Environmental problems of forests and forest management. Forest management as a direction of environmental resource management

Modern environmental problems in forestry

Introduction

1. History of environmental legislation in Russia

2. Environmental crimes

3. Environmental crime through the eyes of journalists

Conclusion and conclusions

Literature

Introduction

“If you plan for a year, plant rice. If you plan for ten years, plant a tree. If you plan for a hundred years, educate people.” ( Chinese thinker XIIIV. Guanzi.).

In the twentieth century, humanity fully experienced global environmental crisis , which clearly indicates anthropogenic toxicity of the biosphere, a rapid decline in biodiversity, and degradation of vast areas of natural ecosystems. These dramatic changes in the natural environment could have negative impacts on the economy and human health. Obviously, man in his development has crossed the permissible limits of interaction with nature. It is the knowledge of natural laws and patterns that will help humanity in the future to overcome the environmental crisis and maintain a favorable environment in the interests of present and future generations. Global environmental problems - greenhouse effect, destruction of the ozone layer, acid rain, climate warming, fires, logging, etc. - in the modern changing world have acquired major importance.

To solve these problems, the following measures must be taken :

1. Environmental education of the population, as one of the indispensable conditions for realizing the right of every person to live in a comfortable environment.

2. Wide involvement of public organizations and all segments of the population in the preparation and adoption of decisions and government regulations of laws of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

3. Take part in public events, festivals, dedicated to the Day Earth, World Environment Day, etc.

4. Environmental education is the acquisition of the minimum environmental knowledge necessary for the formation of an environmental culture of citizens and all students. To do this it is necessary, starting with kindergarten, introduce children to nature and instill a love for nature. Create school forestry areas in schools. One of the tasks of school forestries is to promote knowledge of nature conservation laws and disseminate information about violations of legislation in this area.

this work is aimed at accomplishing precisely this task.

Target: Pay attention to the problem in our country related to environmental crimes in forestry.

Relevance of the work: Currently, there is an illegal export of wood raw materials abroad without documents; the forest is sold without auctions, at reduced prices, which brings loss to the state; Forests are being cut down without tickets being issued.

1. History of environmental legislation in Russia

Let's get acquainted with the history of the development and organization of nature conservation and the adopted legislative acts.

There is a known Decree (1563) of Ivan the Terrible banning logging on the banks of the Dvina for the purpose of protection from floods, as well as the reservation (1571) of cleared forests on the southern border of the Moscow Principality, and the death penalty was imposed for visiting them without permission. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (1645 – 1676) issued 67 environmental decrees, including a number of decrees on state protected forests, which were strictly protected for royal hunts, as well as the famous decree on the creation of a reserve on the Murmansk coast “Semiostrovie”, to preserve places nesting grounds of gyrfalcons.

Particularly noteworthy is the environmental activities of Peter I (1672–1725), under whom numerous environmental decrees were issued. At the same time, much attention was paid to the preservation of forests, soil, and clean water. It was new, more high level nature conservation. Particularly well known are the decrees on restricted and water-protecting forests, the cleanliness of water bodies, on the preservation of soil cover when cutting down forests, and on the protection of forests from fires. Peter I limited the cutting of forests in the vicinity of cities, along the banks of many rivers, and created the Waldmeister Office to manage the use of forests. However, after Peter's death, many of his decrees were canceled.

Until the mid-19th century, there was some lull in environmental protection in Russia, with the exception of several environmental acts of Catherine II, Paul I and other emperors. However, the level of these acts did not exceed the level of acts of Peter the Great’s times. This is the law on hunting (1763), the decree on the protection of spawning grounds (1835), some acts on the regulation of forest management, on the creation of botanical gardens and individual reserves.

Significant progress in the matter of nature conservation began under Emperor Alexander III after the abolition of Serfdom and the beginning of the industrialization of Russia. Society is showing an understanding of the need for civil initiative in environmental activities. In 1865, the Russian Society for the Protection of Animals was created, and a little later in various provinces - societies of naturalists and nature lovers. In 1873 The Ural Society of Natural History Lovers began work to preserve a unique natural site near the city of Yekaterinburg - the granite rocks “Shartash Stone Tents”. Now it is a natural monument. In 1882, on the initiative of B.I. Dybovsky, in the area of ​​the Kronotsky volcano in Kamchatka, the first public reserve in Russia was created for the breeding and protection of sable. In connection with the industrial development of Russia, intensive deforestation began. Therefore, in 1888, Emperor Alexander III “highly deigned to approve and ordered the implementation” of the Regulation on Forest Conservation, it was simply called the forest conservation law. This provision introduced the concept of protective forests with a strict regime of use. These are water protection, bank protection and soil protection mountain forests as specially protected areas. They prohibited clear cutting of forests and grazing of livestock. For violations, serious fines were levied: for every hundred square fathoms of felled area - 5 rubles, in addition to the tax value of the felled wood. The implementation of the regulations was monitored by the provincial Forest Conservation Committees.

IN late XIX V. several private reserves were created: Askania - Nova, forest on Vorksla, relict groves of Pitsunda, etc. V.V. Dokuchaev (1892) formed several principles that formed the basis for the formation of conservation and protective soil fertility.

Environmental measures, decrees, and regulations have been applied and implemented in the life of the state since 1917, and all of them were aimed at preserving, increasing, and protecting the wealth of Russia.

The greatest progress in environmental protection took place after the creation in 1988 of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the network of its committees in all regions Russian Federation(later and until 2000, the State Committee of the Russian Federation for Environmental Protection). Since the second half of 2000, this committee has been transformed into Public service nature protection within the Ministry natural resources Russian Federation. Foresters were laid off or transferred to other jobs with a salary of no more than 1,000 rubles. Many nature reserves, nature reserves, and specially protected areas have also been put under the ax of reorganization.

These are wrong strategic decisions, the losses will be huge !

Some in the government view Russian forests as a cash cow that can be milked endlessly. Our forest is not only an economic resource, but also the most important global environmental and political resource for the country.

2. Environmental crimes

Federal Law Clause 7 - Federal Law dated January 10, 2002 “On Environmental Protection” speaks of “harm to the environment”, which means a negative change in the environment as a result of its pollution, leading to degradation natural ecological systems and depletion of natural resources. They also talk about environmental safety, the state of protection of the natural environment and vital human interests, from negative impact economic and other activities, emergency situations natural and man-made nature, their consequences (Article 1 of the Federal Law). In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 14 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is recognized as a crime - a socially dangerous act committed, prohibited by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation under threat of punishment.

