Illegal logging

SOCIAL DAMAGE

Illegal and unsustainable forest management threatens the

health and living conditions of forests and people, endangering

the future of the industry and the regional economy. To put the

scale of the challenge in perspective, the area of the border

forests in Russia is 10 times greater than the area of the border

forests in the United States. These forests provide livelihoods

for more than 1.1 million people working for 60,000 forestry

enterprises.

Through the non-payment of taxes and customs duties, and

the resulting decline in employment, illegal logging is causing

significant damage to governments, industries and local

communities. Illegal logging reduces timber reserves for

legal forest management and undercuts markets. Low timber

prices ravage law-abiding businesses, leaving their employees

without jobs and livelihoods, thereby creating incentive for

participation in the corrupt system logging. The overall losses

for the Russian Federation in timber harvesting sector are

alarming. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, the

sector consistently demonstrates growing financial deficit: in

2005 it was –2,800 million rubles (118 million US$), mounting

to –17,652 million rubles (507 million US$) in 2014, or about a

5-fold increase.

Similarly, illegal logging impacts on indigenous and traditional

cultures. Sustainable forest management in the Russian Far

East, for example, is essential for the local Udeghe and Nanai

tribes, who have been living in the region for 10,000 years.

Employment in the forestry sector, hunting and gathering

of forest products, and fishing and beekeeping are the only

sources of income and livelihood for the approximate 100,000

members of these communities.