Forest resources potential of the Ural Federal district: the state and utilization

• Main Authors: V. G. Loginov, M. N. Ignat'eva
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Ural State Mining University 2017-09-01
• Series: Izvestiâ Uralʹskogo Gosudarstvennogo Gornogo Universiteta
• Subjects: forest resources potential; parameters; state; dynamics; usage
• Online Access: http://iuggu.ru/download/+Loginov-3-17.pdf

The authors present a full characterization of the forest resource potential of the Ural Federal District (UFD) with differentiation by regions: Kurgan region, Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous region – Yugra, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous region and Chelyabinsk region. The authors assess The UFD position among the federal districts of Russia by the presence of forestland areas, forest cover and total reserves, as well as the volume of harvested wood. Within the Ural Federal district, the authors analyze the distribution of forests by the intended purpose and use of the cutting area. One can also see characteristics of the age composition of forests and the ratio of coniferous and deciduous species. The fire damage to the forests and their restoration gains particular attention. The authors connect the number of fires and the area covered by fires with the climatic factor and the forest tracts location. The analysis shows that with the total forest area burnt by fires over 15 years (2000–2015) of 1543.6 thousand hectares, which fits the forest-covered area of the Kurgan region, the volume of reforestation is decreasing. Their volume in comparison with 1990 has decreased almost threefold. A sharp decline in reforestation works in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous region remains inexplicable, as well as its clearly lowered volume in the Chelyabinsk region. The situation with the use of forest recourse potential is also problematic: wood production has declined in all regions of the Ural Federal district, although it has increased in the Russian Federation as a whole. The article reflects the problems hampering the development of the forest harvesting industry, and the proposals for their solution through the thorough processing of raw materials and the output of products with high added value. The requirements for this are the restructuring of enterprises of the forest industry complex, the modernization of production, the creation of regular transport routes, the improvement of the organizational structures of the forest business, etc.