Transformation of Forests to Close-to-Nature Forest Management in Ukraine: Nature-based silvicultural and fire management methods for increasing the resilience of pine stands to drought and wildfire

Scots pine forests that make up 33% of the total forest area of Ukraine (9,4 million ha) that 
are represented mostly by single species and planted stands, have low resilience to climate 
change, fires and insects. More than 180 000 ha of pine forests were burned within 5 fire 
episodes in northern and south-eastern regions of the country during extremely dry fire 
season of 2020. In Luhansk oblast 16 civilians died, 54 were injured, 22 villages and hundreds 
of houses were burned or damaged because of July and October 2020 fires. Climate change 
uncertainties and numerous ignition sources in the landscapes require development and 
implementation of long-term strategy towards building fire resilient landscapes and fire 
resilient communities. 
National Strategy of Integrated Landscape Fire Management in Ukraine was developed by 
joint research team of the Regional Eastern Europe Fire Monitoring Europe and the Global 
Fire Monitoring Center for defining approaches and stakeholders as well as institutional 
arrangement of fire resilient landscape and community concept implementation. The 
Strategy was approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resource 
Management of Ukraine and publicly discussed. 
Silvicultural intervention and fuel treatment methods were tested experimentally in pine 
forests of Ukraine within implementation of the RESILPINE project supported by the German 
Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture (BMEL) / German Federal Agency for Agriculture 
and Food (BLE). In particular, fire resilient forest edges on territories with high ignition 
probability near agricultural fields and lowlands were established via planting birch, apple 
tree, pear, lime tree in Boyarka Forest Experimental Station, Osterskii Military Forestry and 
Teteriv Forestry Enterprise. Formation of open fire resilient structure in 60-year-old pine 
forests via heavy thinning (40%) of overcrowded stands and prescribed burning of ground fuel 
on southern and south-eastern vicinity of villages Kudriashivka and Varvarivka of Luhansk 
Oblast that were threatened by fires in 2020. Oblasts were justified and prepared for spring 
2022. Preliminary recommendations for state forest enterprises on increasing fire resilience 
of pine forests were presented and approved by scientific-technical council of the State 
Agency of Forest Resources of Ukraine.