Introduction
1. The fate of forests
2. The problem of forest death
2.1. Radiation exposure - a consequence of the death of the forest
2.2. Death and deforestation
2.3 Forest and tourism
2.4 Forest fires
3.Global solution to the problem of deforestation
Conclusion
List of sources used
Appendix 1
Introduction
Today, the problem of forest death is one of the first places in the world. global issues humanity. For Russia, scientific, technical and informational cooperation on the issues of interaction between forest and climate is of considerable interest. The phenomenon of mass destruction of forests is widespread throughout the European territory of Russia and in Siberia. It is in the context of the drying up of forests growing throughout the northern hemisphere. In our country, these issues are monitored in detail by the Russian Forest Protection Center with an extensive network of 41 regional branches. The biotic causes of this process have been reliably identified. However, a number of problems remain unresolved:
There is no forecast for the development of mass drying up of forests and no assessment of the consequences of this phenomenon.
The relationship between forest drying and climate change has not been reliably established. Although this hypothesis remains practically uncontested.
The whole complex of reasons for spruce stands drying up has not been fully identified.
From preliminary assessments of the current situation, it follows that the existing methods and means cannot change the growing dynamics of mass desiccation. In a number of regions, the problem is beginning to acquire an extremely acute economic, social and environmental character. Only in the Arkhangelsk region in the North-West of Russia, the zone of active drying covered valuable forest tracts with a total reserve of coniferous wood of about 400 million cubic meters. In the heart of one of the key forest regions of Northern Europe, a huge “powder keg” is being formed, which, with the combination of a number of factors, can become a source of a powerful volley of CO2 emissions into the global atmosphere. Urgent comprehensive studies are required, the result of which may be the adoption of cardinal decisions. The points mentioned above are very sensitive for the economy and ecology of the European Community. Probably, here it is necessary to develop a consolidated opinion. It is obvious to us that mass drying up of forests is not a purely Russian problem. The scale of this phenomenon is pan-Eurasian and panboreal. Therefore, international cooperation in the study, evaluation and coordination of efforts to minimize its negative consequences is essential.
The problem of deforestation is not new. A lot has already been said about it, books and articles have been written, but basically it is considered together with other environmental problems. Therefore, I would like to combine all the available material on this issue in one abstract, in connection with the significance of this problem for humanity. It considers not only anthropogenic factors affecting the quantity and quality of the forest, but also natural ones. For example: various harmful fungi and insects, fires (peat fire). Ways of dealing with anthropogenic and natural factors that adversely affect forests are also noted.
1. The fate of forests
The forest is a multilevel biosocial system where countless elements co-exist and influence each other. These elements are trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants and other flora, birds, animals, microorganisms, soil with its organic and inorganic constituent parts, water and microclimate. The planet's forests are a powerful source of atmospheric oxygen (1 hectare of forest releases 5 tons of oxygen per year into the atmosphere). It should not be thought that only tropical rainforests are globally important. On the territory of Russia there is a unique forest area - the Siberian taiga, which supplies oxygen not only to its region, but also to North America (where about 95% of its own forests were destroyed). The oxygen produced by forests and other components of the Earth's vegetation cover is important not only in itself, but also in connection with the need to preserve the ozone screen in the Earth's stratosphere. Ozone is formed from oxygen under the influence of solar radiation. Its concentration in the stratosphere is steadily decreasing under the influence of chlorofluorinated hydrocarbons (refrigerants, plastic components, etc.). Despite the currently internationally adopted restrictive and prohibitive measures (for example, the Montreal Protocol on organochlorine compounds), which, moreover, are not universally implemented, ozone will continue to be destroyed over a number of years by compounds already released into the atmosphere, slowly rising into the stratosphere . This contributes to the growth of the "ozone hole", which, spreading from the South Pole, reached the latitude of Tierra del Fuego and "covered" in 2000 the settlement of Punta Arrenas (Chile).
Giving life-giving oxygen that counteracts the formation of the "ozone hole", forests also absorb carbon dioxide, turning it into biomass during photosynthesis (100 m2 of forest absorb 400 kg of CO2 per year). Industry emits significant amounts of this gas, one of the main culprits of the "greenhouse effect", which threatens global warming (already begun), the shift of the planet's agricultural zones to the poles, the swamping of land areas with permafrost, the melting of glaciers, the flooding of coastal cities, and more and more frequent cataclysms (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.). Forests also absorb noise, soften seasonal temperature fluctuations, slow down strong winds, and contribute to precipitation. felling rainforest The Amazon has already shortened the length of the rainy season, threatening to have catastrophic consequences for agriculture. One could go on listing reasons why the planet's forests are vital to us.
However, we should, of course, be motivated to preserve forests not only by pragmatic considerations. Forest conservation is part of a broader biocentric program for biodiversity conservation. Only the tropical rainforests of the Amazon, the Congo Basin, Southeast Asia contain about 1.7 million species of plants and animals.
The forest takes us to the world of beauty (it has a bio-aesthetic value), in it we are imbued with the grandeur of wildlife, we enjoy at least a landscape relatively unpolluted by civilization. Moreover, forest plantations artificially planted on the site of clearings (often of a park type), with all the diligence of their creators, are often completely dependent on human care likeness of natural, virgin forests.
Sadly, forests have been destroyed in recent decades at a rate of about 1 hectare per day, and forest restoration on each hectare requires 15-20 years. During the existence of civilization, more than 42% of the entire original forest area on the planet has been eliminated, and, of course, forests are being destroyed at an increasing pace. So, for the period 1955-1995, about 40% of tropical forests were cut down. At the current rate of deforestation (about 15 million hectares per year), tropical rainforests will be completely destroyed between 2030 and 2050. A similar fate will befall even before this time Siberian taiga, unless its rampant exploitation, which involves foreign companies (for example, CFMG from the USA, as well as Chinese enterprises), is not stopped. On the whole, the areas of coniferous forests are decreasing in Russia, which are being replaced by less valuable small-leaved forests. In many areas, timber is harvested in excess of its growth; mountain forests, which regenerate with difficulty and grow slowly, are particularly affected.
2. The problem of forest death
The problem of forest death, as well as environmental issues in general, is closely related to the global political problems of our time. This relationship is two-way: along with the undoubted influence of the environmental situation on political decisions, in general, on politics, there is also an opposite effect. political situation in the world on the ecology in certain regions of the world. As for the forests of the planet, in most cases they are eliminated not on a whim, but in order to survive, not to die of hunger. The world is divided into the developed countries The West, where less than 1 billion people live in conditions of economic prosperity (“golden billion”) and all the rest, developing countries (“third world”), a haven for the rest, more than 5 billion people. Approximately 1.3 billion people in these countries live in poverty; 840 million people, including 240 million children, are hungry or malnourished (2). Making up about 20% of the world's population, the "golden billion" manages about 85% of the benefits and resources of mankind.
