On 13.11.2020. Minister of Regional Development and EU Funds Nataša Tramišak marked the beginning of the planting of pedunculate oak in the Naturavita project area by planting the first pedunculate oak seedling in the Osijek suburb of Nemetin, more precisely in the economic unit “Osječke podravske šume” .
The event was attended and planted by “their” seedlings and the director of the Public Institution of the Agency for the Management of Protected Natural Values in Osijek-baranja County Davor Mikulić, and the director of the Forestry Sector of Croatian Forest Krešimir Žagar and the director of the Sector for Green Energy and projects co-financed by EU funds and international projects Mario Klobučar. The total area of this section is 32.12 ha. Field ash (48,500 pieces) is already being planted on a part of the 12.12 ha area, and pedunculate oak seedlings (120,000) will be planted on the remaining 20 ha. So far, out of the planned 1,021 ha, the forest has been restored to 306 ha (30%). During this 2020/2021 season, it is planned to restore the forest to another 300 ha, and the plan for the 2021/2022 season is almost identical, while another 100 ha is planned to be restored in 2023. More than 2.5 million seedlings will be produced for this project activity in the nurseries of Croatian Forests. One of the goals of the EU Biodiversity Strategy by 2030 is to plant at least 3 billion trees, so Naturavita will make a “small” contribution from its planted about 2.5 million.
