Problems of Forest Resource Management in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation

Abstract

The study exposes the issues with managing land and forest resources in the Arctic region. Among them are the inability to estimate the cost of forest resources, the conversion of forestry lands into industrial lands, the consequences of renting forest lands, an insufficient forestry inventory, a small number of employees of the State Forest Protection Service, and underdeveloped infrastructure. The main statements of the Arctic Hectare Program are reviewed, which give the possibility of granting land plots primarily located in forest areas. The program is discussed in comparison with the analogous Far Eastern Hectare Program. The development of the Arctic Hectare Program is expected to preserve and increase the popularity of the Arctic region in the future. However, the efficient use of the land requires the improvement of transport infrastructure. The internet site, Geoportal, is used for an analysis of the primary disadvantages of geoinformation systems for selecting land plots in the Arkhangelsk region, which is a part of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. The website was established within the Arctic Hectare Program. The article provides suggestions for additional functions of the public cadastral map. It also reveals the reasons for the absence of a methodology for estimating forest resources, including Arctic tundra vegetation. Furthermore, the difficulties with the forest land delegation are observed in relation to the implementation of investment projects in mining, fuel, and energy areas, the development of transportation infrastructure, and the formation of environmental protection zones. The cases of renting out forest lands are discussed. For citation: Kovyazin V.F., Lepikhina O.Yu, Demidova P.M., Kolesnik O.A., Shobairi S.O.R., Nguyen A.T. Problems of Forest Resource Management in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation. Lesnoy Zhurnal = Russian Forestry Journal, 2023, no. 3, pp. 185–194. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.37482/0536-1036-2023-3-185-194