Russian forest fires cause less damage than last year – but underlying problem remains the same
Forest fires have been plaguing the Russian forest sector for decades. The catastrophic situation of the summer of 2010 led to a blaze of publicity. Fires destroyed wide areas, including several villages, and caused dozens of fatalities. In addition, smoke led to severe health problems in Moscow, among other places. Russian forests are burning this summer too, but without the same human impact as last year.
2010 burnt stand volume for the entire Russian territory four times greater than in 2009
According to official statistics, two million hectares of forests were affected by fires in Russia in 2010, i.e. the same area as in the previous two years. However, on this occasion the fires were located in the densely populated Central and Volga Federal Districts. In normal years, forest fires are limited to a few thousand hectares of forests in these regions, but in summer of 2010 hundreds of thousands of hectares were affected. The stand volume burnt was hundreds of times greater.
In the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts, a smaller area was affected by forest fires than in normal years. The stand volume burnt in forest fires amounted to 93 million cubic metres across the whole of Russia i.e. almost four times more than in 2009.
Issued at the beginning of August, the latest official estimate of the extent of this year's forest fires totals around one million hectares. According to the estimates of environmental organisations, however, the actual figure is closer to six million hectares.
Disappearance of forest guards
Aside from fire-prone weather conditions, the extent of the forest fires can be explained by the organisational reform of Russian forestry, which failed to address forest fire suppression. The federal forest guard system, the ”lesnaya okhrana”, was dismantled with the entry into force of the Forest Act in 2007. Moreover, the ”Avialesookhrana”, a federal agency for wildfire aerial surveillance and suppression, was decentralised. Its statutory duties and obligations were devolved to theregions, with poor results.
The last four years have seen the number of personnel in forestry districts cut by more than half, with a clear impact on forest fire statistics. Scant human resources are hampering early forest fire detection and initial suppression.
The dismantlement of the Avialesookhrana has also led to problems in suppressing major fires across administrative demarcations. On leased forest areas, the leaseholder is responsible for preventive actions such as clearing fire lines. In practice, only the largest, and financially solid, companies are capable of discharging these duties.
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Average size of wildfires forest fires in the Federal Districts in the 2000s. |
Lessons learned
Following the fires of the summer of 2010, the Federal Government has taken several corrective measures to improve the situation. The legal status of the Federal Forest Agency was elevated by subordinating it directly to the Federal Government. Its jurisdiction was also expanded. Federal funding for forest fire prevention and suppression has been increased, while more government subsidies have been granted to regions for the acquisition of fire fighting equipment. Amendments relating to fire prevention and suppression have been made to the Forest Act. Starting or causing a fire is also punished more severely.
The regions have established centres tasked with wildfire surveillance and suppression. In addition, the centralised Avialesookhrana surveillance system has been reinstated. The issue of reinstating the forest guard system is also under deliberation, with some regions already taking decisions to this end. Lack of available funding is the chief obstacle to implementation. Most wildfires are caused by careless or inattentive handling of fire. For this reason, certain regions have decided to prohibit free movement in forests during periods of heightened wildfire risk.
This year's forest fire season has not yet ended and the definitive extent of the fires, or rather different estimates of this, will be determined only later. However, it is already evident that human losses will be smaller than last year. This summer, remote regions saw the most extensive fires, while the capital escaped exposure to smoke.
Further information
- Researcher Sari Karvinen, phone: +358 29 532 3256, sari.karvinen @ metla.fi