In Irkutsk, the city forests may be expanded to include areas near the Kochumikha stream and the Yubileiny district. Specialists have already inspected the sites, where birches, aspens, hawthorn and willow grow, and a lake used by residents for recreation. Including these lands in the city forests will allow their protection, improvement and cleanup of the lake.
Since autumn 2013, the urban forests have included a grove located at the intersection of Klara Tsetkin and 4th Zheleznodorozhnaya Streets. Forest protection measures and landscaping activities are already being carried out on its territory: 400 sq. m of pedestrian paths have been laid out, and a fence is being installed around the perimeter of the grove.Another area in the city of Irkutsk may acquire the status of an urban forest. Specialists from the Department for Environmental Protection and Ecological Safety of the Housing and Utilities Committee inspected the territory of the water protection zone of the Kochumikha Stream (with a total area of about 11.5 ha), as well as a forest area (with a total area of 1.6 ha) in the area of building No. 83 in the Yubileyny microdistrict in the Sverdlovsky District. A significant amount of tree and moss-shrub vegetation grows in this area (birches, aspens, hawthorn, willow, moss). In addition, on the land plot in the area of buildings Nos. 115/1-115/4 in the Yubileyny microdistrict, a lake formed due to the construction of a dam on the stream, which is used by the public for recreational purposes. The Housing and Utilities Committee has sent an application to the Ministry of Property Relations of the Irkutsk Region to provide these land plots for use as urban forests.
Including the land plots in the urban forests will allow the administration of Irkutsk to plan measures for the protection and safeguarding of forests, as well as the cleaning and landscaping of the lake.