ILLEGAL LOGGING IL AND TRADE IT IN SIBERIA: SOCIAL, ENVIROMENT AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS

1
ILLEGAL LOGGING (IL) AND TRADE (IT) IN SIBERIA
SOCIAL, ENVIROMENT AND ECONOMIC ASPECTS
2
Illegal logging trade have several aspects of
impact in taiga region
Cultural Chinese penetration to the area
Social support to community and infrastructure,
total reduction of legal respect
Environmental destruction of protected forests,
restricted species and wildlife habitats
Economic reduction of official budget incomes
3
Determination of IL types

• Fully illegal with the fake documents, attached
  after

• Semi illegal, when real consignment does not
• fit existing documents

• Conventionally illegal having all official
• documents, delivered with a set of violations

4
Determination of IT types
Clear smuggling of timber does not almost exist
here
Mis-declaration of species and sorts to customs
Mis-declaration of actual volume of consignment
Use of the fake documents via bribery
5
IL business use to be of any scale
Big scale by key lessees (logging with
violations)
Middle scale mixed legal leases illegal to
survive
Small scale mainly illegal, under corruptive
control
6
Type of Siberian forest
totally different from South Taiga timber may
be taken by small brigade
7
Positive specifics of IL in Siberian taiga
Ignorance to socially ignorant legislature
Always selective
Use to be friendly to community interests
Always keep profit on the territory
If small, usually is community based
General volume is comparatively small
Reduce unemployment level
8
Negative specifics of IL in Siberia

• Use to be, as others, ignorant to environmental
  legislature

• Use to be of gangsters style

• Bring development profits outside to China

• Strengthening corruption

9
Attitude to IL

• IL was initially focused on by environmentalists
  as forest destruction problem

• IL is officially recognized by government as a
  budget problem

• IL impact to the forest is slightly
  over-estimated by environmentalists

• IL impact to the budgets is seriously
  under-evaluated by the governments

• Essential official attitude to IL shifts from
  very supportive on the local level (which
• can thus get profit) to very negative on
• the state level (which is thus losing budget)

• IL is getting more reasonable and sustainable
  practive for independent
• activists NGOs and
• more target to anti-poaching campaigning for
  highly funded NGOs

10
Trends of all forestry business in Siberia
(including illegal)

• Deepening of abyss between local and national
  interests

• Efforts to enter protected and restricted forest
  zones for logging

• Increasing insert of Chinese to local
• community by the top level corrupted officials

• Increasing development of local timber processing
  to hide illegal timber