Who turned Russia into a forest
Forest is one of the main national wealth of Russia. The vast expanses of the Siberian taiga, Russian forests in the European part of the country have always been not only a “visiting card” of Russia, but also a source of income for the country and its inhabitants. Wood is still a valuable natural resource, the trade of which promises considerable profits. But there is a flip side to the coin - the forest area on the planet is rapidly declining, and this entails numerous environmental problems.
Now 95% of the world's forests are in only 17 countries of the world, among which Brazil, Canada, Russia, Congo, Indonesia and a number of other states have the largest forest resources. Leaders in terms of the number of forests occupy the first place and in terms of their deforestation - most of the forests today are cut in all the same Brazil, Canada and Russia.
Although environmentalists are sounding the alarm, the rate of deforestation is not slowing down, including in our country. Nobody is going to give up the fabulous income that can be derived from the timber trade. So, if in 2010 in Russia it was officially allowed to cut 173,6 million cubic meters of wood, in 2017 - already 210 million cubic meters. Meanwhile, these figures only show those volumes of forest that are allowed to cut down officially. But in the forest industry, the scale of shadow activity is very large.
Illegal deforestation is taking place at a rapid pace and law enforcement agencies are not able to prevent it. At the same time, the forest cut down without any permits is forwarded to China for nothing. It is this neighboring country that accounts for the bulk of the export of illegally logged forests. Chinese businessmen have always shown interest in Siberian and Far Eastern forests. Valuable species are exported to China, which is then used for the needs of local industry and construction. According to the Environmental Research Agency, up to 80% of valuable forest species in the Far East are logged illegally. In addition to China, the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden and even Finland are eager to buy Russian wood. Enterprising forest merchants do not think about the environmental consequences.
At the same time, one should not think that the state has completely allowed the situation in the forest sector to drift. On the contrary, recently, control over deforestation has been tightened. So, the EGAIS system was launched - the Unified State Automated Information System for Timber Accounting and Transactions with it, which allowed not only to control a significant part of the forest industry, but also to provide a basis for criminal prosecution of “forest poachers”. By the way, forest fires do much more damage to Russian forests than deforestation. Their consequences are very destructive. In 2017 alone, forest fires in Russia caused damage to 4,5 million hectares of forest, and yet such a volume would be enough for twenty-odd years of annual forest export to the same China. Therefore, now for the state, the fight against forest fires is no less important than the counteraction to illegal entrepreneurship in the forest industry.
Now 95% of the world's forests are in only 17 countries of the world, among which Brazil, Canada, Russia, Congo, Indonesia and a number of other states have the largest forest resources. Leaders in terms of the number of forests occupy the first place and in terms of their deforestation - most of the forests today are cut in all the same Brazil, Canada and Russia.
Although environmentalists are sounding the alarm, the rate of deforestation is not slowing down, including in our country. Nobody is going to give up the fabulous income that can be derived from the timber trade. So, if in 2010 in Russia it was officially allowed to cut 173,6 million cubic meters of wood, in 2017 - already 210 million cubic meters. Meanwhile, these figures only show those volumes of forest that are allowed to cut down officially. But in the forest industry, the scale of shadow activity is very large.
Illegal deforestation is taking place at a rapid pace and law enforcement agencies are not able to prevent it. At the same time, the forest cut down without any permits is forwarded to China for nothing. It is this neighboring country that accounts for the bulk of the export of illegally logged forests. Chinese businessmen have always shown interest in Siberian and Far Eastern forests. Valuable species are exported to China, which is then used for the needs of local industry and construction. According to the Environmental Research Agency, up to 80% of valuable forest species in the Far East are logged illegally. In addition to China, the UK, Germany, Italy, Sweden and even Finland are eager to buy Russian wood. Enterprising forest merchants do not think about the environmental consequences.
At the same time, one should not think that the state has completely allowed the situation in the forest sector to drift. On the contrary, recently, control over deforestation has been tightened. So, the EGAIS system was launched - the Unified State Automated Information System for Timber Accounting and Transactions with it, which allowed not only to control a significant part of the forest industry, but also to provide a basis for criminal prosecution of “forest poachers”. By the way, forest fires do much more damage to Russian forests than deforestation. Their consequences are very destructive. In 2017 alone, forest fires in Russia caused damage to 4,5 million hectares of forest, and yet such a volume would be enough for twenty-odd years of annual forest export to the same China. Therefore, now for the state, the fight against forest fires is no less important than the counteraction to illegal entrepreneurship in the forest industry.
Information