Trees, Forests and People (Jun 2023)
Law as an instrument of forest destruction in Russia
Abstract
The paper analyzes the causes of the failure of Russian law to prevent illegal logging in its effort to protect forests. It does not attempt to review all its rules and regulations. Instead, it focuses on one significant theme: the way how businesses misuse Russian law to conduct the destruction of forestry resources by applying so called ‘salvage clearings’. The process of authorizing and conducting salvage clearings is regulated by the Russian Forest Code, administrative regulations, and judicial interpretations. The analysis of this law leads to the conclusion that Russian law has good purposes and is sufficiently well defined to prosecute and punish its violators. However, the law is not enforced in the way it was meant to. The legal provisions intended for the protection of forests are used for their destruction. Illegal logging takes the form of an activity approved by forest officials. One reason for it is governmental corruption. The existing forestry regulations are not always clear and well-defined, but they provide a sufficient regulatory framework that can be used effectively against the abuses of salvage clearings. A major legal problem lies not so much in the content of forestry law, as in an overall lack of a general effective mechanism to control administrative discretion. In practice, there are no administrative checks on the way the salvage clearings are carried out. Without a mechanism of control, any administrative law, however well-defined, is open to abuse. An effective mechanism cannot exist without a society that values forest resources beneficial not only for humans but also for other species.