Based on this, the concept environmental crimes can be disclosed as “socially dangerous acts that encroach on the environmental legal order established in the Russian Federation, the environmental safety of society, causing harm to the natural environment and human health” (Article 7 of the Federal Law of January 10, 2002 “On the Protection of the Natural Environment” "). In contrast to the subject of an environmental crime - environmental law and order and public safety - the object is the material benefits of nature (subsoil, land, water, atmospheric air, forests, gene pool, etc.)

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for liability for forest offences:

Article 260 “Illegal cutting of trees and bushes.”

Article 261 “Destruction or damage to forests.”

Article 262 “Violation of the regime of specially protected natural areas and natural objects."

For clarity, let us dwell on Article 260 “Illegal logging”.

This is how things stand with article 260 in the Mansky forestry enterprise of the Ungut forestry.

Protocols for illegal logging in the Mansky forestry enterprise of the Ungut forestry.

It should be borne in mind that crimes in the field of forest relations are similar in fact to administrative offenses, but they pose a greater danger due to the significant damage to, or encroachment on, especially sensitive forest objects (forests of the first protection group, nature reserves, national parks, etc.). P.). For example, according to objective side Art. 260 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Art. 8.28. The Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation provides for liability for a similar offense - illegal cutting of trees and bushes. If, as a result of these actions, significant damage was caused, then criminal rather than administrative liability arises.

For example.

Thus, on June 20, 2003, the prosecutors of the Mansky district initiated administrative proceedings under Art. 8.28 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. According to the resolution on the initiation of administrative proceedings, on December 19, 2002, in block No. 74 of the Badzheysky forestry, a forest violation was committed in the forests of the first group - illegal cutting of trees in the amount of 5.9 m 3. The damage caused to the forest fund amounted to 216 rubles 53 kopecks. The inspection found that gr. K together with gr. G. carried out illegal felling of the specified forest, by prior agreement. Thus, K.’s actions constitute a crime under Part 2 of Art. 260 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. However, given that the damage caused to forestry is insignificant in K.’s actions, there is no corpus delicti for this crime.

Thus, K. committed an administrative offense under Art. 8.28 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

In principle, all environmental offenses directly or indirectly pose a threat of environmental harm, and only legislation classifies one or another of them as environmental crimes (socially dangerous) or environmental offenses (socially harmful).

The distinction between elements of a crime and an environmental offense is usually made not only on the principle of repetition, i.e. application of conditional administrative punishment only after the application of administrative liability measures (administrative pre-jurisdiction - Article 4.3, paragraph 2 of the Code of Administrative Offences), but also based on the presence of real environmental harm. The significance of this is due to the fact that “... for many, if not most, crimes in the field of environmental protection... the law enforcement officer is forced to raise and decide the question of their differentiation from administrative offenses.” As a rule, environmental crimes relate to material offenses, the necessary element of which is the presence of harm. For most environmental offenses, the presence of environmental harm (ideal composition) is not necessary. However, a number of articles of the Code of Administrative Offenses directly provide for administrative liability for a real threat of causing environmental harm (Article 8.3; 8.10, paragraph 2; 8.38, etc.).

Despite the fact that in recent years the issue of timber harvesting and removal (export) has become acute, the practice of law enforcement agencies and judges considering cases in this category is negligible.

In 2002–2003, the Mansky District Department of Internal Affairs received 18 complaints regarding illegal logging. Based on 8 applications, a decision was made to refuse to initiate criminal proceedings. In 2004, one case was sent to court.

“In 2002, inspectors of the State Institution “Rural Forestry Mansky” carried out 27 inspections of compliance with forest management rules and forest legislation. Based on the results of the inspections, a penalty of 10 thousand rubles was assessed. Everything has actually been collected. In 2003, 51 inspection reports were drawn up, and penalties amounted to 12.2 thousand rubles. Actually recovered - 5.1 thousand rubles.

From July to November 2003, 8 cases of illegal logging were revealed, three individuals, 5 – legal entities. The total damage amounted to 12 thousand rubles, 2.5 thousand rubles were actually recovered.

3. Environmental crimes through the eyes of journalists

Starting to consider environmental crimes and adopted resolutions, laws in last years, Russian journalists found out that our government is far from the problems of preserving Russian forests, mineral resources, etc.

Journalist Stepan Dengin published his article " Pillars for dachas?" It talks about the favorite vacation spot of Krasnoyarsk residents - the Stolby Nature Reserve, as well as more than 100 nature reserves and 35 national parks in our country. The Russian Ministry of Natural Resources sent out telegrams with conclusions about the inappropriateness of their existence. The director of the Stolby Nature Reserve in his commentary confirmed the existence of such a telegram, but a little later a refutation came, and they were informed that the senders of this telegram were punished.

Everything would be fine. It seemed that the topic was exhausted. But there is one interesting detail in this case. Three years ago, nature reserves and national parks, i.e. protected areas with forests, minerals, large tempting areas have come under the control of the Ministry of Natural Resources, which, among other things, is engaged in the extraction of those very minerals, deforestation, etc. The conclusion suggests itself...

There is something to think about. Recently, the State Duma, at the initiative of the government, adopted amendments to the Forest Code, legalizing cottage development in especially valuable forests, the so-called forests of the first group. The Federation Council has already approved the amendments.

Article Alexandra Ostrov « Don't cut it, guys!"continues this theme. Let me explain: forests of the first group are forests of specially protected natural areas - banks of rivers, lakes, reservoirs, nature reserves, resorts and park areas. In connection with this amendment, it will be possible to lease forests for at least 49 years, but not to everyone and not always.

The new text of the code reads: “The transfer of forest lands to non-forest lands is carried out in forests of the first group - by the Government of the Russian Federation on the proposal of the authorities... agreed with the authority... in cases where their further use is impossible according to intended purpose due to the loss of forests of their useful natural properties... and the placement of cultural, housing and communal services, social and community facilities and in other cases.”

So, according to this interpretation of the question, who will determine this utility? Who will decide that utility is lost?

In the Moscow region, thousands of hectares of specially protected forests, where mushroom pickers and tourists used to roam, have already been fenced off barbed wire. Apparently lost beneficial features. Now the new edition of the Forestry Code will legalize everything. And such an economic crime as illegal logging is reflected in the article Yuri Zvyagin in “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” dated August 4, 2003 “ Black lumberjacks».

