Forest Fund

The main part of the forest resources of Russia is formed by the State Forest Fund of the Russian Federation which occupies about 69 % of the country’s land area. The structure of the forest fund is shown in the Chart below.

Structure of Forest Resources in the Russian Federation 

The forest fund consists of forest land and non-forest land. The forest land comprises stocked (forested) forest lands (87%), non-stocked forest lands (7%), and naturally growing stands including plantations and nurseries (6%). The stocked land forms the main forest resource of the country, while the unstocked areas are, at least temporarily, non-productive due to clear-cuts, forest fires, tree deaths etc. The non-forest land may contain grasslands, pastures, swamps, sands, glaciers, roads, yards, and many other land types which are permanently unproductive. Some characteristics of the forest fund of the Russian Federation are given in the following Table.

Forest Fund of the Russian Federation and North-West Russia as of 1.1.1993

Forest Management

Forest Classification

• The pretundra forest zone forms a 100-150 km wide transition belt from taiga forests to tundra. Dominant trees are larch, Siberian spruce, birch, dwarf birch, and dwarf Siberian pine. Many parts of the area are extremely rich in oil, gas and minerals, but the existing timber resources have no commercial value. The forests have, however, an important protection function, and some significance for the local economies.

• Northern taiga forests consist of pine, white birch, larch and Siberian spruce, of which the last two are predominant in the eastern part of Russia. The average growing stock in the standing forests is usually less than 50 m3 per hectare, and the forest resources are mainly used by the local population.

• Middle taiga forests are composed mainly of pine, larch, Siberian spruce and Siberian fir, as well as of deciduous species like birch and aspen. The forests contain 80-150 m3 per hectare standing timber, and are generally subject to extensive exploitation.

• Southern taiga forests contain valuable stands of pine, spruce, Siberian spruce, white birch and aspen. Thus, these forests have a very high commercial value. The productivity of these forests may be as high as 250-300 m3 per hectare.

The forest fund in Russia is divided into three categories according to the degree of commercial use, as shown in the Table below.

 Forests in North-West Russia

The majority of the forests in north-west Russia belong to the northern and middle taiga zones. Pre-tundra forests are mainly found in the Murmansk Oblast and in the Republic of Komi, as shown in the Table below and in these linked Maps. The ownership structure of the forest area in north-west Russia is presented in the second Table. The structure of the forest funds managed by Rosleskhoz in north-west Russia is shown in the third Table below.

(1,000 hectares)

(million m³)

The share of mature and over-mature forests in North-West Russia is as high as 52%, which corresponds well with the average in the Russian Federation. However, the age structure varies considerably from region to region. The oldest forests are found in the Republic of Komi and the Arkhangelsk Oblast, and the youngest in the Republic of Karelia.