Forest conservation is a joint effort between the state and business
In 2018, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, the federal project “Forest Conservation” was launched, the goal of which is 100% reforestation by the end of 2024. That is, trees should be planted in the same quantity as they died or were cut down. But the target indicators were achieved much faster.
Alexander Kozlov, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia: “The main goal of the federal project “Forest Conservation” was not only achieved, but also exceeded: by 2021 the ratio was 110.7%. In 2022, the area of reforestation exceeded the area of dead and cut down trees by 19%, in 2023 - by 35%. Since the start of the federal project, the area of reforestation has amounted to more than 6 million hectares, by the end of this year we plan to increase it to 7.7 million hectares.”.
All companies that use forests carry out compensatory reforestation. But simply planting a young forest is not enough, therefore, from September 1, 2021, the Forest Code obligated entrepreneurs, after logging, to carry out not only planting of young forest crops, but also three years of agrotechnical care for them. According to the rules, forest users can carry out compensatory reforestation in other regions, if there are no suitable areas on the territory of the subject.
Ivan Sovetnikov, head of Rosleskhoz: “This year we plan to repeat last year’s results and restore forests on an area of 1.4 million hectares. Today this work has already been carried out on more than 450 thousand hectares. The top leaders in reforestation now include the Irkutsk and Arkhangelsk regions and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The regions are preparing for the autumn stage of silvicultural activities - it is during this period that the constituent entities of the Russian Federation must complete the entire remaining amount of work.".
In just five years, the area of reforestation and afforestation in the country amounted to 6.3 million hectares. To ensure the efforts of the state and business to preserve forests, there are 1,288 forest nurseries with a total area of 10 thousand hectares. The largest number of them are located in the Vologda region (102 nurseries), Irkutsk (68), Bryansk (64), in the republics of Bashkortostan (66) and Tatarstan (53), as well as in the Vladimir region (52).
One of the important indicators of this federal project is the full equipping of specialized institutions with forest fire equipment. By the end of 2024, Russian forestry authorities will be 100% provided with it (now - 95.1%). Over the past five years, 48.3 thousand units of forest fire equipment have been purchased under the national project.
In addition, in support of the “Forest Conservation” project, the “Save the Forest” campaign is held every year: from August to November, volunteers plant young trees in all regions of the country.
