Speaking at the Forest and Man forum, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin suggested setting up a federal agency that would be responsible for forest management. Rosleskhoz, or the Federal Forestry Agency (FFA), is likely to become its foundation. After the summer wildfires it was put under direct control of the government again. Now the time has come for the next stage of forest management reform.
Both the forests and the issues heated up this summer. And officials were compelled to adjust their views on forest management. The fires affected an enormous area of 1.6 million hectares. Moreover, the abnormal heat caused many fires in densely-populated areas. This explains the large number of victims and the vast material losses. But it is also these fires that have led to the government launching a large-scale reform of forest management.
First, the FFA was put into the direct control of the government (before it was controlled by the Ministry of Forestry). Speaking at the Forest and Man forum yesterday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin effectively announced the second stage of the reform.
"We are planning to establish a single regulator, concentrating the powers and responsibilities related to forestry in one federal body. I'm referring not only to the forest reserves but also to the forests located on specially protected territories and agricultural land. In effect, the rules and technology of forest protection are the same everywhere," Putin said.
According to the Forest Code, today neither the FFA nor the Ministry of Natural Resources (that in charge of the forests on specially protected territories, such as reserves and national parks) bears any responsibility for the safety of the forests. This is the domain of forest districts, some of which are controlled by the regional authorities and others by landholders (it has been recently allowed to hold land under lease for up to 49 years). It appears that despite the large number of official supervisors, neither the government nor any private companies take proper care of the forests.
The prime minister emphasized the need to make a detailed examination in the near future of how effectively the regions managed the forests and whether they were ready to fight wildfires.
"I don't think things have changed for the worse in this respect, but regrettably, they have not changed for the better, either. Meanwhile, we must do something about this," Putin remarked.
It may make sense to raise the status of the FFA to that of a ministry and give it additional powers. Vladimir Zakharov from the International Social and Ecological Union considers this step quite logical: "This is a move in the right direction. One regulator should be in charge of every rural forest. But I am not sure about the forests on specially protected territory, as they need to be managed differently."
By Anastasia Savikykh, Alexei Aronov