Russia’s national forest policy near completion – first draft released on 29 March
Up until now, Russia has not had a consistent national forest policy document. Major changes in the country’s forest sector in recent years have expedited the reaching of an agreement on strategy definitions – and the results are beginning to show. The first draft of strategy definitions for Russia’s forest policy was released at a forestry forum in Moscow on 29 March. Now the draft is open for comment.
Attempts at outlining Russia’s forest policy were made back in the 1990s and again in the early 2000s, but the results were not as expected. In late 2011, an ecology board operating under the Federal Forestry Agency decided to set up a working group tasked with drawing up a national forest policy document. According to the Forestry Agency, the document must be approved at government level, in order for it to guide the preparation of forest legislation and the making of administrative decisions in the future.
Reasons for the haste in drawing up strategy definitions for the forest policy include the changing of the role of forests, the extensive forest fires in 2010 and the subsequent reforms in forest administration, such as the transfer of the Forestry Agency under direct government control.
Working group unanimous on central definitions
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| One of the reasons for expediting the preparation of strategy definitions is the extensive forest fires in 2010. Photo: Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) of Russia. |
The working group must prepare a draft for discussion on various forums. In early 2012, the group comprised representatives from the Federal Forestry Agency (2 representatives) and the Russian Research Institute for Silviculture and Mechanization of Forestry (VNIILM) operating under the agency (1); the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences (1); the Ministry of Industry and Trade (1); the forest industry research institute OAO NIPIEllesprom (1); the Russian Union of Forest Industry and Forest Export Companies (1); WWF Russia (1); and Greenpeace Russia (1).
The group has convened four times. According to newspaper reports, the group reached an understanding on the following matters of principle in January:
- Forests must remain in the Federation’s ownership; the privatisation of major forest areas will not be considered in the near future.
- Forests outside leased forests (approximately 80 per cent of the forested area) should be under long-term management by a special organisation in charge of economic activities in the area (like the former leshozes – forest management areas – but with no supervisory powers).
- The forest conservation organisation (control of forest fires and illegal felling, supervision of other breaches of forest legislation) should be restored.
- Federal forest administration should be based on a scientific approach and be the responsibility of professionals.
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| Timo Leinonen works as counsellor on forestry affairs in Moscow. |
“Several forest industry directors have proposed the privatisation of forests leased by major corporations, but representatives of the government and NGOs have defended the preservation of federal ownership in the future. Another noteworthy suggestion is that the management and use of forests outside leased forests should be assigned to a single organisation. To my mind, this model would be identical to the current model of Metsähallitus in Finland, which is also used in Latvia and Estonia, for instance,” says Timo Leinonen.
Comments welcomed after release on 29 March
Many experts in the forest sector feel that the current defects in forest legislation and problems in the development of the country’s forest sector are caused by the lack of a national forest policy. Hopes for the completion of the strategy are high, since both the Federal Forestry Agency and environmental organisations emphasise that the strategy must be the outcome of open social discussion.
The preparation of the document has sparked a lively discussion in forestry magazines and on forest-related websites. So far, the direction of forest policy has been discussed at the “Innovations and Technology in Forestry” conference held in St Petersburg from 6 to 7 February 2012. In addition, the national forest strategy was the theme of one session at “Russian Wood and Timber”, an Adam Smith conference organised in Moscow for the third time from 27 to 29 March.
A draft of the forest policy document was released at a forest forum held in Moscow on 29 March. The document was presented by Viktor Maslyakov, Director of the Federal Forestry Agency. After the release, the draft was published on the Internet and was opened up for public discussion. Over the next six months, it will also be discussed at several forestry events.
Learning from the drafting process of other national forest policies
“In recent years, Russian forest sector players (forest administration, industry, NGOs, research and education) have actively searched for information on how forest policy, management and use have been developed in other countries. At many forest-related events, it has been a pleasure to observe that Finland is often mentioned as an example. This time was no exception,” Leinonen notes.
WWF Russia has compiled a publication of some 250 pages containing material provided by NGOs for the preparation of Russia’s national forest policy. It describes the drafting processes of the Finnish, Swedish and Canadian forest policies, among others. The appendices include Finland’s National Forest Programme 2015, translated into Russian.
The drawing up of Russia’s national forest policy document is also supported by a comparison between the national forestry strategies of Finland and Russia, launched under the direction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of Finland and the Federal Forestry Agency of Russia. It aims to identify common points and subjects that would serve as the basis for cooperation in a situation where the Forest Programme for North-West Russia – in operation since 1997 – ended when the Finnish government’s appropriations for cooperation with nearby areas were dramatically reduced.
Conflicting expectations for the outcome
The initiation of the drafting of the forest policy document has stirred up optimism again – maybe this time the result will be a widely accepted strategy, preceded by extensive preparations, that would guide the formulation of forestry legislation and the related measures. The Federal Forestry Agency is optimistic.
According to Greenpeace, the creation of such a document is once again unlikely. However, Greenpeace hopes that in conjunction with the preparation of the forest policy document, a general idea can be formed about what to do when the existing federal forest administration – which is based on the 2006 Forest Code and current HR policy – collapses for good.
“In any case, it is a very positive sign that forests and the importance of the forest sector are being discussed and that there are attempts to find a common vision for the direction in which Russia’s forest sector should be developed. This is the kind of open dialogue that is sorely needed in the Russian forest sector,” Leinonen says.
Further information
- Timo Leinonen, Counsellor on Forestry Affairs, Embassy of Finland in Moscow, timo.leinonen(a)formin.fi