Both categories of countries contribute to bios destruction (albeit for different reasons). But specifically, the destruction of forests is directly carried out on the territory of the countries of the "third world"; the rich countries of the West, which previously destroyed most of their forests, are now busy restoring them, "recultivating", carefully protecting the remnants of virgin forests and newly created plantations from pollution (for example, in Germany a real campaign was launched against the "forest extinction" - Waldsterben). However, residents of developing countries are not up to environmental considerations, when they must provide themselves with food using archaic means (up to the method of sowing cultivated plants in clearings fertilized with the ashes of burnt trees, known to us from history textbooks), with a colossal population growth. We add that this method is unproductive in the rainforests of the tropics, because the layer of nutritious humus in their soils is very thin; after 2-3 harvests, the soil is depleted and a new piece of forest needs to be destroyed. The unrestrained exploitation of natural resources, including forests, is facilitated by the significant financial debt of the countries of the "third world" in relation to creditors from the countries of the "golden billion", so that the "golden billion" is indirectly responsible for the fate of the forests of the "third world", from which depends on his own survival. Measures were proposed to remove or postpone part of the debt from developing countries, subject to their obligatory compliance with the norms of protecting forests and the bio-environment in general.
Acting in concert with the Club of Rome, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and a number of other international organizations - including non-governmental - B.I.O. under the leadership of A. Vlavianos-Arvanitis, he proposes, in a more general sense, the adoption of measures on the problems of developing countries, because these problems have acquired global significance these days. Whether such events will have real power or remain basically “good wishes” in the face of the omnipotence of transnational corporations, as “environmental pessimists” fear, depends largely on the victory or defeat of biopolitics (and similar socio-ecological, “green” and other currents). ) on the ethical front. It is those who have real political power and / or economic power who need to develop a new ethics based on a sense of responsibility for all forms of the bios, an understanding of the fragility and interconnectedness of all life on Earth. Efforts in this direction are referred to by Vlavianos-Arvanitis as bio-diplomacy.
2.1. Radiation exposure - a consequence of the death of the forest
The death of forests due to strong exposure throughout history since the beginning of the atomic era (about 50 years) was noted on the traces of radioactive fallout from the Kyshtym and Chernobyl radiation accidents and occurred from the impact high levels exposure in the first 1-2 years after the accident.
In total, the area of completely dead forest plantations amounted to no more than 10 km2. The proportion of forests that died from radiation damage in the entire history of the nuclear industry is 0.3-0.4% of the annual forest loss in the country (2-3 thousand km2).
2.2. Death and deforestation
One of the causes of forest death in many regions of the world is acid rain, the main culprit of which is power plants. Sulfur dioxide emissions and long-range transport cause these rains to fall far from emission sources. In Austria, eastern Canada, the Netherlands and Sweden, more than 60% of the sulfur deposited on their territory comes from external sources, and in Norway even 75%.
Other examples of long-range transport of acids are acid rain on remote Atlantic islands such as Bermuda and acid snow in the Arctic.
Over the past 20 years (1970 - 1990), the world has lost almost 200 million hectares of forests, which is equal to the area of the United States east of the Mississippi.
Especially great environmental threat is the depletion of tropical forests - the "lungs of the planet" and the main source of the planet's biological diversity. Approximately 200,000 square kilometers are cut down or burned there every year, which means that 100,000 species of plants and animals disappear. This process is especially fast in the regions richest in tropical forests - the Amazon and Indonesia.
The British ecologist N. Meyers came to the conclusion that ten small areas in the tropics contain at least 27% of the total species composition of this class of plant formations, this list was later expanded to 15 "hot spots" of tropical forests that should be preserved in no matter what.
In developed countries, acid rain caused damage to a significant part of the forest: in Czechoslovakia - 71%, in Greece and Great Britain - 64%, in Germany - 52%.
The current situation with forests is very different across the continents. If in Europe and Asia the forested areas for 1974 - 1989 increased slightly, then in Australia they decreased by 2.6% in one year. More degradation scaffolding is coming in some countries: in Côte d, Ivoire, forest areas decreased by 5.4% over the year, in Thailand - by 4.3%, in Paraguay - by 3.4%.
2.3. Forest and tourism
Since ancient times, the forest has always attracted a large number of hunters, pickers of berries and mushrooms and those who just want to relax. With the development of mass tourism in our country, the number of visitors to the forest has increased so much that it has become a factor that cannot be taken into account when protecting the forest. Millions of people in the summer, especially on Saturdays and Sundays, go to the suburban forests to spend their weekends or holidays in the bosom of nature. Thousands of tourists make trips along the same routes. In suburban forests, you can often find entire tent cities with a large population. Visitors to the forest make major changes in his life. To set up tents, undergrowth is cut, removed, broken and ruined by young growth. Young trees die not only under fires, but also under axes, or even just under the feet of numerous visitors. Forests frequented by tourists are so thoroughly littered with tin cans, bottles, rags, paper, etc., they bear traces of large and small wounds that this negatively affects natural reforestation. They carry and carry bouquets of flowers, branches of greenery, trees, shrubs. The question is, what will happen if each of those who come to the forest picks only one branch, one flower? And it is no coincidence that after a number of years of poaching attitude to nature in our, especially suburban, forests, many once abundant plants, shrubs and trees have disappeared. In the spring, tens of thousands of citizens rush to the forests for bird cherry and lilac. Not satisfied with modest bouquets. Armfuls, brooms, often on the roofs of cars. How can one not envy the delicate taste of the Japanese, who believe that the bouquet is spoiled if it contains more than three flowers.
Not the last place in damage is the custom of decoration. Christmas trees. If we accept that one holiday tree falls on 10-15 inhabitants, then it becomes clear to everyone that, for example, big city this cozy tradition annually costs several tens or even hundreds of thousands of young trees. Particularly affected areas are sparsely forested. The presence of even one person does not pass without a trace for the forest. Picking mushrooms, flowers and berries undermines the self-renewal of a number of plant species. A bonfire completely disables a piece of land on which it was laid out for 5-7 years. Noise scares off various birds and mammals, prevents them from raising their offspring normally. Breaking of branches, notches on trunks and other mechanical damage to trees contribute to their infection with insect pests.
It should be reminded once again: the forest is our friend, disinterested and powerful. But he, like a man whose soul is wide open, requires both attention and care from a negligent, thoughtless attitude towards him. Life without a forest is unthinkable, and we are all responsible for its well-being, responsible today, always responsible. Recreational loads are divided into safe, including both low and maximum permissible loads, dangerous and critical and catastrophic. A load can be considered safe if there are no irreversible changes in the natural complex. The impact of such loads leads the natural complex to stage II or III of digression. The load corresponding to stage II is conditionally called “low”, since the natural complex is able to withstand a large load without losing its restorative power. The maximum allowable recreational load leads the natural complex to the III stage of digression. If the natural complex passes from III to IV stage of digression, i.e., "oversteps" the stability boundary, recreational loads are considered dangerous. Critical loads correspond to stage IV of phytocenosis digression. Catastrophic loads lead the natural complex to the V stage of digression, in which the bonds are broken both between natural components and between their constituent parts.
