quantity, but for quality. For the quality of our lives, the lives of our future generations, our children, grandchildren."

Each seedling is a small personal contribution to the overall result. Behind it — not only a future forest, but also time spent together and for the benefit of the native land.

Alina Retkova, Chairman of the Youth Council of the Council of the Republic:

"The Youth Council has traditionally participated in all remarkable beautification campaigns along with the Council of the Republic. For us, first and foremost, this is a sense of belonging that we can plant new trees through our own effort in such an informal, friendly setting. After 10-30 years, we will return to this place with our children. In 2025, we planted trees somewhere else and watched them grow. Indeed, they make our Belarus more beautiful, cleaner and greener."

Sergey Uldinovich, Minister of Agriculture of Belarus:

Traditionally, the Ministry of Forestry holds annual campaigns. 2026 was no exception. This year we plan that at least 100,000 people will take part in this campaign. That is a very impressive figure. It is also planned that about 800 sites will be involved in the campaign, where new forests will be created. Their total area will exceed 900 hectares. As part of this campaign, it is planned to plant more than 4 million seedlings and saplings of various tree species.

Here, teamwork is important. Media employees have also joined the good cause. This time they replaced their usual rhythm with work in the fresh air, and the overall result was measured not in minutes of airtime or volume of written text, but in rows of young trees. By the way, participation of the media detachment is traditional. And each year the number of participants grows. Today – almost 100 media employees.

First Deputy Minister of Information of Belarus Denis Yezersky is today fully equipped. He explained why it is important to be here today.

"Because this is our tradition. And I, and the television viewers who are watching us today, surely notice that the media annually take part in this wonderful campaign. Each year our numbers grow. I believe that the contribution of the journalistic community is very important. The fact that we, together, are restoring the forest along the busiest highway of our country after a windthrow is a very symbolic moment. We are restoring justice in the information space, and just as we are now restoring the forest that will one day bring only wealth to our country," said the First Deputy Minister of Information.

The Deputy Minister of Information of Belarus noted that on that day the event was attended by absolutely all republican media outlets, media holdings

"It's very nice to be part of this campaign, when we work together in unity doing something useful. And it's especially pleasant that we have exchanged our offices and computers for a pleasant outdoor activity. Fortunately, the weather is helping us today. I would like to plant more alder and spruce, so that later, after some time, it will be pleasant and with pride to look and say that I contributed to this."

Yuri Chebotary, Minister of Economy of Belarus:

"In the socio‑economic development program we have envisaged many projects for deep processing of timber. In the pulp and paper industry and furniture production there is high added value. This is truly the competitiveness of our country. One of the priorities of the current five‑year plan is tourism. People come to us for clean air, for this nature, for this greenery, so we are confident that we are creating wealth for our country."

Each Belarusian has more than 1 hectare.