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| Wood
Products Trade Introduction North America Europe South America Asia Forests of the World Australia Brazil Canada Chile China Finland Germany Indonesia Japan Korea Mexico Russia United Kingdom Oregon's Forests Forestry Links |
The Forests of Russia | |||
| Russia possesses over 20 percent of the world's forest resources and
25 percent of its growing stock. Forested lands exceed twenty percent of
the total area of the Russian Federation. Forests cover more than forty per
cent of the territory of the north-eastern part of European Russia, and most
of Siberia. Between 70 and 75 % of Russian forests are considered mature
or over-mature.
European Russia, while containing 26 percent of stocked forest land and 29 percent of the growing stock of Russia, accounts for approximately 35 percent of the exploitable resource of Russia. Almost 24 billion cubic meters of forest inventory volume are contained in this region. Of this volume, 10 billion is classified as mature and over-mature. The European region accounts for over 25 percent of the accessible and potentially accessible mature and over-mature volume. Most of the reserve volume is thought to be located in mountain forests in the northern and eastern reaches of the region. Since European Russia has supported the majority of the harvesting in the past, it is believed that the forest land not yet allocated would have a higher land cost. In the long-term, however, Russians believe that an additional harvest using new technology and proper incentives may increase the intermediate harvest in this region by 25 million to 30 million cubic meters. The majority of the incremental timber output would likely consist of coniferous species. The Russian Far East, by contrast, accounts for 66 percent of the total land area, 65 percent of the forest land, and 63 percent of stocked forest land. While containing 525 million hectares (or 63 percent) of the stocked forest land, the Pacific Asian region accounts for approximately 68 percent of the mature and over-mature forest stand. Western Siberia is located between the Russian Far East and European Russia, and accounts for only 12 percent of total forest area and 11 percent of the stocked forest land. An estimated 40 percent of the growing stock is classified as mature or over-mature. The average stocking per hectare, regardless of accessibility, is 142 cubic meters per hectare in mature and over-mature stands and 97 cubic meters per hectare in immature stands. The largest share of the forest resource is concentrated in coniferous species, which account for about three-quarters of the stocked forest land and growing stock. The primary coniferous species is larch. Larch is followed by pine, which, together with birch are the most common trees found in West Siberia. In Russia, pine grows on approximately 110 million hectares of land. The next most common tree, cedar pine, has four major species growing in Russia: Siberian cedar, Creeping cedar pine, Korean pine and European cedar pine. Deciduous species collectively make up nearly 20 percent of the forest resource. The most significant deciduous species is birch. Of the birch species, two species are important: Silver birch and Flame birch. Other softwood deciduous species are poplar, basswood and aspen. Of the hardwood deciduous species, oak and beech are also found in Russia. Three species are considered important: Russian oak, European oak and Mongolian oak. After decades of forest resource depletion and degradation, the recent changes in Russia's political, economical and social scenes have created opportunities for developments in Russian forest management and for international co-operation in the field of forestry. |
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