First norm of intensive forestry approved for Karelia

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An amendment to the Russian silvicultural rules has been approved, which makes it possible to engage in intensive forestry in Karelia. The change is aimed at increasing thinnings to improve the quality of forests. In Karelia, high quality wood is harvested at 0.7 cubic meters per hectare, compared to 4-6 in neighbouring countries. Until now, Russian legislation has not allowed practicing intensive forestry in Karelia. In addition to the silvicultural …

Discussion on sawn wood export duty and legality of forest lease contracts

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The working group against illegal timber trade under Russian Government discussed the export of roundwood and sawn wood, the monitoring of timber transportation and the legality of forest lease contracts. The problem related to sawn wood exports was raised. In order to avoid export duties, some companies have started to export roughly sawn wood (export code 4407) instead of roundwood, and now the aim is to eliminate the phenomenon. Customs …

Reform of forest use payments in Russia

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Russian logging companies pay the state a fee for forest use, which is currently about one euro per cubic metre of wood. The forest use payment is one tenth of the production costs of wood. In order to increase the state’s forestry income and to intensify forestry, the minimum rate of forest use payment is being converted to market-based. According to the plan, the forest use payment would be based, …

Record forest areas of FSC certification in Russia

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FSC certified forests cover 200 million hectares in 82 countries. Nearly one fourth of them, i.e. about 48 million hectares are located in Russia. Russia also has the highest number of forest management certificates, 186. Totally 25 per cent of forests leased for wood harvesting are FSC certified. In addition, there are 629 chain of custody certificates in Russia. The Russian national FSC forest management standard is currently being updated. …

New director appointed to the Russian Forestry Agency

Sergey Anoprienko has been appointed new director of the Russian Forestry Agency. Previously, Anoprienko served as Deputy Director of the State Property Agency (Rosimushchestvo) and has education in administration, management and economics. Ivan Valentik, who headed the Forestry Agency from 2014, resigned in June. He was particularly criticized for his inability to solve the problems of illegal logging. Sources: Minprirody, Kommersant

Preparation of new Forest Code starts in Russia

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation has launched a tender for expert work to start the preparation of new Forest Code. The work includes:  analysis of the current Forest Code and identification of key problems during its period of validity (2007-2019)  drawing up scientifically justified proposals for the preparation of the content of new Forest Code  proposals for necessary changes to other Russian legislation  an …

Regulation on softwood exports

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Decree of the Russian Government 31.8. N 1124 1) introduces changes to the application procedure for a softwood quota license for Russian wood harvesting companies. Subsequently, the application for a reduced export duty quota must include the date and number of the timber trade notification to the monitoring system LesEGAIS. The purpose of the amendment is to improve the verification of wood origin and the transparency of timber trade. Government …

Forests on agricultural land remain outside of practicing forestry

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According to expert estimates, Russia has 70 million hectares of forests growing in former fields, i.e. agricultural land (“agricultural forest”) that is not managed or used. On several occasions, it has been suggested that practicing forestry should be made possible in these areas. For example, the common statement of Russian WWF and Greenpeace at the end of 2018 calls for legislative changes to allow private forestry (“lesnoe fermerstvo”) and forest …

Monitoring system LesEGAIS for timber trade in Russia

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Publication: Natural resources and bioeconomy studies 31/2019, 19 p., Sari Karvinen http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-326-757-2  Abstract Illegal logging is a recognized problem in the Russian forest sector. Experts have estimated that the volume of illegal logging amounts to 10–35 per cent of total logging volume, while official reports claim that the share is less than a per cent. In 2013, the Russian Forest Act was amended and an electronic timber trade monitoring system, “Yedinaya …

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