On May 21, 2024, in order to familiarize higher education students with current trends in the development of reforestation and afforestation, the Department of Agricultural Technology and Forestry held a guest lecture with Brian Roth, Executive Director of Forest Release, a non-profit organization from the United States that is engaged in demining and clearing forests of unexploded ordnance, increasing the safety, productivity and sustainability of forests in former war zones.

One of Forest Release’s activities is to raise funds in Canada and the United States to provide humanitarian and technical assistance in the area of forest firefighting and the clearance of explosive ordnance (EOD), which is currently contaminating our country’s forests. The presence of unexploded ordnance in Ukraine’s forests will complicate both logging and reforestation. That is why the disposal of UXOs in forest areas is the focus of this non-governmental organization.

The topic of Brian Roth’s meeting with students and faculty of the department concerned the experience of practical forestry in North America. Mr. Roth spoke about the peculiarities of coniferous plantation cultivation in the United States, about the forms of forest ownership, about silvicultural and forestry measures for growing commercial timber in his country.

Brian Roth’s speech aroused great interest, which was reflected in numerous questions to the lecturer from both teachers and students of the department.