Forest Husbandry in the Khabarovsk Territory: Environmental Risks and Ways of Addressing Them

Abstract

The Khabarovsk Territory is characterized by considerable reserves of the forest resources. Their share is 18 % of the forested area of the Far Eastern Federal District and 25 % of the timber reserves. In the region, the forestry sector is the branch of national economic specialization which is associated with the export orientation of the forestry products. In this paper, the factors that determine environmental risks during logging are analyzed, including a low level of control of felling, violations of technologies, rules and standards for felling in the main-use forests, an increase in a fire hazard, violation of the hydrological regime of rivers, the development of erosion processes, pollution of aquatic ecosystems, expansion of road networks, increased poaching pressure on previously inaccessible forest areas, etc. Environmental problems caused by these factors are associated with a decrease in the resources, the ecological functions and the biological diversity of forests, the destruction of possibilities for traditional forest management, and the destruction and transformation of historically formed ecosystems. An unbiased inventory of the forest resources, their quantity and quality assessment, a governmental monitoring of the state of forest ecosystems, support for alternative types of forest use (recreational, tourist, etc.) are of paramount importance in solving these problems.