« Black lumberjacks“In recent years, they have become a real scourge of remote areas of the Leningrad region. The situation is especially difficult in the Boksitogorsk region, 88% of which is covered with forest. " Black lumberjacks“here trees had already begun to be felled in broad daylight, cars were loaded right on the highway, on the Vologda Highway. According to local timber industry experts, the volume of illegal logging is equal to the volume of legal logging. At the same time, there was a real war going on around the forest. Two years ago, in a “showdown” between criminal structures that controlled illegal logging, two dozen people died in just one year. They shot right on the streets of the regional center. Loggers and tenants began to unite to protect their forests and demand help from the state. In August 2003, the Boksitogorsk district administration, the Union of Timber Industry and the Committee of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection initiated the adoption by the regional government of a resolution on the introduction of special regime forest management. It was forbidden to drive tractors and timber trucks into the forest along it, or to enter with chainsaws without special permission from the forestry departments. A headquarters was created in the area to introduce a special regime, which began to organize patrols of forests and inspections of sawmills. Directors of forestry enterprises were replaced, regarding whom it became known that they were yielding to the demands of “ black lumberjacks" More determined people were put in their place.

This is where it all started. I will not go into details, but I will say that attempts began on the directors of forestry enterprises, as well as foresters, they were beaten, killed, and their houses were burned.

Where, excuse me, are the police looking? Of course, no matter how much you feed the wolf, he still wants to go to the forest. When the fight against illegal logging began, the headquarters was faced with the fact that all their attempts to achieve punishment for the “black loggers” ran into an incomprehensible passivity of the internal affairs bodies and the prosecutor’s office. About 300 cases of forest violations were transferred to law enforcement agencies in 2002, about 500 in the last six months, so what? About 25 cases reached trial, but none resulted in conviction.

The article states that the police and the prosecutor's office did nothing about the beatings and arson. She also interpreted forest crimes in her own way. In their opinion, as long as the tree stands, it is state property, and as soon as the saw separates it from the stump, it becomes nobody's property until the forester brands it. It turns out that anyone can take a tree lying on the ground? Well, caught with the woods" black lumberjacks“That’s what they say: “I found these trunks lying around in the forest and just picked them up.”

And the bodies of inquiry tell the foresters: “You didn’t catch him while he was sawing, did you?” This means he is not at fault” and refuses to open a case.

The most interesting thing is that not much is needed to correct the situation, says Nikolai Kondratenko, director of the Boksitogorsk forestry enterprise. – We just need to bring Article 260 of the Criminal Code back to normal. For some reason, the fish inspector detains a poacher, he can take away the boat, and the hunting inspector can take away the gun, but the forest guard cannot confiscate the timber truck and chainsaw. Not provided for in the article.

And in conclusion of my article Yuri Zvyagin makes a good conclusion, and I agree with him, that illegal logging should be considered as theft of state property. And punish accordingly.

What can we say about the Leningrad region, when in the Krasnoyarsk Territory we have an equally tragic situation with the illegal export of timber. Stop playing with the fight against forest violations and illegal removal of wood from the region!

These words can characterize the general mood of the participants in the coordination meeting of law enforcement agencies of the region, which took place in 2003. The heads of the prosecutor's office, police, FSB, tax authorities and bailiffs discussed the implementation of legislation regulating the logging and export of timber. It is no secret that the problem of illegal export of timber from the region to Lately acquired a special poignancy. Over the course of a year and a half, the state forest service of the main department of natural resources and environmental protection in the region identified 559 cases of illegal logging, the total damage was estimated at 134 million rubles. And how many violations have not been identified!

Regional prosecutor V. Ya. Grin drew attention to the lack of proper control on the part of forestry services and competent authorities for compensation for damage caused by illegal logging. The activities of the Krasnoyarsk customs are recognized as ineffective - foreigners export our timber abroad in large volumes and without returning its value. Fictitious companies are created that use pre-planned tax evasion schemes when harvesting and exporting timber, and try to illegally reimburse VAT from the budget on products whose legality of purchase is either not confirmed or “confirmed” by falsified documents.

The Coordination Council noted that control activities in this area are carried out sporadically and are not systematic. It is encouraging that, at the initiative of the regional prosecutor's office, the General Prosecutor's Office and the Supreme Court have determined a unified judicial practice in criminal cases of this category. At the meeting, decisions were made on the creation of a departmental working group under the leadership of the deputy prosecutor of the region, on the formation of a unified information database on the felling and sale of timber. Specific proposals have been prepared for the regional administration to prevent violations of legislation in the forestry industry and increase the efficiency of joint actions of regulatory and law enforcement agencies.

Conclusion and conclusions

In my work, I touched only on a small part of environmental crimes in forestry, namely illegal logging. When we start talking about the fate of the Russian forest, for some reason we rarely mention the role of ordinary citizens who are not professionally involved with the forest. Probably because this role, alas, is mostly consumer.

Why are our forests being stolen? What are the reasons for this disgrace? A lot of them. Well, for example: poverty of the population, unemployment, the right to actually use firearms was taken away from the forest guards, a high level of corruption among government employees, the state confiscating 100% of the proceeds from auction sales of standing timber from forestry enterprises. And also the negative attitude of many local authorities towards forest auctions, the obvious interest of their own and foreign firms in purchasing cheaper timber stolen from the state, and the presence of high-performance cutting machines among thieves. And so on. Etc.

The reasons given for timber theft are real. Taken together, they represent a complex conglomerate of cause-and-effect relationships. In my opinion, to unravel this tangle, it is necessary to find main reason and only then take on the rest. So. In conclusion, we have to state with disappointment that the roots of the mass theft of timber must be sought in the low quality of laws adopted by the State Duma. The imperfection of forest-related laws poses a danger not only for the forest sector of the economy, but also for the country as a whole.

Due to the above-mentioned problems, the most radical measures to preserve forests must be taken at this time. And these problems must be solved both at the state level and by every ordinary person, who must develop his own attitude towards the forest and its preservation.

· First of all, it is necessary to stop illegal logging and bring violators to criminal liability.

· Secondly, the rational distribution of quotas for deforestation depending on their volume in the territories and the value of the species.

· Thirdly, the development and adoption of codes of laws on forest conservation.

Only with an integrated approach to the problems of care, preservation, logging of forests of all forest departments, responsible local workers, as well as instilling in the younger generation a careful attitude towards forests, can we achieve the preservation of the main wealth of our Russia - forests.

SAVE THE EARTH

Take care of the Earth. Take care

Lark at the blue zenith,

Butterfly on dodder leaves,

There are sun glares on the path...

A hawk soaring over a field

A clear moon over the river calm,

A swallow flickering in life.

Take care of the Earth. Take care

The miracle of the songs of cities and villages,

The darkness of the depths and the will of the heavens...

