State forest shelterbelts in Rostov Oblast to be restored under Stalin-era plan

In Rostov Oblast, plans are underway to restore state forest shelterbelts. There are only three in the region, planted over 50 years ago under Stalin«s Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature. This was reported by Vyacheslav Vasilenko, deputy chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Rostov Oblast, to 161.RU.

According to him, such an instruction was given by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to a number of federal ministries. By November 2 of this year, they must develop a scientific and technical program for the care and restoration of these forest shelterbelts.

‘We have three such forest shelterbelts in Rostov Oblast, which were planted according to the Stalin plan. They have been ownerless for over 40 years,’ Vasilenko said.

The Great Plan for the Transformation of Nature was a program for the reclamation of agricultural lands in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the European part of the USSR. It was developed in 1947–1948 after two years of drought that led to famine.

The main measure of the program was the creation of eight huge state protective forest belts with a length of over 5,300 kilometers. Four were to run along the banks of the Volga, Don, Ural, and Seversky Donets rivers, and four in the watersheds between them. The implementation of the Great Plan was halted immediately after Stalin«s death in 1953. However, under Brezhnev, the work was resumed and completed by 1972.

The main task of these forest shelterbelts was to protect agricultural lands from dry winds. This was supposed to prevent soil erosion and lead to the restoration of fields and pastures.

‘After 1972, they were tended to for about 15 years and then abandoned. No one has been looking after them for a long time. And these are huge field-protective forest shelterbelts, some with a width of 11 rows. They are necessary for ecology,’ Vasilenko says.

According to him, in Rostov Oblast, the total length of these forest shelterbelts is about 2,000 kilometers. Three of the eight enter the region: from Penza to Kamensk, along the banks of the Don from Voronezh to Rostov, and along the banks of the Seversky Donets from Belgorod to the Don.

As 161.RU wrote, in Rostov, scientists from the Botanical Garden of Southern Federal University are creating a special nursery where plants will be bred for greening cities in Rostov Oblast. These should be unique plants adapted to local natural conditions.