By KYIV. Nov 9 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The State Forest Resources Agency of Ukraine will create an atlas of forest roads in Ukraine, and a pilot project for mapping the transport infrastructure of a separate forestry enterprise in the Carpathian region will be implemented in the near future.
According to the head of the agency, Yuriy Bolohovets, the development of the atlas is necessary, since the existing maps of forest roads are outdated and do not always correspond to reality, so it will not be possible to drive a car along many of the roads marked on them.
"Today, the decision has been made to create the Atlas of Forest Roads of Ukraine in the future. Soon, a pilot project for the transport development of a separate forestry enterprise will be implemented. All existing forest roads that a timber truck can drive will be mapped, and a network of routes will be designed for the construction of forest roads in the future," the head of the agency wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.
He also recalled that the process of inventorying the forest transport network was started by the State Forest Resources Agency 11 years ago, when an order was issued to introduce geographic information systems for recording and inventorying forest roads. However, this system took into account mainly newly built roads.
Bolohovets said that Ukraine’s need for the construction of new roads is estimated at thousands of kilometers a year, while in fact hundreds of kilometers of roads are built and repaired annually.
"In recent years, the maintenance and construction of new roads has been carried out mainly at the expense of forestry enterprises, based on the financial condition of each of them. Therefore, the volume of new roads leaves much to be desired. For example, in 2020, 240 km of forest roads were built, repaired and reconstructed. In 2021, 131 km of subgrade were built and a roadbed was equipped for 161 km. Construction continues this year, but the volume is also small. The need is an order of magnitude greater," the head of the State Forest Resources Agency said.
