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Russian Forest
Lyudmila Zinchenko
Published on 10/04/15
For all the nations whose habitat is connected to the forest, the latterhas never been simply a zone of dense vegetation. The forest beckons and
entices. It is a mystery, a place of power and a sacred domain, surrounded by countless myths, legends and superstitions. The forest is full of secrets and contradictions. Russian forest and it’s image in numerous classical artworks has been a part of national cultural DNA for centuries.
Russia has more than a fifth of the world’s forests, which makes it the largest forest country in the world. Today, the considerable potential of Russian forests is underutilized and Russia’s share of the global trade in forest products is less than four percent. It seems unfeasible that Russia could run out of forest. And yet it is happening, at least with commercially usable forests, environmental analysts say. There are significant profits to be made selling timber to China in particular, and there have been allegations of illegal logging within Russia.