Protection Of Intact Forest Landscapes In Russia: Role Of Government, MarketDriven And Buyers’ Restrictive Approaches

Abstract

Leading environmental organizations recognize intact forest landscapes as priority areas for conserving forests. A quarter of global intact forest landscapes (IFL), are found in Russia, and since 2000, the country has lost over 7,5% (or 21 million ha) of its IFLs due to logging, forest fires and road construction. With the projected logging rates Russia’s IFLs will completely disappear in 150 years, and IFLs that are “rich” in timber will do so in 50 years. Protection of IFLs is the serious challenge, not only due to associated biodiversity loss, but also due to outstanding carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation role of IFLs. The objective of this research is to define the key drivers and factors and to examine how government and market-driven approaches contribute to the preservation of intact forest landscapes in Russia. A further objective is to assess the merits of consumers restriction measures, such as phase-out of IFL product purchases, as proposed by some environmentalists.  According to our research, voluntary forest certification (market-driven approach) was the main tool for IFL protection in Russia until recently. A market-driven FSC voluntary certification scheme includes moratoria agreements to preserve almost 3 million ha of IFLs. Additionally, between 2010 and 2020 more than 770 thousand ha of IFLs were established in two national parks and three nature reserves in North-West Russia with the primary goal to protect IFLs, mainly in former FSC “no logging” zones. Market-driven approach is currently the main tool used to protect IFLs in Russia.