Helpless singing of tenderness

And love has iron patience.

Take care of young shoots

At the green festival of Nature.

Sky in the stars, Ocean and Land

But a soul that believes in immortality,

All destinies are connected by threads.

Take care of the Earth. Take care

Time takes sharp turns,

The Joy of Inspiration and Work,

Ancient kinship living properties.

Revelations of Earth and Heaven,

The sweetness of Life, Milk and Bread,

Take care of Kindness and Pity,

So that she fights for the weak,

Take care of the future for the sake of

This is a word from my notebook.

I give everything! I accept all good things,

Just take care of the Earth!

Mikhail Dudin

Used Books

1. V.A. Vronsky. Ecology. Dictionary - reference book. Rostov-on-Don, 2002 572 pp.

2. Environmental legislation. M., 1998, 253 pp.

3. Articles from periodicals.

Industrial forestry
The main direction of industrial forest management is timber harvesting. This is associated with the emergence of environmental problems in areas of mass logging. One of the main consequences of timber harvesting is the replacement of primary forests with secondary forests, which are generally less valuable and often less productive. But this is only the first step. Logging triggers the mechanisms of profound economic changes in the region where forests are disappearing. These changes affect all areas. The intensity of changes depends on the intensity of felling, and they, in turn, depend on a number of factors: the need for wood, transport accessibility of the logging area, and the equipment of work at the cutting site. The composition of species and the age of forests also influence the intensity of felling. Adverse consequences are especially evident in cases where there is overcutting of wood (more is cut down than grows in a year). When cuttings that lag behind in the rate of wood growth, there is undercutting, which leads to aging of the forest, a decrease in its productivity, and diseases of old trees. Consequently, overcutting leads to depletion of forest resources in some areas, and undercutting leads to their underutilization in others. In both cases, we are dealing with irrational use of natural resources. Therefore, foresters defend the concept of continuous forest management, based on a balance of deforestation and regeneration of forests and timber reserves. However, for now the planet is dominated by deforestation.
The emergence of environmental problems is associated not only with the scale of forest cutting, but also with the methods of cutting. Comparison of positive and negative consequences indicates that selective logging is a more costly form and has less environmental damage. Forest resources are renewable resources, but this process takes 80-100 years. This period is extended in cases where lands are severely degraded after deforestation. Therefore, along with the problems of reforestation, which can be carried out through self-regeneration of forest plantations and, for acceleration, through the creation of forest plantations, the problem of careful use of harvested wood arises. But deforestation - a destructive anthropogenic process - is opposed by stabilizing anthropogenic activity - the desire for full use wood, to the use of gentle logging methods, as well as constructive activities - reforestation.
The term “forest use” or “forest management” means the use of all forest resources, all types of forest wealth.
Forest management

Industrial by-product

The main forest management is engaged in the procurement and use of wood products: the main one is wood, the secondary one is live bait, bark, wood chips, stumps, bast. In Russia, this also includes the harvesting of birch bark, spruce, fir and pine. The main forest use is called industrial due to the large scale of work and its placement on an industrial basis.
Incidental forestry uses non-timber products, and its characteristics are similar to commercial forestry. A distinctive feature of the two types of environmental management is that industrial forest management is characterized by a wide range of environmental problems, and for secondary forest management, problems associated with an excess of visits to forest areas and excessive harvesting are especially significant. biological resources forests.

Clear cuttings

· Large areas are being exposed, the natural balance is being disrupted, and erosion processes are accelerating.
· Biocenoses are completely destroyed, flora and fauna are degraded.
· Growth is destroyed, conditions for self-healing of forests become more difficult.
· Complete clearing of the cutting area makes it easier to plant and care for forest crops.
Clear cutting - main cutting
Upper logging site in clear-cutting for use or reforestation, in which the entire tree stand in the cutting area is cut down in one step, preserving individual trees and shrubs or groups of trees and shrubs for forest reproduction. Clear cutting is permitted only if forests are regenerated in forest areas provided for timber harvesting.
Some clearcuts are associated with the construction of roads, pipeline routes, power lines, and clearings. In this case, cutting down forests of any age is allowed.
Concentrated felling is clear cutting carried out on an area of ​​50 hectares or more. In such fellings, the temperature amplitude increases more than in narrow cuttings, and in the taiga zone frosts are possible in any month. The risk of young tree growth being damaged by the cockchafer increases.
Narrow-cutting is a clear felling in which the width of the cutting area does not exceed 100 m. In narrow clearings, the snow cover is higher, it melts more slowly, and the soil does not freeze as deeply as in wide clearings. They are overgrown with grass more slowly, seeding is better, and the tree canopy closes faster.
Selective felling (thinning)
· Work on targeted reforestation is becoming more difficult.
· During felling and transportation, the forest floor and other trees are damaged, the hydraulic regime of the territory and the habitat of plants and animals is disrupted.
· Ripe, low-value, diseased plants are selected, healing occurs, and the composition of the forest is improved.
· Mainly landscapes, biocenoses, typical flora and fauna are preserved.

Sanitary cabin
Sanitary felling is carried out with the aim of improving the sanitary condition of the forest, during which individual sick, damaged and drying trees or the entire forest stand are cut down.
Sanitary felling is aimed at improving the health of plantings by removing dead trees and trees infected with forest diseases and pests and is prescribed when the sanitary condition requires surgical intervention, where conventional types of thinning are not planned in the near future.

Sanitary fellings are divided into two types: selective and clear.

