Some 600 volunteers of all ages joined foresters in five locations around Slovenia to plant roughly 6,000 saplings of trees as part of the annual reforestation campaign on 25 March.

Organised by the state-owned forestry company SiDG, the Rejuvenate Forests campaign was held for the fourth year running in locations where forests were affected by natural disasters or bark beetle, including the western region of Kras, which was hit by the biggest wildfire on record last year.

Seedlings of native species of oak, cherry, fir, larch, larch, Douglas fir, chestnut, sycamore, beech and sessile oak were also planted in the in the Kočevje region in the south, the Pohorje hills in the north-east, the Bohor area in the east and the Medvode area in central Slovenia.

In the north-western part of Kras, 300 saplings were planted in a 2.5 hectare area along with 24 kilogrammes of seeds of the Montpellier maple, field maple, common lime and small-leaved lime, which are species native to the region.

Some 200 volunteers there were joined by Prime Minister Robert Golob, who hailed the campaign and voluntarism as one of the ways in which everyone can help nature.

"Last summer, after the fire, it looked terrible, but now in spring when it's all budding, there's hope that the damage from the huge fire may be not as bad as it seemed last year and that nature will recover," he said.

"It's our duty to help it to do so, and to try to plant new seeds and trees where the fire caused the worst devastation, so that Kras can recover as quickly as possible."

SiDG director Marko Matjašič was happy with the turnout. The reforestation conditions in Kras are quite tough: "We're planting virtually among rocks and are looking forward to every success in the long run".

The annual campaign aims to spread awareness of the importance of forests. "We all wish for a quality forest in the long term and we are determined to repeat the campaign every year," said Matjašič.

Reforestation efforts in Kras have been under way for months with several thousand volunteers and foresters planting thousands of saplings and large amounts of seeds.

Boštjan Košiček, the head of the local department of the Forest Service, told the STA a while ago that part of the money for the reforestation effort was being raised through donations and part would come from the state.

The reforestation plan estimates €23 million will be required until 2028, of which private forest owners are to invest round €6 million and the state is to chip in over €16 million.

The wildfire in Kras in July 2022 spread through 3,705 hectares of brush in 17 days.