Transition to sustainable forest management in Russia: theoretical and methodological backgrounds

Abstract

The paper contains a short analysis of theoretical and methodological backgrounds of transition to sustainable forest management in Russia (SFM). It is concisely considered the current state of forest management in Russia which is estimated as critical; expected impacts of climate change on the country’s forests; and theoretical and methodological prerequisites, specifics and risks of transition to SFM including 1) concept and general methodological basis of transition to SFM; 2) specifics of the required information; 3) problem of forest protection in conditions of growing risks; 4) strategic prerequisites of adaptation of forests to climate change and their use as a tool of climate change mitigation; and 5) necessity of a harmonized estimation of diversity of resources and other forest ecosystem services within the paradigm of risk resilient forest management. A crucial role of models of different complexity and destination is considered as a basic methodological tool of long-term planning of forest management actions. It is shown that there is no single strategy, which would allow reaching all goals of SFM. The scale of objects within which SFM is implemented might play a crucial role in finding the optimal decisions. Similar to many other countries, Russia is late with consideration and implementation of SFM. The paper is limited by theoretical and methodological questions and does not touch upon managerial, institutional and political problems of the up-to-date forest sector of Russia.

Keywords

• Russian forests
• climate change
• forest management
• risk resilient forestry