Selective sanitary felling is felling carried out with the aim of improving the sanitary condition of plantings, during which dead, drying out, disease-affected, pest-infested trees, as well as other damaged trees are cut down.
To one degree or another, the tasks of selective sanitary felling are a priority and are solved during all types of thinning, as well as partial clearing for final use. Timely and high-quality (without negative impacts on the forest) thinning significantly prevents the need for special sanitary felling. However, if due to thinning, especially mechanized, there is a violation of silvicultural and sanitary requirements (damage to trees, soil compaction technical means when carrying out other forestry activities), the sanitary condition of the plantations deteriorates sharply, selective and sometimes clear sanitary felling is required.
Clear sanitary cuttings are sanitary cuttings carried out to completely replace plantings that have lost their biological stability as a result of massive damage to trees by harmful insects, diseases, fires and other unfavorable factors. Despite the commonality of reasons that necessitate all sanitary cuttings and the general goal of forest care, in contrast to selective cuttings aimed at improving and preserving plantings, clear sanitary cuttings are pursued to a certain extent the opposite goal - replacing diseased plantings and, thereby, improving the health of the forest generally.
Clear sanitary felling is prescribed in plantings:
- dead;
- so weakened as a result of the influence of various factors that their loss in the near future is inevitable;
- affected by stem pests and diseases with such a ratio of current and total mortality and a forecast of changes in the condition and number of pests in the coming years that it is impossible to preserve them through measures available to forestry, including forest protection;
- where selective sanitary felling will lead to a decrease in density (fullness) to a level below critical, at which it is impossible to ensure acceptable productivity and efficiency in fulfilling target environmental functions;
- such fellings are prescribed in plantings that are dead, with the presence of increased current mortality, as well as heavily weakened, windfall, windfall, disease-affected, infested with stem pests and other damaged trees, when harvested, the density (completeness) of tree stands will decrease below 0.4 - in pine and birch forests , and below 0.5 – in spruce forests.
The basis for prescribing and carrying out clear sanitary felling is the materials of a forest pathological examination. Areas planned for clear sanitary felling are inspected by a special commission under the leadership of the chief forester of the State Forestry Institution or protected area with the participation of a forest protection specialist. In the absence of materials characterizing the condition of the plantings, as well as when checking the quality of the forest pathological examination, trial plots are established with a count of trees and their assessment by condition categories. On each trial plot of each plot, at least 100 trees must be taken into account, the total area of ​​the trial plots must be at least 2% of the total area in plots up to 100 hectares. In areas of more than 100 hectares, it is allowed to establish trial plots in the most characteristic places, which are determined on at least three routes for every 100 hectares, with the addition of visual forest pathological taxation of plantings in areas where trial plots were not laid.
The intensity of changes depends on the intensity of felling, and they, in turn, depend on a number of factors: the need for wood, transport accessibility of the logging area, and the equipment of work at the cutting site. The intensity of felling is also influenced by the composition of species and the age of forests. Adverse consequences are especially evident in cases where there is overcutting of wood (more is cut down than grows in a year).
When cuttings that lag behind in the rate of wood growth, there is undercutting, which leads to aging of the forest, a decrease in its productivity, and diseases of old trees. Consequently, overcutting leads to depletion of forest resources in some areas, and undercutting leads to their underutilization in others. In both cases, we are dealing with irrational use of natural resources. Therefore, foresters defend the concept of continuous forest management, based on a balance of deforestation and regeneration of forests and timber reserves. However, for now the planet is dominated by deforestation. Shop upholstered furniture: where to buy a leather sofa.
The emergence of environmental problems is associated not only with the scale of forest cutting, but also with the methods of cutting.
A comparison of positive and negative consequences indicates that selective logging is a more costly form and has less environmental damage.
Forest resources are renewable resources, but this process takes 80-100 years. This period is extended in cases where lands are severely degraded after deforestation. Therefore, along with the problems of reforestation, which can be carried out through self-regeneration of forest plantations and, for acceleration, through the creation of forest plantations, the problem of careful use of harvested wood arises.
But deforestation - a destructive anthropogenic process - is opposed by stabilizing anthropogenic activities - the desire for the full use of wood, the use of gentle methods of logging, as well as constructive activities - reforestation

Forest restoration

Artificial restoration Natural restoration

Artificial reforestation is the creation of forest crops in areas that were previously forested. It is divided into: preliminary, when planting or sowing is carried out under the canopy of the plantation several years before it is felled; accompanying, when planting or sowing is carried out during the process of non-clear cuttings or after their completion; subsequent – ​​forest crops in cleared areas; reconstructive, when forest crops of economically valuable species are established in areas occupied by low-value plantings corresponding to given specific conditions. Forest planting. Forest planting is the creation of forests by planting forest planting material on a forested area. Sowing the forest. Forest sowing is the creation of forest crops by sowing seeds of forest species on a forested area.
Natural reforestation. Natural reforestation is the process of formation of a new generation of forest in a natural way. It allows you to restore at a relatively low cost. work force, relying on the forces of nature. The forester purposefully uses this process in his work. Promote natural regeneration. Natural regeneration is promoted in a variety of ways. These include: preservation of undergrowth and young growth during final fellings, leaving pollutants, soil mineralization, clearing clearings of logging residues, draining and fencing areas.
Restoration and formation of forest after final felling in Yesenovichsky forestry. Sequence of actions when performing reforestation work. Collection of seeds of coniferous and deciduous species. In the second half of May, seeds are planted in forest nurseries to grow planting material. The nursery area is maintained. Weeding and mowing of weeds that inhibit the growth of planting material is carried out. The plots are being cleared of logging residues. Three to four years after sowing the nursery, the grown planting material is planted in cleared plots. For the first three years, the planted young animals are carefully cared for.

2. Can “off-road” be considered the best protection for pristine nature?
In order to answer the question, let’s first consider what impact road construction has on the environment. The environmental safety of a road is established using a set of environmentally significant indicators and their evaluation measures that determine the characteristics and properties of the road as a source of impact on the natural and social environment, as well as environmental components affected by the road.
The main types of impact of a highway on the surrounding natural and social environment are:
1. Withdrawal (consumption) of non-renewable natural resources
- Alienation of land area (permanent and temporary)
- Extraction of stone materials, sand, soil.
- Removal of soil and turf layer.
2. Physical presence of the object (construction and use of the object), impact on the landscape, hydrology, climate,
etc.................

A quarter of the world's timber reserves are concentrated in the Russian Federation - over 80 billion m 3 . For regions such as Transbaikalia, forest resources are a factor in economic well-being. The Chita region ranks seventh in the country in terms of forest area; as of January 1, 2002 it amounted to 31,307 thousand hectares. total area forests possible for exploitation, 16,372 thousand hectares; estimated cutting area – 13,576 thousand m3.

At the same time, in recent years there has been a steady trend of increasing the number of offenses and crimes in the field of forest relations. In the Chita region, the number of registered cases of illegal logging in the period from 1998 to 2001. increased from 233 to 826, i.e. 3.5 times. The amount of damage caused in this case increased 43.1 times, amounting to 48.4 million rubles in 2001.

In the context of the criminalization of the area under consideration, the role of prosecutorial supervision over the implementation of forestry legislation is objectively increasing. In 2000 – 2002 Three coordination meetings of heads of law enforcement agencies were held on the state of legality in the procurement, transportation and export of timber abroad. The regional prosecutor's office, on the instructions of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, carried out inspections of the implementation of legislation aimed at the rational use, conservation, protection and reproduction of forests, as well as regulating the protection of forests from fires. An audit was carried out of the legality of the amount of funding during the formation of the budgets of the constituent entities of the Federation in 2002 and 2003. The audits revealed numerous offenses committed in the conduct of forestry and the use of forest resources.

