Relict forest. “overgrowing Russia” or where did the relict forests go?
In 1944, the Red Army was able to liberate Belarus. Actions Soviet armies The liberation of Belarus went down in history as “Operation Bagration”. The Soviet command began developing an operation plan in the spring of 1944. It was supposed to break through the German defenses on 6 sectors of the front, encircle and destroy the Vitebsk, Bobruisk group of troops and successively defeat the Orsha and Mogilev group of Germans.
The second stage of “Operation Bagration” involved a strike by three Belarusian fronts in one direction towards Minsk, followed by the encirclement and destruction of enemy troops. The third stage of hostilities involved the expansion of the offensive front, the complete liberation of Belarus and the withdrawal of Soviet troops to the western, pre-war border of the USSR.
On June 23, 1944, the line of the Belarusian front ran: east of Polotsk - Vitebsk - east of Orsha, Mogilev and Bobruisk, along Pripyat. Troops of the 1st Baltic, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belorussian fronts were stationed in this area. The number of Soviet troops reached 1.4 million people, who had at their disposal 31 thousand guns, 5.2 thousand tanks, and more than 5 thousand aircraft. The general coordination of the actions of Soviet troops in this sector was carried out by and.
In Belarus, Soviet troops were opposed by a powerful German group under the command of Field Marshal Bush (from July 28 Model). The number of troops under Bush's leadership was 1.2 million people, which had at its disposal 9.5 thousand guns, 900 tanks, 1.4 thousand aircraft.
On June 23, troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front launched an offensive south of the city of Vitebsk. At the same time, north of Vitebsk, the 43rd Army of the 1st Baltic Front delivered a strong blow. Moving towards each other, the Red Army soldiers surrounded 5 German motorized divisions and destroyed them by the 27th. Developing the offensive, the city of Lepel was liberated on June 28. Meanwhile, the fighters of the 3rd Belorussian Front made a decisive push forward, and by July 1 liberated Borisov. Units of the Second Belorussian Front, as a result of fierce bloody battles, broke through the enemy’s defenses in wide band. On June 28, Mogilev was liberated. Then the fighters of the second Belorussian Front moved towards Minsk. The troops of the First Belorussian Front with their pressure forced units of the 9th German Army to retreat. By June 29, the Germans were surrounded in the Bobruisk area, where fighters of the 1st Belarusian Front destroyed 6 enemy divisions.
As a result of the offensive and subsequent pursuit of the enemy, a large German group of up to 100 thousand people was surrounded on parallel directions, east of Minsk. On July 3, Soviet troops liberated Minsk from the Germans. A large surrounded German group was destroyed on July 11. The battles went down in the history of the Second World War as the “Minsk Cauldron”.
During the 12 days of the offensive in Belarus, the Red Army soldiers advanced 280 kilometers to the west, liberated most countries, including Minsk. From July 5, Soviet troops, closely coordinating their actions, carried out a series of successful operations: Siauliai, Vilnius, Kaunas, Bialystok, Lublin-Brest. During these hostilities, serious damage was caused to the group German armies"Center". By the end of the summer of 1944, the territory of Belarus was cleared of German troops. Also partially released Soviet troops lands of Lithuania and Latvia. At the end of the summer, Red Army soldiers entered Poland and managed to approach the borders of East Prussia.
Tree cutting, mining and agriculture are the factors that could cause Russia to lose its ancient forests. This is reported on International Forest Day World Fund wildlife(WWF) Russia.
"On the eve of Earth Hour, dedicated to human environmental responsibility, WWF calls for attention to the need to preserve the most valuable virgin forests. By 2050, all the most valuable assets may be lost. virgin forests peace. WWF pays attention to five forest areas in Russia, which we may lose in the near future,” the message says.
As the fund clarifies, there are no roads in intact forests and, as a rule, logging has never been carried out in them and other economic activity. Such forests make up only a quarter of all forests in the world, but their area is rapidly declining due to fires, logging for mining, development Agriculture and obtaining wood.
“In Russia, over 13 years, 21 million hectares of intact forests have been lost—7.5% of the total area in the country. The rate of area reduction per year is 1.6 million hectares—that’s six territories of Moscow,” WWF noted.
