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IRONMENTAL CRIME SERIES
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME SERIES
ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME SER
Russia possesses enormous forest resources (over 83 billion m³), representing a quarter of the world’s
timber reserves. The annual environmentally sustainable amount of logging is over 650 million m³, of
which less than a third is actually harvested. For Russia, illegal logging and forest crime result in enormous
monetary losses from the state budget. While there has been a reduction in the amount of illegal logging
in 36 regions of the Russian Federation, illegal logging has increased in 44 other regions. The most critical
areas remain in the regions of Siberia and the Far East. This report reveals the scale of illegal logging in
Russia based on the best available, most up-to-date, expert data.