FSC® Case Study
Protecting Tigers in the Taiga
The Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) runs a global forest certification system. The
FSC logo allows consumers to identify, purchase and use timber and forest products
produced from well-managed forests.
The forests of the Russian Far East are some of the most diverse in the temperate
zone, providing a habitat for a wide range of species, including one of the world’s
most magnificent predators – the Amur tiger (also known as the Siberian tiger). Sadly,
this biodiversity hotspot is threatened: illegal logging is rampant and legal logging
destructive, while logging roads allow poachers’ access to the forests.
© Vasily Solkin-WWF Russia
FSC certification is, however, offering hope for the protection of large areas of this
beautiful area, and ensuring
responsible management of
extensive production forests in the
region.
What is the threat?
Despite their vast scale, these forests
are under threat and scientists
estimate there are only around 450
Amur tigers left in the wild.
WWF Russia report that illegal
logging has reached “epidemic
proportions” in the Ussuri Taiga
(temperate boreal forest) and that Russia’s timber industry has become deeply
criminalised. Illegal loggers cut the healthiest trees, diminishing the food supply for the
tigers’ prey species. Riparian forests (forested areas of land adjacent to a body of
water) that tigers use as dispersal corridors are targeted for timber theft; and logging
roads increase poaching access, leading to sharp population declines of both tigers
and their prey.
A lack of law enforcement has enabled illegal loggers to plunder valuable stocks of
oak, ash, elm and linden. From 2004–2011, between two and four times more oak
timber was cut down and exported to China than legally permitted.
The products made from this illegal wood end up in global markets. The UK is the
largest trader in timber and wood products from China.
Authorised timber harvesting by forest leaseholders is not always better. Large-scale
industrial exploitation is fed by the continuous expansion into previously untouched
old-growth forests. Protection of key habitats for native species is practically nonexistent.
© Vasily Solkin-WWF Russia
FSC certified companies maintain tiger
habitats
Forestry on the FSC model is providing an
alternative to illegal logging and
uncontrolled exploitation.
Certified timber leases now cover
3,773,000 hectares in the Primorye and
Khabarovsk Provinces, and the region’s
largest leaseholder hopes to achieve
certification for another 6.5 million
hectares.
In this biodiversity hotspot, the delineation of High Conservation Value Forests or HCVFs
(forests with high conservation values) is a key benefit of FSC certification. Nongovernmental organisations such as WWF Russia and Transparent World have used
remote sensing and field verification to delineate large, roadless blocks of natural forests
and help FSC certified companies develop management strategies.
Certified companies have agreed to permanently exclude 125,728 hectares from logging
and road building, and to adapt logging practices protecting key habitat areas in a further
92,314 hectares.
Look for the FSC logo
FSC certification has brought great advancements for conserving biodiversity in the
forests of the Russian Far East.
Denis Smirnov, Head of Forest Program, Amur Branch of WWF Russia: FSC certification
has given us the leverage to convince forest leaseholders to forego logging in more than
100,000 hectares of old-growth forests. These massifs provide habitat for the full range
of native species in our region, including the Amur tiger. There is still much work to be
done, but this is already major progress for biodiversity conservation in the Russian Far
East.
Knowing where your wood comes from is more important than ever.
Look for the FSC logo to ensure that your purchases are not contributing
to destruction of Amur tiger forests.
www.fsc-uk.org
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