Interest in renting forest land increases in Azerbaijan
By Trend:
Entrepreneurs have increased their interest in renting forest land in Azerbaijan after the period of the land’s rent was extended, Sadig Salmanov, head of the forestry department of the country’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, told Trend.
He said that in order to increase the owners’ interest in renting forest land, amendments were made to Azerbaijan’s Forest Code in February 2017. In accordance with the amendments, it will be possible to rent the forest land not for 10, but for 49 years.
Salmanov noted that before the amendments, entrepreneurs were not interested in renting forest land.
“They said that it was unprofitable,” he added. “Entrepreneurs were given land for 10 years, they planted and grew trees for five years and collected harvest in another five years. After 10 years it was unknown whether their contract would be extended or not. This amendment caused the interest of entrepreneurs to increase. With the increase in the land’s rent period, social status of entrepreneurs will improve and food security will be ensured.”
He noted that to date, entrepreneurs have been leased about 1,500 hectares of forest land, including the land in both mountainous and lowland areas, about 600 hectares of which were leased for short-term rent.
Most of the territory of forest zones is located in mountainous areas, and, therefore, entrepreneurs rent forest land in those areas, he said.
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