Transcarpathia and Slovakia will expand cooperation in forestry area

Recently, in the Transcarpathian regional administration, there was the meeting of the chief of the Transcarpathian Regional Forest and Hunting Range Administration Valeriy Murha and foreign partners from the National Forest Centre (Slovak Republic, the city of Zvolen) under the project CBC01013 FOR SOC "Forests for people – forests without barriers".

The Slovak delegation consisted of the Director of the Institute of Forestry Training and Consulting Milan Szarvas, the head of the department of communication in environmental education and forest pedagogy Rudolf Navratil, certified forest educators Dana Lojova and Veronica Jaloviarova. Transcarpathian region was represented by the Head of the Transcarpathian Regional Forest and Hunting Range Administration Valeriy Murha, representatives of the NGO "FORZA" – its head Lesya Loiko, the manager of the forest and natural resources sustainable management sector Yuriy Derbal, and the manager of the community development and sustainable tourism sector Natalia Voloshina.

The aim of the project is to establish cross-border partnership, which, in turn, will promote the development of eco-tourism and forestry education and popularize the cultural and natural heritage in the border areas. The project aims to improve the possibilities of multifunctional forest management by providing public services for visitors of the foresta, tourists, children and young people, including the disabled.

During the meeting, the chief forester of the region Valeriy Murga told the guests about forest industry in Transcarpathia and the prospects for its development. In turn, the Slovak colleagues noted significant differences in the forest management systems of Ukraine and Slovakia, but stressed that in Transcarpathia recently there had been some ​​positive changes.

Following the discussion, Valeriy Murha and the director of the Institute of Forestry Training and Consulting Milan Szarvas agreed to cooperate more closely in the field of innovations and exchange of experience in the forest industry. First of all, it concerns the creation of new forest nurseries and greenhouses in the territories of Transcarpathian forestries, introduction of new planting material, the development of school forestries and strengthening of cross-border cooperation.