Different types of natural complexes, having different structure and nature of relationships between morphological units, react differently to any external influences, including recreational loads. Therefore, a load that is safe for one type of natural complex can become dangerous or even critical for another type. The main task of forest management in green areas is to preserve and improve the health and protective properties of forests, and create favorable recreational conditions for mass recreation of the population.
2.4. Forest fires
Among the important abiotic factors influencing the nature of the communities formed in the ecosystem, one should include fires. The fact is that some areas are regularly and periodically exposed to fires. In coniferous forests growing in the southeastern United States, and treeless shrouds, as well as in the steppe zone, fires are a very common occurrence. In forests where fires occur regularly, trees usually have thick bark, which makes them more resistant to fire. The cones of some pines, such as Banks pine, release their seeds best when heated to a certain temperature. Thus, the seeds are sown at a time when other plants are burning. The number of forest fires in one of the regions of Siberia over two centuries: In some cases, the soil after fires is enriched with biogenic elements such as phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium. As a result, animals grazing in areas subject to periodic fires receive more complete nutrition. Man, preventing natural fires, thereby causes changes in ecosystems, the maintenance of which requires periodic burnouts of vegetation. At present, fires have become a very common means of controlling the development of forest areas, although the public consciousness is having difficulty getting used to this idea. Protection of forests from fires. The forests of the Earth suffer severely from fires. Forest fires destroy 2 million tons of organic matter annually. They cause great harm to forestry: the growth of trees is reduced, the composition of forests is deteriorating, windbreaks are intensifying, soil conditions and windbreaks are deteriorating, soil conditions are deteriorating. Forest fires promote the spread of harmful insects and wood-destroying fungi. World statistics claims that 97% of forest fires are caused by human faults and only 3% by lightning, mainly ball lightning. The flames of forest fires destroy both flora and fauna in their path. In Russia, great attention is paid to the protection of forests from fires. As a result of the last years measures to strengthen preventive fire prevention measures and implement a set of works for the timely detection and extinguishing of forest fires by aviation and ground firefighting units, forest areas covered by fire, especially in the European part of Russia, have significantly decreased.
However, the number of forest fires is still high. Fires arise due to careless handling of fire, due to a deep violation of the rules fire safety during agricultural work. The increased danger of fires is created by the clutter of forest areas. (4)
3. Global solutions to forest loss
From the foregoing, we can conclude that a lot of things are influencing the massive destruction of forests in the world. With a global problem of this issue, a global solution must also be found.
Looking at how the forest, and hence humanity, is dying, we often do not notice that we ourselves are to blame for this. Radiation exposure, deforestation, its clogging and destruction by production waste, numerous fires - all this is the human factor of destruction. What is the solution to all this?
At present, the rights of the state forest guard to combat violators of the fire regime in the forests, to bring to justice officials and citizens who violate fire safety requirements have been significantly expanded. In populated areas with intensive forestry, the protection of forests from fires is provided by forestry enterprises and their specialized units - fire and chemical stations. In total, there are about 2,700 such stations in the country. To increase the fire resistance of forests, work is carried out on a large scale on the fire-fighting device of the forest fund, systems of fire breaks and barriers are created, a network of roads and reservoirs, and forests are cleared of clutter. Fires that occur in the forest are detected mainly with the help of stationary fire observation posts, as well as forest guard workers during ground patrols. The forest fire departments are armed with tank trucks, all-terrain vehicles, soil meters and foam generators. Cord charges are widely used explosives, as well as artificially caused precipitation. Television equipment is being introduced to facilitate the work of observers. It is envisaged to use infrared aircraft detectors to detect combustion sources from the air in conditions of heavy smoke. Information received from artificial Earth satellites is used. Improving the efficiency in detecting and extinguishing forest fires will be facilitated by the introduction of computer-calculated optimal operating modes for aviation forest protection units. In sparsely populated areas of the North, Siberia and the Far East, helicopters and airplanes with teams of paratroopers and firefighters are used to protect forests. A barrier to the path of a forest fire can be a solution that is timely applied to the soil at the border of the burning area. For example, a solution of bischofite, cheap and harmless. An important section of fire prevention is well-organized fire propaganda through radio, print, television and other media. Forestry workers acquaint the population, workers of forestry and expeditions, vacationing tourists with the basic requirements of fire safety rules in the forest, as well as with the measures that should be applied in accordance with the current legislation to persons who violate these rules. Protection of the forest from harmful insects and diseases. To protect forest plantations from damage, preventive measures are taken to prevent the emergence and mass reproduction of forest pests and to identify diseases. Extermination measures are used to destroy pests and diseases. Prevention and extermination control provide effective protection of plantings, provided they are used in a timely and correct manner. Based on the data obtained, the question of the appropriateness of applying certain protective measures is being decided.
Forest protection measures. The main tasks of forest protection are its rational use and restoration. Measures to protect the forests of sparsely forested areas are becoming increasingly important in connection with their water protection, soil protection, and sanitary and health-improving role. Special attention should be given to the protection of mountain forests, as they perform important water-regulating, soil-protective functions. With proper forest management, re-cutting in a particular area should be carried out no earlier than after 80-100 years, when full ripeness is reached. An important measure for the rational use of forests is the fight against timber losses. Often, significant losses occur during the harvesting of wood. Branches and needles remain in the felling areas, which are a valuable material for the preparation of coniferous flour - vitamin feed for livestock. Waste from logging is promising for obtaining essential oils.
The forest is very difficult to restore. But still, forests are being restored in cut-down areas, sown in unforested areas, and low-value plantations are being reconstructed.
Along with artificial afforestation, work on natural reforestation (leaving seedlings, caring for self-seeding of economically valuable species, etc.) is widespread. Much attention is paid to the preservation of undergrowth in the process of logging. New technological schemes of logging operations have been developed and introduced into production, which ensure the preservation of undergrowth and young growth during forest exploitation. An essential factor in increasing the productivity of forests and enriching their composition is the breeding of new valuable forms, hybrids, varieties and introducers. The study of form diversity and the selection of economically valuable forms is carried out on a new theoretical basis, based on the analysis of the phenotypic and genotypic structures of natural populations and the selection based on a comparative analysis of biotypes with certain valuable traits. When selecting valuable forms in nature and evaluating hybrids, attention is paid to plants that have not only high productivity by the age of quantitative or technological maturity, but also plants that are characterized by high growth intensity in the initial period of ontogenesis. They are necessary for high-intensity plantations with a short rotation of felling. Plantations are a special independent form of crop production in forestry to obtain a certain type of product (wood, twig, chemicals, medicinal raw materials, etc.). Intensive agrotechnical measures are applied on the plantations. They serve as a powerful lever for the intensification and specialization of forestry production.
Conclusion
A forest arises only under certain conditions - a sufficient density of forest stand, appropriate flora and fauna, formed communities, interconnected organisms living in a given territory.
