Hopes for Russia’s new forest code
Russia is home to one-fifth of the world's forest lands, about 90% of which comprise fragile boreal areas (1, 2). These forests sustain unique human cultures, valuable wilderness, and biodiversity (1, 2). They also play a crucial role in the flows of atmospheric moisture on which millions of pe...
| Published in: | Science |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/hopes-for-russias-new-forest-code https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abi9095 |
| Summary: | Russia is home to one-fifth of the world's forest lands, about 90% of which comprise fragile boreal areas (1, 2). These forests sustain unique human cultures, valuable wilderness, and biodiversity (1, 2). They also play a crucial role in the flows of atmospheric moisture on which millions of people depend and sequester a substantial, though uncertain, quantity of greenhouse gases (1). Despite their importance, Russian forests have suffered from wasteful over-harvesting of accessible timber, inadequate protection, fire, and pests, and new challenges—such as forests on melting permafrost—are emerging (1–3). The previous forest code and a long history of extraction without investment have been widely blamed for exacerbating these problems (1, 4, 5). The Forest Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences has initiated work on a new national forest code (2, 6). The future of Russia's vast forests depends on the implementation of effective policy. |
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