Russian North
Europe's largest massif of untouched thousand summer forests, which are the standard of wild northern taiga, preserved in the Arkhangelsk region in the interfluve Northern Dvina and Pinega is under threat today. Its area is about 900 thousand hectares.
These forests are distinguished by an amazing combination of landscapes and a wealth of flora and fauna. Here are located 10% of all rivers in the Arkhangelsk region where salmon spawn. These forests are home to many Red Book species of plants and animals, including wild forest reindeer, whose population in the region is on the verge of extinction. However, all these forests are in the hands of loggers. In order to preserve at least the most valuable part of the massif - the Yula River basin - it is necessary to preserve it by creating a reserve.
Environmentalists are also calling for the preservation of the Samur Forest in Dagestan, a section of the Caspian coast where the last large tract of relict liana forests in Russia has been preserved. Here, on an area of about 8 thousand hectares, more than a thousand species of plants grow, about 450 vertebrates live, of which 65 are listed in the Red Book, and tens of thousands of species of invertebrate animals, many of which are endangered. Among them are the black stork, flamingo, and Dalmatian pelican. The flora of the Samur Forest includes more than 30 plants preserved from the Tertiary period
To save this unique ecosystem from the upper reaches to the Samur River delta inclusive, WWF proposes to create national park"Samursky".
Black Sea region
The forests of the Markotkh ridge along the Black Sea coast are also under threat, in Krasnodar region near Novorossiysk and Gelendzhik. Relict pistachio-juniper and juniper-oak forests are preserved here - the world's northernmost Mediterranean-type ecosystems. The area of this territory is more than 100 thousand hectares.
Among the threats to unique forests is the summer influx of vacationers who litter, trample grass, and pick flowers listed in the Red Books (orchids, tulips, peonies, snowdrops). In addition, in places where people rest, there are often Forest fires. In 2016, the administration Krasnodar region supported the initiative environmental organizations, including WWF Russia, about the creation on the ridge natural park. The Foundation hopes that the final decision will be made in 2017.
Altai
Tape burs Altai Territory — unique forests, which have no analogues either in Russia or in the world. They are named so because they grow in the form of extended “ribbons” in the middle of vast steppe spaces. These strips of forest vegetation are clearly visible from space. The hollows in which these forests grow were abandoned water streams ice ages. total area pine forests covered with forest vegetation - 640 thousand hectares. The importance of these forests is difficult to underestimate - they restrain the spread of sand and protect the Altai steppe territories from winds and sandstorms.
At the same time, the entire strip pine forests are leased out for timber harvesting. To preserve strip burs, it is necessary to re-select especially valuable ones. protective areas forests and introduce a regime of specially protected natural areas regional significance located in strip forests, in accordance with the purposes of their creation and current legislation.
Far East
The Arsenyevsky forest in the Khabarovsk Territory is the largest array of intact cedar-broadleaf and spruce-cedar forests on the left bank of the Amur River. At least 15 species of vascular plants and 27 specially protected species of animals, included in the Red Books of Russia and the Khabarovsk Territory, grow in this area.
"IN last years entry into the territory is noted Amur tiger. If you take the array under proper protection, a stable grouping may arise in it large predator", says WWF.
However, the main threats to this forest are industrial logging and economic development of the territories. To preserve the massif, WWF proposes to create the Arsenyevsky reserve with an area of 216 thousand hectares.
In mid-February 2018, the Green Arrow ANO held in Sochi. Before flying home to St. Petersburg, we had a whole day of free time. And my colleague and I decided to go to the Yew-boxwood grove.
This place is located in the Khosta microdistrict of the Khostinsky district of Sochi, about half an hour by taxi from the city center. Regular buses and minibuses also go there. We didn’t take a tour; there are signs and signs everywhere in the grove, especially since we decided to walk only along the Small Ring of 1600 m. It would have been more interesting to walk also Big ring- 5 km, but not in heels)
The attraction of the grove is the yew berry trees. The largest specimens of yew are up to 30 meters high and up to two thousand years old. Along with yew, the grove also contains tree species, such as beech, oak, linden, hornbeam, maples, cherry laurel shrubs, holly, Colchian cherry, yellow rhododendron, mock orange, hazel.