Forest is one of the main types of vegetation cover of the earth, the source of the most ancient material on earth - wood, a source of useful plant products, a habitat for animals. We must protect it, because without forests and plants there will be no life on Earth, since, first of all, forests are a source of oxygen that we need. But for some reason, few people remember this, chopping wood for sale and trying to cash in on it. Everything that was stated above is just high words that we care about the forest, protect it, and so on. Any person who has traveled out of town at least a few times will simply laugh at these words, because we see how our forests are being cut down. For example, near Vyborg, forests are being cut down for sale in Finland; one must see the state of the felling: everywhere there is bark, branches, rotten trunks, everything is beaten up by cars; it is unlikely that anything will grow on this clearing in the future. I believe that in our country they talk a lot about this problem, but nothing is really being done, since the government is busy with “more important” issues, and the forest can wait. In the meantime, other countries that are more attentive to their forest resources are buying up our forests at knock-down prices, the new Russians will build dachas for themselves in nature reserves, go hunting in jeeps to the same reserves and reserves. And when our government has time to resolve this issue, it will be too late.
Mankind needs to realize that the death of the forest is a deterioration in the state of the environment. It is a greater threat to our future than military aggression, that over the next few decades, humanity is able to eliminate poverty and hunger, get rid of social vices, revive culture and restore architectural monuments, if only there was money, and it is impossible to revive the destroyed nature with money. It will take centuries to stop its further destruction and postpone the approach of an ecological catastrophe in the world. (5)
We can only offer everyone to protect the forest and its surrounding nature:
do not litter forests with household and industrial waste, spontaneous dumps;
stop numerous constructions in the forest areas of dachas, cottages, roads, including spontaneous and uncontrolled;
not damage and destroy forests as a result of industrial pollution;
uncontrollably arbitrarily not cut trees for household needs;
protect from forest fires;
to work more intensively on the restoration of forests after logging;
enhanced control over tourists, hunters, mushroom pickers, berry pickers;
remove rotting wood more often;
try to stop the natural death of old forests, etc.
List of sources used
1. A.V. Oleskin Biopolitics, The political potential of owls. biology// Athens BIO 1993
2. M.I. Lebedeva, I.M. Ankudimova Ecology// Publishing house of the Tambov state. Technical University (TSTU) 2002
3. Fellenberg G. Environmental pollution. Introduction to ecological chemistry// translation from German. – M. Mir 1997
Appendix 1
About the forests of the Moscow region
The outstanding Russian forestry scientist Mikhail Mikhailovich Orlov wrote at the end of the 19th century: “Forestry, like any other, appears only when the object of the economy, in this case the forest, loses the property of unlimited and completely accessible utility and becomes a value. Such a moment comes at a certain population density and a more or less high degree of development of culture in general. Now, more than a century later, much has been said about the need to transition forestry to a multi-purpose basis, taking into account the recreational, ecological and other functions of the forest. It is reasonable to assume that in real life such a transition is also primarily possible where the ecological and recreational functions of the forest lose their properties of unlimited utility and become valuable for a large part of the population. First of all, this concerns the most densely populated regions of Russia, for example, the Moscow region (Moscow and the Moscow region), which surpasses all others in terms of population density and industrial development. Of course, for the vast majority of the inhabitants of this region, it is not wood, but ecological and recreational resources forests. And forestry - if it is focused on meeting the needs of the inhabitants of the region - will involuntarily be forced to take into account the special value of these "non-timber" resources of the forests near Moscow. In short, forestry will be forced to "turn to face the people."
However, in order to do this, one must at least know what kind of problems related to the forests and forest management of the Moscow region are of most concern to its residents, whether they are satisfied with the modern system for the use and protection of forests near Moscow, what they themselves are ready to do to preserve them.
For this purpose, Greenpeace Russia in August-September 1999 conducted a survey of residents of Moscow and the Moscow region. A total of 709 people were interviewed on the streets and in other public places; such a sample, of course, cannot be considered representative for a full-fledged sociological study, however, in general, it gives a picture of the attitude of the inhabitants of the Moscow region to the problems of forests and forest management. Below are some of the questions asked and the results (percentage of relevant responses).
How often do you visit the forests of the Moscow region? This question was asked primarily to assess the significance of the answers to the remaining questions. The answers were distributed as follows: constantly (on average, several times a week) - 18%; on average once a week throughout the year - 13%; on average once a week during the summer, the rest of the time less often - 23%; constantly during the holidays, the rest of the time much less often - 10%; several times a year - 15%; I visit occasionally - 14%; I don't go at all - 4%; other answers - 3%.
Thus, for 54% of the respondents (those who chose the first three answers), the forests near Moscow play a very significant role in life and, obviously, are one of the main places of recreation (and for some, work). Based on the results of the survey, the number of residents of Moscow and the Moscow region who visit the forests near Moscow at least in summer at least once a week can be estimated at no less than 9 million people. This is hundreds of times more than the total number of workers in the forestry and woodworking industries of the region, which is a clear evidence of the importance of the “non-timber” functions of the forests near Moscow for residents of the capital region.
In your opinion, is clear felling of forests acceptable in the Moscow Region? This question was asked due to the fact that the vast majority of calls and letters received by Greenpeace Russia from residents of Moscow and the Moscow region related to "forest" issues relate specifically to clear-cutting. That is why it was important for us to assess how generally the residents of the capital region consider it acceptable to carry out such logging in the forests near Moscow. The answers to this question were distributed as follows: not allowed under any circumstances - 29.6%; permissible only in exceptional cases when eliminating the consequences of fires, mass reproduction of pests or diseases - 60.1%; admissible in some cases, including as commercial events - 3.0%; permissible away from roads, settlements and places of mass recreation - 2.1%; permissible without special restrictions - 0.6%; other answers - 0.4%. 4.2% of respondents found it difficult to answer. Thus, 89.7% of the respondents believe that clearcutting in the Moscow region is permissible in exceptional cases or unacceptable at all.
In this regard, a question arises for the management and staff of the Central and Moscow forest inventory enterprises, which are currently carrying out the next forest inventory in most of the forestries of the Moscow region and planning, as before, the absolute dominance of final felling - do they want to take into account the opinion of the majority of the inhabitants of the region and to plan, at least where the condition of the forests allows it, gradual and selective felling instead of clear felling?
What ecological problems of the forests of the Moscow region do you consider the most important? Several answers were allowed for this question, so the total sum of the percentages given below is well over 100%. Among the most important environmental problems of the forests of the Moscow region, the respondents included the following: clogging of forests with household and industrial waste, spontaneous dumps (78% of respondents); construction of dachas, cottages, roads in the forests, including spontaneous and uncontrolled (55%); damage and destruction of forests as a result of industrial pollution (41%); uncontrolled unauthorized felling of trees for household needs (34%); forest fires (33%); too intensive logging (32%); unsatisfactory work on reforestation after logging (30%); too intense uncontrolled impact of tourists, hunters, mushroom pickers, berry pickers (26%); littering forests with rotting wood (19%); logging along the banks of rivers, streams and lakes and in water protection zones (19%); a large number of dachas on drained peatlands and in other places of increased fire danger (14%); natural death of old forests (6%). Other problems were indicated as the most important by three percent of the respondents, and another 2% of the respondents found it difficult to answer this question.
