Illegal logging

INTRODUCTION

RUSSIA’S FORESTS AND FORESTRY SECTOR

203 million m³ were removed. This was slightly up on the figures for 2013. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in 2013 Russia was the world’s second leading producer of industrial roundwood (Figure 2). Nevertheless, the Russian share of the world timber trade is below 4 per cent. 3 The forest sector’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) is modest: 1.3 per cent in 2012, 4 and since the introduction of the Russian Forest Code in 2007, total forest revenues have been lower than the cost of forest management (Figure 3). 5 The manufacture of paper products is a significant element of the Russian economy and comprises between 10 and 50 per cent of total industrial production in 45 regions of Russia. Logging, however, has recently become an unprofitable and low-wage

Russian forests cover 891 million hectares of land, approximately 50 per cent of the country’s territory and comprise over one- fifth of all the world’s forests. 1 Russia’s forest landscape is more than just a natural resource – it forms the heart of the country’s vast territory (Figure 1). According to estimates from the Russian Federal Forestry Agency ( Rosleshoz ) in 2013, Russian forest resources had an economic value of as much as US$ 28 trillion. By comparison, the country’s oil andgas reservesarevaluedat US$ 19 trillionandUS$7 trillion, respectively. 2 As of 2012, about one-fifth of Russian forests have been leased, including some 15 per cent directly for timber harvesting, and this value is still growing. In 2014, nearly half of Russian standing stock of timber – 43 billion m³ of the country’s total of 83 billion m³ – was suitable for timber harvest. That year

Chukchi Sea

Bering Sea

Norwegian Sea Standing timber stock < 500 500 - 1,000

Timber harvest < 1 1 - 5 5 - 10 10 - 15 > 15

ARCTIC OCEAN

East Siberian Sea

1,000 - 3,000 3,000 - 6,000 > 6,000

Laptev Sea

Barents Sea

Kara Sea

Baltic Sea

Far Eastern

Northwestern

Sea of Okhotsk

Moscow

Central

Ural

Siberian

Volga

Azov Sea

Southern

North Caucasian

Sea of Japan

Caspian Sea

0

500 km

Federal district border

Oblast border

Source: ??

Graph by Manana Kurtubadze, GRID-Arendal, 2015.

Figure 1: Timber stock and timber harvest, 2013

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