Information for Action Contact Details:
Mail address: P O Box 245 6906 North Perth, WA, Australia
E-mail: http://www.informaction.org/index.php?main=helpus_contactus Information for Action is a non profit environmental organization committed to environmental change in our global community. Work on the website began in 1999 by President Rowland Benjamin and is maintained by a group of talented volunteers.

Forests – Russia

Forests Russia in Russian

Introduction

Russia, the largest country in the world, covers an area of over 17 million km², and about half of it is made up of forest and woodland. This 800 to 1000 million hectares of forest is equivalent in size to the whole of the United States and contains about 22% of the world’s total forests, with Brazil (16%), Canada (7%) and the United States (6%) following.

Russia map and forests russia. Image by Information for Action, a website for conservation and environmental issues offering solutions

Russia has two main types of forests - boreal and temperate. The boreal forests are in northern and subarctic regions and make up about 60% of the world’s boreal forests. They contain more than 55% of the world’s conifers. The temperate forests are in eastern and southern Russia and are richer in flora and fauna. They are important as they provide migrating northern species with refuge from the ice sheets of glaciers.

Preserving these forests is critical to maintaining viable populations of large carnivores such as Amur tigers, Amur leopards, Brown and Himalayan bears, which, like their prey, have large home range areas. These forests house the world’s largest population of brown bears and the waterways hold the largest spawning population of Pacific salmon. Lake Baikal in Southern Siberia contains 20% of the world's fresh water and supports 1500 species of flora and fauna.

These forests are extremely sensitive to disturbances and regeneration takes time due to the harsh climate and soil conditions. Human activity and presence has a large impact on many larger vertebrates, while the fauna is very sensitive to acid rain and other pollutants.

History

Land and forests russia. Image by Information for Action, a website for conservation and environmental issues offering solutions

Russia has struggled since the end of the Cold War to deal with civil unrest, internal and external corruption, political and economic instability and poverty.

Economic growth has been sustained but uneven - the Moscow region contributes one-third of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) while having only a tenth of its population. As a result, Moscow has become an affluent metropolis, while much of the country, especially indigenous and rural communities in Asia, lags significantly behind. The unemployment rate for the year 2007 is estimated to be about 6.6%, while the level of rural unemployment is estimated to be about 8%.

Officially, most Russian workers earn around a hundred US dollars a month. About 20 million of Russia’s 145 million people live below the official poverty line of US$31 a person per month. At the other extreme, wealthy Russians concerned about general instability and the banking system move 20 to 25 billion dollars out of the country to foreign banks every year, much of it from the sale of Russia’s abundant natural resources including gold, iron, uranium, nickel, copper, manganese, diamonds, tin, cobalt, oil and gas.

Against this background, environmental groups face challenges in communicating their concerns and carrying out their work.

What you can do

Buy only plantation timber. Purchase wood and forest products from independently certified well managed forests and made by companies that operate by fair trade practices.

Use recycled timber when possible. Don’t throw away or burn timber if you can use it for another purpose. Offer it to someone who will use it or take it to a recycling centre.

Use environmentally friendly office paper that is 100% recycled post consumer waste or uses plantation timber without chlorine bleaching. Help promote the use of such paper in your local council, government offices and schools.

Tree and forests russia. Image by Information for Action, a website for conservation and environmental issues offering solutions

Support forest action groups with a donation - no matter how small - or volunteer to work with organizations that promote the conservation of Russian forests.

Find out if your favourite magazines are printed on environmentally friendly paper, and if they are not, tell them by letter or email that you will stop buying them. Alternatively, read them at the library or find electronic versions on the Internet.

Write a letter or email to the editor of your local newspaper, urging them to publish your concerns about local logging, conservation and forest management issues.

Visit woodland and forests regularly in order to appreciate them. If they are in a poor state of health, through disease, acid rain, logging or neglect then you will know that they need your help.

Grow your own trees - from locally collected seed wherever possible. Plant the right variety of tree in the right place.

Send our letter to the Russian government. The letter is explained below in English. On the letter page of our web site however, it has been translated into Russian for the benefit of Russian readers.

Dear Minister, I wish to raise my concern regarding the loss and degradation of forests in Russia. We are losing forests every year, and at the current rate there will be little forest left in a few years.

Large foreign timber companies and illegal logging are responsible for the disappearance of large areas of Russia's forests. Illegal logging is estimated to account for over half of timber exports, costing millions of dollars in lost revenues.In addition, the lack of high quality forest management and reforestation programmes means that we will be unable to sustain and conserve the forests for our children.

Deforestation has caused the loss of habitat and species diversity. The animals living in the Russian forests such as the Amul tiger, brown bear and reindeer require forest habitats in order to survive. Deforestation and fragmenting have also made the forests vulnerable to fire, disease and destruction by pests. Deforestation contributes to global warming. This is expected to create a drier climate which in turn increases the risk of fires.

The livelihood and survival of the indigenous peoples is also at stake. Social problems, poverty, isolation and disease are all consequences of the destruction of the forests on which the indigenous people depend for their survival.

The Russian Government must act now to implement a more effective forest management policy. The Russian forests support a wide range of species despite their harsh climatic and soil conditions. They contain a wealth of genetic material, which is more valuable left undisturbed. Large, unfragmented areas of forest should be protected within nature reserves. The situation is critical and I urge you to act now before it is too late to save the forests.

Links:

Forests Russia - in Russian

Causes of deforestation

Effects of deforestation

Solutions for Russia's forests

Bibliography

Search our database for the contact details of organizations that directly address Forests in Russia


shiir online solutions Bridgetown Hillside Garden Information for Action Luen Shing Metal Mfy Rowland Benjamin – Osteopath Safe Stretch Shiir Shoes Green Pages