The answers to this question are very revealing. Residents of the capital region consider the three most important environmental problems to be those to which the state forest management bodies (formally being an environmental agency) practically do not pay attention or which arise largely due to the activities of these bodies (for example, the allotment of forest land for various construction occurs upon agreement of the bodies forest management). Forest fires - despite the fact that the survey was conducted immediately after the end of one of the most "fire" summer seasons of recent decades - were ranked only in fifth place in terms of significance. The same “environmental problems” that the forest service traditionally considers to be the most important (littering of forests with rotting wood and the natural death of old forests as a result of “lack of logging”) are at the tail of the list and only a small part of the respondents are considered important. Of course, such a discrepancy can be attributed to the "unprofessionalism of ordinary citizens." But does the Moscow region need such a forest service that does not consider it necessary to solve the environmental problems of forests, which are important for the majority of the population?
In your opinion, is it necessary to create new specially protected natural areas (SPNA) in the Moscow Region, completely excluded from commercial forest management? This question was also allowed several answers (not mutually exclusive).
The answers were distributed as follows: yes, it is necessary to create new protected areas with a reserved regime of protection - 52%; yes, with a ban on all types of logging and any construction - 45%; yes, with a ban only on fellings for main use and construction - 20%; No, there is no need to create new protected areas - 3%. Other answers were offered by 1% of respondents, another 6% found it difficult to answer this question.
Answers to this question do not require special comments. The official position of the Moscow Region Forest Service, which has been successfully opposing the creation of new reserves, natural monuments and natural parks in the Moscow region over the past ten years, is shared by only 3% of the respondents in Moscow and the region. And in this direction, the activities of the regional forest administration do not meet the interests of the majority of citizens.
What do you think, what should be the public participation in forest management in the Moscow region? The answers were distributed as follows: members of the public should not interfere in any way in forest management - 8%; members of the public should assist the state forest management bodies in fulfilling their tasks of forest protection and reforestation - 41%; the public should have access to all non-commercial information about the state and use of forests and be able to independently control the activities of state forest management bodies - 48%. 3% of respondents found it difficult to choose one of these answers.
Special comments are again unnecessary: the vast majority of respondents want the activities of state forest management bodies to be controlled by members of the public.
How often have you met in the forests of the Moscow region with employees of the state forest guard (not involved in logging) over the past two years? The answers to this question (questionnaires of those who do not visit the forests were not taken into account) were distributed as follows: very often (almost every time they visit the forest) - 0.8%; often - 1.8%; several times - 6.6%; once - 8.3%; never met - 76.6%. 1.4% offered other answers (for example, “I met, but completely drunk” or “I know one forester, but I don’t know how often he is in the forest”). 4.1% of respondents found it difficult to answer this question.
The answers to this question are extremely important. They allow us to assert that the state forest protection in the Moscow region, if it has not yet ceased to exist, is closer than ever to this. The reorientation of the Russian forest service towards independent commercial activities of logging under the guise of intermediate felling has led to the fact that foresters simply have no time (and desire) to visit their rounds and somehow protect the forests. By the way, the author of this review has already heard from the workers of forestry enterprises near Moscow about direct prohibitions (so far verbally) from the directors of forestry enterprises or forest rangers to protect forests and visit their detours in work time, evading work on the "cuttings of income". In fairness, it remains to add that in most other regions the situation with forest protection is hardly better.
How do you feel about the introduction in Moscow and the Moscow Region of a special tax on citizens and legal entities to improve the financing of the activities of forestry authorities to protect forests in the Moscow Region, including forest parks? The answers to this question were distributed in the following (it must be said, somewhat unexpected) way: 14.7% of the respondents support the introduction of a 1% tax; 0.5 percent - 9.3%; 0.25 percent - 10.9%; 0.1 percent - 14.8%. 24.1% of respondents do not agree with the introduction of such a tax. 9.9% offered other answers (mostly they agree with the introduction of such a tax if a system is created to prevent the embezzlement of the collected money); 15.9% of respondents found it difficult to answer this question.
In general, it is obvious that the majority of the inhabitants of the capital region are ready, to one degree or another, to financially support the protection of the forests near Moscow. Thus, in principle, the solution of many financial problems of the forest protection is quite possible - it remains only to determine the possible forms of implementation of such financial support (in addition to tax, it can also be such forms as the conclusion of lease agreements for forest plots with dacha cooperatives or with municipal authorities for organizing recreational use forests). Having solved these questions, it is possible to find a real way to force the forest guards everywhere to take up the actual protection of forests.
Simultaneously with this survey, a study was made of the possibility of holding a regional referendum in order to adopt the Law of the Moscow Region, which includes the following wording:
On the territory of the Moscow Region, all types of clear felling of forests are prohibited, with the exception of felling dead stands, clearing burnt areas and areas damaged as a result of natural Disasters.
The state forest management bodies are obliged to ensure the protection of the forests of the Moscow region from pollution by industrial and household waste and their cleaning from littering no later than within 1 month from the moment the fact of littering is discovered. If the culprit of littering is unknown, the cleaning of the state forest fund from littering is carried out at the expense of state forest management bodies.
The transfer of forest land to non-forest land for purposes not related to forest management, and construction on the territory of the forest fund of the Moscow Region can be carried out only after the Moscow Regional Referendum for each case of such transfer.
Of course, from a legal point of view, these formulations are not perfect (given that forests are federal property, and most issues related to their use cannot be resolved at the regional level). However, it was important for us to assess the very possibility of holding a regional referendum in the Moscow region to address those issues of forest management that are of greatest concern to its residents.
Greenpeace Russia already has experience in holding regional referendums in a number of subjects Russian Federation on various issues and is now considering the possibility of applying this experience to solving urgent problems of forest management in the Moscow region.
The answers of the interviewed residents of the Moscow region regarding their attitude to the referendum were distributed as follows:
40% of respondents are ready to officially put their signature on the signature sheet of the initiative group for holding such a referendum;
38% of respondents do not agree to put their signature in support of holding a referendum, but are ready to take part in it if it is held;
22% of respondents do not agree to put their signature in support of the referendum, nor to take part in it.
Such survey results show that in the Moscow region it is quite possible to collect the number of signatures provided for by the current legislation within the established period for organizing a regional referendum in order to adopt the law of the Moscow region on forests.
Key provisions that can be adopted at a regional referendum (taking into account the existing distribution of forest management functions between federal and regional authorities) are currently being worked out. However, I would like to hope that you will not have to resort to this extreme and very expensive way for the region to turn the forest service towards the people - after all, now, after the end of the election campaign and the self-liquidation of the Kedr movement, in which Active participation hosted by some leaders of the Moscow Forestry Department, the foresters near Moscow should have more time for real work and solving urgent problems.
Today, the problem of forest death is one of the first places on the global problems of mankind. The phenomenon of mass destruction of forests is widespread throughout the European territory of Russia and in Siberia.
