Forest Club model projects and sites

MAIN CONCLUSIONS

1. Forest landscapes that are still intact (i.e. essentially undisturbed by human development with an area of at least 50,000 hectares) make up about 14 percent (31.7 million hectares) of the total forest area of European Russia (including the Ural Mountains). The vast majority of these areas are located in the most remote areas of the far North. No intact forest landscapes remain in central and southern European Russia.

2. The vast majority of these forests (87 percent) have a production potential of less than 1m³ per hectare per year.

3. Remaining intact forests are poorly stocked. More than half (56 percent) has a standing inventory of less than 100 m3 per hectare, and almost nowhere is the inventory greater than 150 m³ per hectare.

4. The areas in the vicinity of the intact forests play a mostly insignificant role in the wood supply of the region. Less than 5 percent of the volume logged in the Karelia and Komi Republics, Arkhangelsk and Perm Regions comes from such frontier areas. Only in the Arkhangelsk Region is the intensity of logging greater in frontier forests than in more developed parts - an indication of forest depletion in the latter areas.

5. The poor stocking and slow rate of re-growth make these forests unsuitable for sustainable wood production. The necessary investments in road building and reforestation are unlikely to be offset by revenues, especially given the long distance to the market. Historical precedent in similar areas shows that subsequent investments in reforestation and silviculture often are insufficient.

6. In the perspective of northern European Russia as a whole, removing intact forest landscapes from timber production would only factor as a small reduction in the potential wood supply. The reduction may be significant, however, for some logging enterprises located near the intact forest landscapes.

7. Conservation of large intact landscapes is a robust and cost-effective way to conserve biological diversity. The remoteness and large size of these areas provide the best guarantee of continued intactness. Far fewer personnel are needed to protect and manage forests within intact landscapes than are required in developed forest regions.