Opinion

At present, the second-stage forest restoration project is under way on a full scale in the DPRK.

After General Secretary Kim Jong Un published the work “Let the Entire Party, the Whole Army and All the People Conduct a Vigorous Forest Restoration Campaign to Cover the Mountains of the Country with Green Woods” in 2015, the country drew up the ten-year long-term plan for creating forests in a practical way and has waged the work in a scientific and prospective way.

For the past several years, all provinces, cities and counties built tree nurseries and conducted the work for the planting and protection of forests like securing seeds, sowing, producing tree saplings, planting and protecting land and ecological environment and, as a result, successfully carried out the task for the first stage.

Land- and labour-saving tree nurseries, including Tree Nursery No. 122 and Kangwon and North Hamgyong provincial tree nurseries, have been built to mass-produce tree saplings irrespective of seasons in different parts of the country.

Scientific and technical problems are solved, arising in growing saplings and creating and conserving forests.

A technology of creating the forest of a good species of pine-nut tree by close planting was completed and progress was made in the efforts to markedly hasten the time of harvesting fruits of oil-bearing trees and mass-produce saplings of a new variety of chestnut with good taste and high per-hectare yield, create vitamin tree forests and plant wild fruit-bearing trees of great economic value.

Also, a good species of blueberry which grows well in the highlands of the northern area are acclimated to be raised in all areas across the country, including Pyongyang and middle part of the country.

Now, the nationwide project is being pushed to increase the growing speed of trees and abilities of absorption of carbon dioxide and preservation of water of forests by forming mixed forests with good tree species.

Different kinds of agents for protecting roots and accelerating growth and nutritive activators are developed to ensure the rooting rate of trees, production bases built in different parts of the country and success made in the research into planting trees all the year round irrespective of seasons.

The primary effort is directed to thoroughly preventing forest fire and damage from harmful insects as well as reducing the dependence on forests in all parts of the country.

The movement for creating forest of socialist patriotism is widely conducted.

As the number of winners of the title of socialist patriotism forest increases every year since all the units take part in planting and protecting forests with a high sense of responsibility and make forest areas in their charge thick, over 330 units were awarded the title last year alone.

Amid the dynamic all-people forest restoration campaign, forests of the country are given a total facelift.