Illegal logging

SOCIAL DAMAGE Illegal and unsustainable forest management threatens the health and living conditions of forests and people, endangering the future of the industry and the regional economy. To put the scale of the challenge in perspective, the area of the border forests in Russia is 10 times greater than the area of the border forests in the United States. These forests provide livelihoods for more than 1.1 million people working for 60,000 forestry enterprises. 83 Through the non-payment of taxes and customs duties, and the resulting decline in employment, illegal logging is causing significant damage to governments, industries and local communities. Illegal logging reduces timber reserves for legal forest management and undercuts markets. Low timber prices ravage law-abiding businesses, leaving their employees without jobs and livelihoods, thereby creating incentive for

participation in the corrupt system logging. The overall losses for the Russian Federation in timber harvesting sector are alarming. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, the sector consistently demonstrates growing financial deficit: in 2005 it was –2,800 million rubles (118 million US$), mounting to –17,652 million rubles (507 million US$) in 2014, or about a 5-fold increase. 84 Similarly, illegal logging impacts on indigenous and traditional cultures. Sustainable forest management in the Russian Far East, for example, is essential for the local Udeghe and Nanai tribes, who have been living in the region for 10,000 years. Employment in the forestry sector, hunting and gathering of forest products, and fishing and beekeeping are the only sources of income and livelihood for the approximate 100,000 members of these communities.

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