As for the forests of the planet, in most cases they are eliminated not on a whim, but in order to survive, not to die of hunger.
Radiation exposure - a consequence of the death of the forest
The death of forests due to strong exposure throughout history since the beginning of the atomic era (about 50 years) was noted on the traces of radioactive fallout from the Kyshtym and Chernobyl radiation accidents and occurred from exposure to high levels of exposure in the first 1-2 years after the accident.
In total, the area of completely dead forest plantations amounted to no more than 10 km2. The proportion of forests that died from radiation damage in the entire history of the nuclear industry is 0.3-0.4% of the annual forest loss in the country (2-3 thousand km2).
Death and deforestation
One of the causes of forest death in many regions of the world is acid rain, the main culprit of which is power plants. Sulfur dioxide emissions and long-range transport cause these rains to fall far from emission sources.
Over the past 20 years (1970 - 1990), the world has lost almost 200 million hectares of forests, which is equal to the area of the United States east of the Mississippi.
Especially great environmental threat is the depletion of tropical forests - the "lungs of the planet" and the main source of the planet's biological diversity. Approximately 200,000 square kilometers are cut down or burned there every year, which means that 100,000 species of plants and animals disappear. This process is especially fast in the regions richest in tropical forests - the Amazon and Indonesia.
Forest and tourism
Young trees die not only under fires, but also under axes, or even just under the feet of numerous visitors. Forests frequented by tourists are so thoroughly littered with tin cans, bottles, rags, paper, etc., they bear traces of large and small wounds that this negatively affects natural reforestation.
Not the last place in causing damage is the custom of decorating Christmas trees. Picking mushrooms, flowers and berries undermines the self-renewal of a number of plant species. A bonfire completely disables a piece of land on which it was laid out for 5-7 years. Noise scares off various birds and mammals, prevents them from raising their offspring normally. Breaking of branches, notches on trunks and other mechanical damage to trees contribute to their infection with insect pests.
Protection of forests from fires. The forests of the Earth suffer severely from fires. Forest fires destroy 2 million tons of organic matter annually. They cause great harm to forestry: the growth of trees is reduced, the composition of forests is deteriorating, windbreaks are intensifying, soil conditions and windbreaks are deteriorating, soil conditions are deteriorating. Forest fires promote the spread of harmful insects and wood-destroying fungi. World statistics claims that 97% of forest fires are caused by human faults and only 3% by lightning, mainly ball lightning. The flames of forest fires destroy both flora and fauna in their path. In Russia, great attention is paid to the protection of forests from fires. As a result of the measures taken in recent years to strengthen preventive fire prevention measures and to implement a set of works for the timely detection and extinguishing of forest fires by aviation and ground fire departments, the areas of forests covered by fire, especially in the European part of Russia, have significantly decreased.
However, the number of forest fires is still high. Fires occur due to careless handling of fire, due to a deep violation of fire safety rules during agricultural work. The increased risk of fires is created by the clutter of forest areas.
Mankind needs to realize that the death of the forest is a deterioration in the state of the environment. It will take centuries to stop its further destruction and postpone the approach of an ecological catastrophe in the world.
We can only offer everyone to protect the forest and its surrounding nature:
do not litter forests with household and industrial waste, spontaneous dumps;
stop numerous constructions in the forest areas of dachas, cottages, roads, including spontaneous and uncontrolled;
not damage and destroy forests as a result of industrial pollution;
uncontrollably arbitrarily not cut trees for household needs;
protect from forest fires;
to work more intensively on the restoration of forests after logging;
Enhanced control
Problems of conservation of biological diversity of the Earth
Biological diversity (BD) is the totality of all forms of life inhabiting our planet, it is the richness and diversity of life and its processes, including the diversity of living organisms and their genetic differences, as well as the diversity of their places of existence.
According to the UNEP Global Biodiversity Assessment (1995), more than 30,000 animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. Over the past 400 years, 484 animal species and 654 plant species have disappeared.
Causes of today's accelerated decline in biodiversity–
1) rapid population growth and economic development, making huge changes in the living conditions of all organisms and ecological systems of the Earth;
2) increase in human migration, growth in international trade and tourism;
3) increasing pollution of natural waters, soil and air;
4) insufficient attention to the long-term consequences of actions that destroy the conditions for the existence of living organisms, exploit natural resources and introduce non-native species;
The impossibility in a market economy to assess the true value of biological diversity and its losses.
Over the past 400 years, the main direct causes of extinction of animal species have been:
1) the introduction of new species, accompanied by the displacement or extermination of local species (39% of all lost animal species);
Destruction of living conditions, direct seizure of territories inhabited by animals, and their degradation,
3) uncontrolled hunting (23%); and etc.
The main reasons for the need to preserve genetic diversity.
All species (no matter how harmful or unpleasant they may be) have a right to exist. The enjoyment of nature, its beauty and diversity is of the highest value, not expressed in quantitative terms. Diversity is the basis for the evolution of life forms. The decline in species and genetic diversity undermines the further improvement of life forms on Earth.
There are many ways to protect biological diversity.
Reserve. The goal is to preserve nature and natural processes in an undisturbed state.
2.National park. The goal is to preserve natural areas of national and international importance for scientific research, education and recreation. 3. Monument of nature. These are usually small areas.
Managed natural reserves.
Protected landscapes and seaside views.
6. Resource reserve created to prevent premature use of the territory.
Anthropological reserve created to preserve the traditional way of life of the indigenous population.
Territory of multi-purpose use of natural resources, focused on sustainable use waters, forests, animals and flora, pastures and for tourism.
biosphere reserves. Created to preserve biological diversity.
World heritage sites. Created to protect the unique natural features of world importance.
The main reason for the emergence of the global energy problem should be considered the rapid growth in the consumption of mineral fuels in the 20th century. The increase in the production of fuel and energy resources has led to a serious deterioration of the environmental situation.
An extensive way to solve the energy problem involves a further increase in energy production and an absolute increase in energy consumption. The energy crisis of the 70s. accelerated the development and implementation of energy-saving technologies, gives impetus to the restructuring of the economy.
In modern conditions, a ton of energy saved as a result of conservation measures costs 3-4 times cheaper than a ton of additionally produced. Under the influence of the energy crisis, developed countries in the 70-80s. carried out a large-scale restructuring of the economy in the direction of reducing the share of energy-intensive industries.
At the same time, many countries with emerging markets (Russia, Ukraine, China, India) continue to develop energy-intensive industries (ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical industry, etc.), as well as use outdated technologies. In these countries, an increase in energy consumption should be expected, both due to an increase in living standards and a change in the lifestyle of the population, and due to the lack of funds in many of these countries to reduce the energy intensity of the economy. Therefore, in modern conditions, it is in emerging markets that the consumption of energy resources is growing, while in developed countries, consumption remains at a relatively stable level. Thus, the global energy problem in its former understanding as a threat of an absolute shortage of resources in the world does not exist. Nevertheless, the problem of providing energy resources remains in a modified form.