If in 2000 the prosecutor's office and internal affairs bodies of the region registered 492 statements and reports of crimes under Art. 260 and 261 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, then in 2001 – 622, i.e. their number increased by 12.6%. Criminal cases were initiated under these articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation in 2000 - 169, in 2001 - 371, 35 and 69 were sent to court, respectively. When supervising the consideration of applications and reports of crimes in the internal affairs bodies, city district prosecutors sent 27 materials on the refusal to initiate a criminal case for additional verification in 2000, 31 decisions were canceled in accordance with Art. 116 Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR. In 2001, 17 materials were sent for additional verification, decisions were canceled in accordance with Art. 116 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR - 9. A criminal case was opened against two employees of internal affairs bodies for illegal logging, which caused damage in the amount of 888,166 rubles. The case has been sent to court.

Main forest violations: illegal logging, including unauthorized logging; logging using fake logging tickets; undercuts; felling outside the cutting areas transferred to the forest user; felling in especially protected areas. Failure to clean logging sites, violations of sanitary rules and fire safety rules in forests are allowed.

Offenses in the field of forestry legislation are committed, among other things, by officials of forestry enterprises. For example, according to prosecutorial inspections, in 2001, 63% of the felling of single trees in 13 forestry enterprises in the region was permitted in violation of the law. In the Chita region alone, 106 logging tickets were illegally issued, and the damage caused (based on the volume of felling) amounted to 15,559,544 rubles. The felling of single trees is permitted in the absence of forest management recommendations, without the conclusion of the forest pathological service; there are facts of overestimation of the volume of felling, and felling in areas where in reality there are no single trees. Based on these facts, the regional prosecutor's office ordered an investigation to determine whether officials Verkh-Chita forestry enterprise signs of a crime and solutions to the issue of bringing them to justice.

A submission was made to the leadership of the Regional Natural Resources Committee, which did not use its powers to exercise state control over the activities of subordinate bodies and did not take timely measures to suppress violations and punish the perpetrators. In 2001, the regional prosecutor's offices initiated three criminal cases against forestry workers for illegal logging. The cases were discontinued due to the amnesty act.

The measures taken by law enforcement and regulatory authorities are insufficient and inadequate to the current situation, however, the reasons for the increase in the number of offenses in the field of forest relations lie not only in the shortcomings of their activities. To combat crimes in this area, it is necessary to improve legal regulation and introduce additions and changes to legislation. For example, in 2001, out of 494 statements and reports of crimes related to illegal logging, 156 were decided to refuse to initiate criminal cases due to the lack of corpus delicti. In most cases, the amount of damage did not fall under the criteria provided for by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation as a basis for initiating a criminal case. In this regard, to ensure the inevitability of punishment, it is necessary to revise downwards the amount of damage that results in criminal liability. The point of view of Professor E.N. seems fair. Zhevlakova on the need to distinguish between the amount of damage considered as a basis for criminal liability and damage caused by a crime natural environment

. The specific composition of the crime provided for in Art. 260 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, are relations in the field of ecology. The forest must be considered as a complex multifunctional ecosystem, and when calculating damage to the natural environment, it is necessary to take into account not only the damage from removal, destruction, damage to the point of stopping the growth of trees, shrubs and vines, but also other damage of an environmental nature.

It is also necessary to make an addition to Art. 261 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, determining the amount of damage at which criminal liability arises for the destruction and damage of forests.

The most important condition for strengthening the rule of law in the field of forest relations is ensuring the unity of the legal space in the Russian Federation. This area is one of the priorities in the activities of the prosecutor's office. Inspections carried out by the regional prosecutor's office in 2001 - 2002 revealed facts of the adoption by government bodies of a constituent entity of the Federation and local government bodies of normative legal acts that contradict federal forestry legislation. Illegal legal acts negatively affect the legal consciousness of the population and create conditions for committing offenses in the area of ​​forest use. In 2002, the regional prosecutor's office protested four normative acts of the head of the regional administration and the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, and made 4 submissions to them.

This work is also carried out by district prosecutors. In 2001 and the first quarter of 2002, they protested 33 decisions of heads of district administrations, and submitted 44 proposals to officials of forestry enterprises and local governments to eliminate violations of the law in the field of forest relations. An application was sent to the Chita Regional Court in accordance with Art. 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the RSFSR on the recognition of certain provisions of the Law of the Chita Region as contrary to federal legislation, invalid and not subject to application“On the vesting of local governments with state powers in the field of use and protection of forest resources” dated March 1, 2001, adopted by the Chita Regional Duma. Clause “c” of Art. 1 of the Law in violation of Art. 35, part 2 art. 44 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation (LC RF), local government bodies are empowered to approve the composition of the commission for holding forestry competitions and auctions for the transfer of forest resources for use. By decision of the Chita Regional Court, the regional prosecutor's office refused to satisfy the application. The regional prosecutor filed a cassation protest in Supreme Court

In the Chita region, whose territory is border, in recent years the number of offenses related to the illegal export of timber abroad has increased significantly. Liberalization of foreign economic activity contributed to sharp export activity. For example, in 1998 – 2000. The volume of exports of unprocessed lumber to China in value terms increased almost 6 times. In 2001, exports amounted to 771,208 m 3, i.e. compared to 671,109 m 3 in 2000, it increased by 14%. This process, however, is accompanied by violations of customs legislation. The state, in addition to the damage caused by illegal logging, does not receive full taxes on foreign exchange earnings for the export of timber (lost taxes amount to millions of US dollars). Less than 2% of the fines imposed for these violations are collected.

Illegal timber trafficking is largely facilitated by imperfect legislation. So Art. 193 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation defines the heads of enterprises as the subject of the crime (failure to return funds in foreign currency from abroad). It follows from the content of the article that the subjects of this crime are not private entrepreneurs without the formation of a legal entity. Position "About streamlining state registration entrepreneurs on the territory of the Russian Federation", approved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation of July 8, 1994, which applies to individuals, creates a simplified procedure for registering such entrepreneurs. The opportunity granted by law to this category of entrepreneurs to carry out foreign economic activity led to the growth of fly-by-night companies. Such companies operate through dummy persons who cannot be held liable under Art. 193 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and do not have funds or property that could be foreclosed on. It seems necessary to eliminate the legislative gap by establishing criminal liability for non-return of funds in foreign currency from abroad for private entrepreneurs without forming a legal entity.

