National Forest Planting Day in Russia Date in the current year: May 11, 2024

The United Nations declared the year 2011 International Year of Forests in order to raise awareness of conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. National Forest Planting Day in Russia was established as one of the International Year of Forests events. It was first held on May 14, 2011. During the first campaign, over 200,000 volunteers planted almost 25 million saplings.

The initiative launched by the Federal Forestry Agency was supported by the government of the Russian Federation, and National Forest Planting Day became an annual campaign. It is typically held on the second Saturday in May, but in some regions the event is held later due to colder climate.

Russian has the world's largest forest reserve, referred to as “the lungs of Europe”. It has more than a fifth of the world's forests. However, the considerable potential of Russia's rich forests is underutilized, and deforestation has considerably affected some areas, especially those nearer to China. So campaigns aimed at raising awareness of forest conservation are extremely important.