Population evergreen trees Colchis boxwood in the Khosta yew-boxwood grove on currently completely destroyed. It is believed that in preparation for Olympic Games in Sochi in 2012, along with evergreen boxwood planting material, a dangerous invasive pest was brought from Italy - the boxwood moth, which spread en masse in local forests.
I first observed the boxwood moth in 2013 in Hungary. Before my eyes, caterpillars were destroying the boxwood hedges of one of the castles; it looked very depressing.
The death of relict boxwoods is a tragedy, and not only for local residents. Answering the age-old questions of who is to blame and what to do is not the purpose of this text. Be that as it may, the wide species composition of the flora keeps the grove interesting for visiting at any time of the year, taking into account the equipped paths and botanical descriptions on the signs.
The subtropical climate with mild, short winters allows 400 species to develop in this habitat. herbaceous plants. In mid-February we observed abundant flowering of the Kos cyclamen Cyclamen coum (pictured above), the Caucasian winter grass Helleborum caucasicus and the common primrose Primula acaulis were also found. In the spring, five-leaved toothwort, Caucasian candyk, grandiflora comfrey, oriental doronicum and Cappadocian navel will bloom in the Colchis forest. In the summer, Ophrys bee-bearing, Robert's geranium, male orchis and bellflower are soloed. Colchicum shady, Carpesium drooping and Voronov's snowdrop bloom in autumn.
If you're in the southern regions, be sure to stop by here! Especially in the off-season, when there are practically no visitors to the reserve. For example, you can time your visit to mid-November, when Sochi will host
Thus, we see that relict forests were basically cut down under Peter1 for the needs of building structures, a fleet, etc. That by the beginning of the 19th century they became only stumps are 3 arshins across, which is just over 2 meters in diameter! And these forests were cut down in a barbaric, carpet way. Those. after the felling there was nothing left to promote healthy regeneration of the forest. And therefore, since the 18th century, the forest began to degenerate at a monstrous rate.
What was left after Peter I was cut down for the needs of numerous wine and vodka factories (distilleries), heating of peasant and lordly houses, and the production of matting. It is clarified that forest protection was carried out by disabled people or local peasants, who in fact did nothing to preserve forests (as is now forest guard- it seems like it exists, but no one has seen it). The long-continuing sale by producers of forest areas, which were also cut down to “0”. Does the situation remind you of anything? - just like we have now. Fires also destroyed forests - by the way, in 2015, the entire Transbaikalia region was on fire, and of course everyone understands that there was most likely a gigantic theft of timber there, which would have been attributed to the fire. It seems that in the 18th and 19th centuries everything was the same - theft and cover-up.
A very important note is that for one peasant only 400 young 3-year-old linden trunks are required for shoes per year! And the families were 15-20 people. Those. more than 6,000 trees per year were required per family! It's amazing how much it is, it's a discovery for me.
Those. in other words, combat and industrial the relict forest was cut down to zero, for the needs of industry and for shipping abroad (in Europe there was also little forest left at that time). Moreover, the felling is barbaric, uncontrolled and in the complete absence of planting of seedlings. The peasants young trees They were allowed in for heating, clothing and shoes. Thereby preventing further more speed forest regeneration. Why should the forest grow when the old is cut down and the young ones are also mowed down?
And this is the beginning of the 19th century, i.e. before the first energy revolution (coal mines and heating coal) still oh how long. Those. in fact, catastrophic deforestation continued until the time Comrade Proskudin-Gorsky arrived and began taking photographs. Well, of course, he photographed the scorched, treeless, trampled land. For, as you know, without a forest, the soil rapidly undergoes erosion, regardless of arable and other work, the presence of livestock, etc. etc.
That’s why we don’t have 200 summer forests. There are individual oak trees, which are mainly located on the territories of former estates. For example, also Kolomenskoye, and there are many such oak trees in estates around St. Petersburg. They have been preserved because these are the houses of masters, and who would cut down their property.
In this vein, it is not surprising to see photographs from the early 20th century from the USA showing how relict forests are being cut down there