37. Alternative energy - a set of promising methods of obtaining, transmitting and using energy, which are not as widespread as traditional ones, but are of interest because of the profitability of their use with, as a rule, a low risk of causing harm to the environment.
Today, there is a growing need for promising methods of obtaining energy through the development of alternative energy (AE), since it is beneficial to use and, as a rule, causes low harm to the environment. Its share compared to traditional energy is still quite modest. Most of the energy needs of the whole world are covered by thermal and nuclear power plants. However, a by-product of nuclear power plants is radioactive waste, the issue of disposal of which has not yet been resolved. In addition, there is the threat of terrorism, which can lead to catastrophic consequences. As for fossil energy resources (oil, gas, coal, peat) used by thermal power plants, they are not unlimited and cause damage to the environment.
Energy is divided into non-renewable and renewable (alternative) energy sources. In turn, renewable energy is subdivided into two more groups - traditional (hydropower and biomass energy) and non-traditional energy sources (defined by the federal law of the Russian Federation "On Electricity").
The main property of populations, like other biological systems, is that they are in constant motion, constantly changing. This is reflected in all parameters: productivity, sustainability, structure, distribution in space. Populations have specific genetic and ecological characteristics that reflect the ability of systems to maintain existence in constantly changing conditions: growth, development, stability.
Main characteristics of populations: Number and density are the main parameters of a population. Number - the total number of individuals in a given territory or in a given volume. Density is the number of individuals or their biomass per unit area or volume. In nature, there are constant fluctuations in abundance and density.
The dynamics of numbers and density is determined mainly by births, deaths and migration processes. These are indicators that characterize the change in the population over a certain period: month, season, year, etc.
Structure and dynamics of populations. Dynamics, state and reproduction of populations are consistent with their age and sex structure. The age structure reflects the rate of population renewal and the interaction of age groups with the external environment. It depends on the characteristics of the life cycle, which differs significantly in different species (for example, birds and predatory mammals), and external conditions.
AT life cycle individuals are usually divided into three age periods: pre-reproductive, reproductive and post-reproductive. Plants are also characterized by a period of primary dormancy, which they go through in the stage of dormant seeds. Each of the periods can be represented by one (simple structure) or several (complex structure) age stages. Simple age structure possess annual plants, many insects. A complex structure is characteristic of tree populations of different ages and highly organized animals. The more complex the structure, the higher the adaptive capacity of the population
The productivity of agricultural crops depends on many factors. Such as the temperature regime, solar radiation, are not regulated by a person in an open field, but are taken into account in practice by choosing the timing of sowing, the density of plants, the direction of rows, etc.
Other factors are provided by human production activities. The most important of them are: the presence of moisture in the soil; supply of plants with nutrients; grade; seed quality; protection of crops from pests, diseases and weeds; growth regulation; harvest.
The essence of the intensification of agriculture, intensive technologies is as follows: the placement of crops according to the best predecessors in the crop rotation system; cultivation of high-yielding varieties of intensive type with good quality grains; high provision of plants with elements of mineral nutrition, taking into account their content in the soil; an integrated system of plant protection against pests, diseases and weeds;
Application of fertilizers. There is objectively a contradiction between the productivity of agriculture and soil fertility: the more we take from a hectare of products, the higher the removal of nutrients. This contradiction can only be overcome by replenishing and increasing the energy potential of soils, introducing organic, mineral substances, microelements.
The importance of the chemicalization of agriculture in this regard can hardly be overestimated: it allows you to increase soil fertility, improve acidic and saline lands, better preserve and increase the nutritional value of feed, etc.
The use of mineral fertilizers can only reduce the rate of this process, but not eliminate it completely. The result is plowing of soils, depletion of their humus fund and a decrease in effective and potential fertility. This not only worsens the soil nutrition regime, but also negatively affects physicochemical characteristics, water-air and thermal regimes, soil-absorbing complex and biological activity of mineral fertilizers and leads to a significant shortage of agricultural crops.
Side effect mineral fertilizers. The chemicalization of agriculture, which is carried out at an increasing pace, takes far from last place in a number of anthropogenic factors affecting soils and nature in general.
The industrial synthesis of nitrogen fertilizers and their dispersion over the earth's surface introduces serious changes in its biogeochemical circulation. An increase in the amount of nitrogen in natural environments due to human activity is a dangerous phenomenon, since nitrates introduced in excess are not completely denitrified, and hence the balance between the processes of nitrification and denitrification is disturbed. Every year, the excess of nitrates reaches more than 9 million tons. They accumulate in the hydrosphere, plants, and later in food products, causing severe poisoning.
The exhaust air of livestock buildings in the form of ventilation emissions also poses a certain threat to rural areas. As a result, air pollution and the introduction of large amounts of liquid manure into fields in the immediate vicinity of livestock complexes can lead to pollution of an area of about 100 thousand hectares.
Without the preparation of an environmental passport and the implementation of its recommendations, no harmful emissions from the complexes will continue to be recorded, and therefore air, soil, surface and ground water will be polluted, and the requirements governing the protection of the surrounding territory of the complexes and adjacent zones will not be observed.
For these purposes, an ecological passport has been developed for livestock complexes with industrial technology for the production of meat and milk. The basis for the development of an environmental passport is a permit for environmental management, operating instructions for technological equipment, passports for treatment and production facilities, statistical reporting data, production indicators and regulatory and technical documents.
Thus, on the basis of the ecological passport of the livestock complex, environmental protection measures, the implementation of which guarantees the protection of the environment, guarantees a healthy habitat for animals and humans
The MPC value is determined by calculation based on the value of the DSP, the amount of the product in the daily diet. ADI and ADI are established on the basis of threshold doses reduced by the value of the safety factor. DSP and DSD values for many food additives and pesticides have been developed by an expert committee of the Food and Agriculture Section of the United Nations and a WHO expert group (FAO/WHO).
Hygienic standards for the content of chemicals characterize the permissible, and not optimal, conditions for exposure to environmental factors. Therefore, their strict observance is minimal. necessary measure to ensure chemical safety.
Soviet scientists (A. E. Fersman, N. N. Semenov, I. V. Petryanov-Sokolov, B. N. Laskorin, and others) made a significant contribution to the concept of waste-free production. Non-waste production is based on the technogenic circulation of substances and energy. The need to create non-waste production arose in the 50s. 20th century in connection with the depletion of world natural resources and pollution of the biosphere as a result of the rapid development of industries (oil refining, chemical industry, nuclear energy, non-ferrous metallurgy, etc.).
According to the ideas of D. I. Mendeleev (1885), the measure of the perfection of production is the amount of waste. With the development of science and technology, each production is increasingly approaching waste-free. At this stage, non-waste industries include, in essence, low-waste industries, in which only most of raw materials turn into waste. The latter are subjected to burial, neutralization or sent for long-term storage with a view to their disposal in the future. In low-waste industries, emissions of harmful substances do not exceed the MPC, as well as the level at which irreversible environmental changes are prevented.