In order to organize effective control over economic entities and establish the legality of the origin of wood, and bring to justice persons who illegally harvest or sell timber, there is a need to issue a legal act on licensing activities for the use of forest resources, which would be in accordance with Art. 81 LC RF.

In order to streamline the turnover and export of timber, it is necessary at the federal level, in accordance with Article 174 of the Customs Code of the Russian Federation, to recommend that the State Customs Committee of the Russian Federation (SCC of Russia) develop a list of additional documents presented by timber exporters during customs clearance of cargo in order to confirm the legality of harvesting or purchasing timber ( logging tickets or copies thereof, certified by the forestry department at the place of felling, purchase acts, invoices). At the same time, and within regulatory framework officials of customs authorities (clause 2.8 of the order of the State Customs Committee of Russia dated November 28, 1994 No. 624) have the right to require the declarant to submit additional documents necessary for customs purposes.

Regional government authorities made attempts to streamline the procurement, transportation and export of wood. Thus, the head of the regional administration issued Resolution No. 39 dated January 18, 2001, in which local government bodies were instructed to issue permits for the right to export wood outside the region (including export). When carrying out customs control over the export of timber, the customs management was ordered to check with participants in foreign economic activity whether they have permission from the heads of local governments to export timber. The State Border Inspectorate for Plant Quarantine in the Chita Region was asked to issue a phytosanitary certificate for forest products upon presentation of logging tickets or copies thereof. However, the resolution was contrary to federal law, since it limited the constitutional rights of citizens to freedom of economic activity and the free movement of goods and services. The measures introduced by the resolution fall within the competence of federal authorities. The regional prosecutor made a proposal to eliminate violations of the law, which was granted.

Due to the severity and significance of the problem, issues of timber harvesting, transportation and export abroad became the subject of coordination meetings of heads of law enforcement agencies held by the prosecutor's office of the Chita region in 2000, 2001, 2002. During the meetings, the causes of offenses in this area were analyzed, and organizational and practical measures were developed to prevent them. The reasons for the low efficiency of activities to ensure legality in the field of timber turnover included the following:

insufficient work of district prosecutors in organizing interaction between law enforcement and regulatory authorities at the local level;

violations and crimes of forest service officials;

failure by law enforcement agencies to take comprehensive measures to identify offenses in this area and bring the perpetrators to justice established by law.

In pursuance of the decisions made, coordination meetings on these issues were held in all districts of the region; a working group has been created and operates under the leadership of the regional prosecutor’s office, which includes representatives of law enforcement agencies and the regional administration; a unified computer database has been created under the Committee of Natural Resources, into which all necessary information about participants in forest legal relations (series, number, date of issue and other data of logging tickets).

In the area of ​​responsibility of the Trans-Baikal Customs, during customs clearance of timber from participants in foreign economic activity, customs officers request copies of logging tickets and invoices confirming the legality of the purchase of timber.

Forest fires cause enormous damage to the forest fund. As of October 1, 2002, 1,121 of them were registered in the forests of the Chita region. The damage caused in the first half of 2002 amounted to 76,615 thousand rubles. The main cause of forest fires is careless handling of fire by citizens and agricultural burning. An audit of legislation regulating the protection of forests from fires revealed violations by forestry workers job responsibilities on preventing and combating forest fires, low level control of these issues by the leaders of the regional Natural Resources Committee. Based on the results of the inspection, five legal acts of the heads of municipalities were protested, 21 proposals were made to them and to the heads of forestry enterprises to eliminate violations of forestry legislation. A submission was also made to the leadership of the Regional Natural Resources Committee.

The prosecutor's investigation also revealed an alarming situation in the financing and logistics of forestry enterprises. Funding for firefighting activities in 2002 began on February 15th. The provision of transport to forestry enterprises is only 50%; 78% of fire-fighting equipment is worn out or out of order. Vast areas were left without air patrols. The debt of the Chita Forest Protection Aviation Base to aircraft rental companies as of November 25, 2002 amounted to 14 million rubles. The average salary of workers in forestry is 2030 rubles. with the cost of living in the region for the working population 2333 rubles. The staffing level of forestry enterprises is 54.5%. There is an urgent need to resolve at the federal level the issues of improving material, technical and personnel support, increasing wages in the forestry sector, and sufficient advance funding from the federal budget for preparations for the fire season.

The term “forest use” or “forest management” means the use of all forest resources, all types of forest wealth.

The main forest management is engaged in the procurement and use of wood products: the main one is wood, the secondary one is live bait, bark, wood chips, stumps, bast. In Russia, this also includes the harvesting of birch bark, spruce, fir and pine. The main forest use is called industrial due to the large scale of work and its placement on an industrial basis.

Incidental forestry uses non-timber products, and its characteristics are similar to commercial forestry. Distinctive feature two types of environmental management is that industrial forest management is characterized by a wide range of environmental problems, and for secondary forest management the problems associated with an excess of visits to forests and the excessive extraction of biological resources of the forest are especially significant.

Industrial forestry. The main direction of industrial forest management is timber harvesting. This is associated with the emergence of environmental problems in areas of mass logging.

One of the main consequences of timber harvesting is the replacement of primary forests with secondary forests, which are generally less valuable and often less productive. But this is only the first step. Logging triggers the mechanisms of profound economic changes in the region where forests are disappearing. These changes affect all areas.

The intensity of changes depends on the intensity of felling, and they, in turn, depend on a number of factors: the need for wood, transport accessibility of the logging area, and the equipment of work at the cutting site. The composition of species and the age of forests also influence the intensity of felling.

Adverse consequences are especially evident in cases where there is overcutting of wood (more is cut down than grows in a year).

When cuttings that lag behind in the rate of wood growth, there is undercutting, which leads to aging of the forest, a decrease in its productivity, and diseases of old trees. Consequently, overcutting leads to the depletion of forest resources in some areas, and undercutting leads to their underutilization in others. In both cases, we are dealing with irrational use of natural resources. Therefore, foresters defend the concept of continuous forest management, based on a balance of deforestation and regeneration of forests and timber reserves. However, for now the planet is dominated by deforestation.

The emergence of environmental problems is associated not only with the scale of forest cutting, but also with the methods of cutting.

A comparison of positive and negative consequences indicates that selective logging is a more costly form and has less environmental damage.

Forest resources are renewable resources, but this process takes 80-100 years. This period is extended in cases where lands are severely degraded after deforestation. Therefore, along with the problems of reforestation, which can be carried out through self-regeneration of forest plantations and, for acceleration, through the creation of forest plantations, the problem of careful use of harvested wood arises.

But deforestation - a destructive anthropogenic process - is opposed by stabilizing anthropogenic activity - the desire for the full use of wood, the use of gentle methods of logging, as well as constructive activity - reforestation.

The situation with forests on the European continent is also unfavorable. The problems of air pollution from industrial emissions, which are already beginning to have a continental character, come to the fore here. They affected 30% of the forests in Austria, 50% of the forests in Germany, as well as the forests of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Germany. Along with spruce, pine, and fir that are sensitive to pollution, relatively resistant species such as beech and oak began to be damaged. The forests of the Scandinavian countries have been severely damaged by acid rain, which is formed by the dissolution of sulfur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by industry in other European countries. Similar phenomena have been observed in Canadian forests due to pollution transferred from the United States. Cases of forest loss around industrial facilities are also observed in Russia, in particular on the Kola Peninsula and in the Bratsk region.

Death of tropical forests. Almost all types of habitats are being destroyed, but the problem is most acute in tropical rainforests. Every year, an area equivalent to approximately the entire UK is cut down or otherwise affected. If the current rate of destruction of these forests continues, in 20-30 years there will be practically nothing left of them. Meanwhile, according to experts, two thirds of the 5-10 million species of living organisms inhabiting our planet are found in tropical forests. The most common cause cited for the death of most tropical forests is excessive population growth. This last circumstance in developing countries leads to an increase in the collection of firewood for heating homes and an expansion of areas for shifting farming practiced by local residents. Some experts believe that the accusation is directed at the wrong address, since, in their opinion, the destruction of only 10-20% of forests is associated with the slash-and-burn method of cultivating the land. Much of the rainforest is being destroyed due to large-scale ranching and the construction of military roads in Brazil, as well as the growing demand for tropical timber exported from Brazil, Africa and Southeast Asia.

How to stop the death of tropical forests? A number of organizations, such as the World Bank and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, have devoted a lot of intellectual effort and financial resources to try to stop the massive loss of tropical forests. For the period from 1968 to 1980. The World Bank spent $1,154,900 on tropical forest restoration programs. But it is not yet clear whether this has had any significant impact on solving the problem. One of the reasons for the ineffectiveness of the measures taken is that much larger sums are spent on agricultural development projects. When a country's government has the opportunity to choose between an agricultural development program and reforestation projects, the choice is usually made in favor of the first program, since it promises to quickly meet the food needs of the population. Another reason is that loans like those provided by the World Bank actually sometimes contribute to increased deforestation. A country may find it more profitable to first obtain income from the sale of wood from mature trees, and then, using the loans received, implement a program to restore cleared forests. Consequently, as a result of this formulation of the case, the loan amount doubles.

Industrial forestry

The term “forest use” or “forest management” means the use of all forest resources, all types of forest wealth.

The main forest management is engaged in the procurement and use of wood products: the main one is wood, the secondary one is live bait, bark, wood chips, stumps, bast. In Russia, this also includes the harvesting of birch bark, spruce, fir and pine. The main forest use is called industrial due to the large scale of work and its placement on an industrial basis. Incidental forestry uses non-timber products, and its characteristics are similar to commercial forestry. A distinctive feature of the two types of environmental management is that industrial forest management is characterized by a wide range of environmental problems, and for secondary forest management, the problems associated with an excess of visits to forests and the excessive extraction of biological resources of the forest are especially significant.

The main direction of industrial forest management is timber harvesting. This is associated with the emergence of environmental problems in areas of mass logging. One of the main consequences of timber harvesting is the replacement of primary forests with secondary forests, which are generally less valuable and often less productive. But this is only the first step. Logging triggers the mechanisms of profound economic changes in the region where forests are disappearing. These changes affect all areas. The intensity of changes depends on the intensity of felling, and they, in turn, depend on a number of factors: the need for wood, transport accessibility of the logging area, and the equipment of work at the cutting site. The composition of species and the age of forests also influence the intensity of felling. Adverse consequences are especially evident in cases where there is overcutting of wood (more is cut down than grows in a year). When cuttings that lag behind in the rate of wood growth, there is undercutting, which leads to aging of the forest, a decrease in its productivity, and diseases of old trees. Consequently, overcutting leads to depletion of forest resources in some areas, and undercutting leads to their underutilization in others. In both cases, we are dealing with irrational use of natural resources. Therefore, foresters defend the concept of continuous forest management, based on a balance of deforestation and regeneration of forests and timber reserves. However, for now the planet is dominated by deforestation.

The emergence of environmental problems is associated not only with the scale of forest cutting, but also with the methods of cutting. A comparison of positive and negative consequences indicates that selective logging is a more costly form and has less environmental damage. Forest resources are renewable resources, but this process takes 80-100 years. This period is extended in cases where lands are severely degraded after deforestation. Therefore, along with the problems of reforestation, which can be carried out through self-regeneration of forest plantations and, for acceleration, through the creation of forest plantations, the problem of careful use of harvested wood arises. But deforestation - a destructive anthropogenic process - is opposed by stabilizing anthropogenic activities - the desire for the full use of wood, the use of gentle methods of logging, as well as constructive activities - reforestation.

Forest fires

Fires are among the important abiotic factors influencing the nature of communities formed in an ecosystem. In coniferous forests growing in the southeastern United States, and treeless savannas, as well as in the steppe zone, fires are a very common phenomenon. In forests where fires occur regularly, trees usually have thick bark, which makes them more resistant to fire. In some cases, the soil after fires is enriched with biogenic elements such as phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. As a result, animals grazing in areas exposed to periodic fires receive more nutritious nutrition. By preventing natural fires, humans thereby cause changes in ecosystems, the maintenance of which requires periodic burning of vegetation. Nowadays, fires have become a very common means of controlling the development of forests, although the public consciousness has difficulty getting used to this idea.

The Earth's forests are seriously affected by fires. Forest fires destroy 2 million tons of organic matter annually. They cause great harm to forestry: the growth of trees decreases, the composition of forests deteriorates, windbreaks increase, soil conditions and windbreaks, soil conditions worsen. Forest fires contribute to the spread of harmful insects and wood-destroying fungi. World statistics claim that 97% of forest fires occur due to human fault and only 3% due to lightning, mainly ball. The flames of forest fires destroy both flora and fauna in their path. In Russia, great attention is paid to protecting forests from fires. As a result of measures taken in recent years to strengthen preventive fire-fighting measures and implement a set of works to timely detect and extinguish forest fires by aviation and ground forest fire units, the area of ​​forests covered by fire, especially in the European part of Russia, has been significantly reduced.