The main directions of creating low-waste industries at a separate enterprise or in the whole industrial region: environmentally friendly preparation and complex processing of raw materials in combination with the purification of harmful emissions, waste disposal, optimal use of energy, water and gas cycles; application of so-called short (low-stage) technological schemes with max. extraction of target and by-products at each stage; replacement of periodic processes with continuous ones using automated control systems for them and more advanced equipment; wide involvement in the production of secondary resources.
Environmental monitoring
An integrated system of long-term observations, assessment and forecast of changes in the state of the environment under the influence of anthropogenic factors. The main tasks of monitoring: monitoring the state of the biosphere, assessing and predicting the state of the natural environment, identifying factors and sources of anthropogenic impacts on the environment, warning about emerging critical situations that are harmful or dangerous to the life and health of people and other living organisms.
Natural resources are natural objects used by man and contributing to the creation of wealth. Natural conditions affect human life and activity, but do not participate in material production.
On the grounds of natural resources are distinguished: atmospheric, water, vegetable. Classification of natural resources according to their exhaustibility: animals, soil, bowels, energy. Exhaustible resources are those that can be exhausted in the near or long term. These are subsoil and wildlife resources. Inexhaustible resources are resources that can be used indefinitely. These are the resources of solar energy, sea tides, wind. Water has a special position among the resources. It is exhaustible due to pollution (qualitatively), but quantitatively inexhaustible.
Natural resources are an important part of a country's national wealth and a source of wealth and services. The reproduction process is essentially a continuous process of interaction between society and nature, in which society subjugates the forces of nature and natural resources to meet needs. Natural resources largely determine not only the socio-economic potential of the country and region and the efficiency of social production, but also the health and life expectancy of the population.
According to sources and location: natural resources (bodies or natural phenomena) arise in natural environments (water, atmosphere, vegetation or soil cover, etc.) and in space form certain combinations that change within the boundaries of natural territorial complexes. On this basis, they are divided into two groups: resources of natural components and resources of natural-territorial complexes.
Resources of natural components. Each type of natural resource is usually formed in one of the components of the landscape envelope. It is controlled by the same natural factors that create this natural component and influence its features and territorial distribution. By belonging to the components of the landscape shell, resources are distinguished: 1) mineral, 2) climatic, 3) water, 4) vegetable, 5) land, 6) soil, 7) wildlife. This classification is widely used in domestic and foreign literature.
Resources of natural-territorial complexes. Each landscape (or natural-territorial complex) has a certain set of diverse types of natural resources. Depending on the properties of the landscape, the combination of types of resources, their quantitative and qualitative characteristics change. Almost any landscape has climatic, water, land, soil and other resources, but the possibilities of economic use are very different. In one case, favorable conditions may develop for the extraction of mineral raw materials, in others - for the cultivation of valuable cultivated plants or for the organization of industrial production, a resort complex, etc. On this basis, natural resource territorial complexes are distinguished according to the most preferred (or preferred) type of economic development. They are divided into: 1) mining, 2) agricultural, 3) water management, 4) forestry, 5) residential, 6) recreational, etc.
By area of use
According to the principle of substitution
according to the principle of exhaustibility and renewability:
Exhaustible (renewable, non-renewable): They are formed in the earth's crust or landscape sphere, but the volumes and rates of their formation are measured on a geological time scale. At the same time, the need for such resources on the part of production or for the organization of favorable living conditions for human society significantly exceeds the volumes and rates of natural replenishment. As a result, depletion of natural resource reserves inevitably occurs. The exhaustible group includes resources with different rates and volumes of formation. Based on the intensity and speed of natural formation, resources are divided into subgroups:
Non-renewable, which include: a) all types of mineral resources or minerals. As you know, they are constantly formed in the bowels of the earth's crust as a result of a continuously ongoing process of ore formation, but the scale of their accumulation is so insignificant, and the rates of formation are measured in many tens and hundreds of millions of years, that they cannot be practically taken into account in economic calculations. The development of mineral raw materials takes place on a historical time scale and is characterized by ever-increasing volumes of withdrawal. In this regard, all mineral resources considered as not only exhaustible, but also non-renewable. b) Land resources in their natural form are the material basis on which the life of human society takes place. The morphological structure of the surface (i.e., relief) significantly affects economic activity and the possibility of developing the territory. Once disturbed lands (for example, by quarries) during large industrial or civil construction in their natural form are no longer restored.
Renewable resources, which include: a) plant and b) animal world resources. Both of them are restored quite quickly, and the volumes of natural renewal are well and accurately calculated. Therefore, when organizing the economic use of accumulated timber reserves in forests, herbage in meadows or pastures, and hunting for wild animals within the limits not exceeding the annual renewal, it is possible to completely avoid the depletion of resources.
Relatively (not completely) renewable. Although some resources are restored in historical periods of time, their renewable volumes are much less than the volumes of economic consumption. That is why these types of resources are very vulnerable and require particularly careful human control. Relatively renewable resources include very scarce natural resources: a) productive arable soils; b) forests with stands of mature age; in) water resources in the regional aspect. Anthropogenic destruction of soils has been so intense in recent decades that it gives grounds to classify soil resources as “relatively renewable”.
Inexhaustible (solar energy, water resources, climatic resources): among the bodies and natural phenomena of resource value, there are those that are practically inexhaustible. These include climatic and water resources:
climate resources. Usually, climate resources are understood as the reserves of heat and moisture that a particular area or region has. Since these resources are formed in certain links of the thermal and water cycles, constantly operating over the planet as a whole and over its individual regions, the reserves of heat and moisture can be considered as inexhaustible within certain quantitative limits, precisely established for each region.
Water resources of the planet. The earth has a colossal volume of water - about 1.5 billion cubic meters. km. However, 98% of this volume is made up of salty waters of the World Ocean, and only 28 million cubic meters. km - fresh water. Since technologies for desalination of salty sea waters are already known, the waters of the World Ocean and salt lakes can be considered as potential water resources, the use of which is quite possible in the future. Subject to the principles of rational water use, these resources can be considered as inexhaustible. However, if these principles are violated, the situation can sharply worsen, and even on a planetary scale, there may be a shortage of clean fresh water. In the meantime, the natural environment annually "gives" humanity 10 times more water than it needs to meet a wide variety of needs.
Deforestation as an environmental problem.
Introduction
1. The fate of forests
2. The problem of forest death
2.1. Radiation exposure - a consequence of the death of the forest
2.2. Death and deforestation
2.3 Forest and tourism
2.4 Forest fires
3.Global solution to the problem of deforestation
Conclusion
List of sources used
Appendix 1
Introduction
Today, the problem of forest death is one of the first places on the global problems of mankind. For Russia, scientific, technical and informational cooperation on the issues of interaction between forest and climate is of considerable interest. The phenomenon of mass destruction of forests is widespread throughout the European territory of Russia and in Siberia. It is in the context of the drying up of forests growing throughout the northern hemisphere. In our country, these issues are monitored in detail by the Russian Forest Protection Center with an extensive network of 41 regional branches. The biotic causes of this process have been reliably identified. However, a number of problems remain unresolved:
There is no forecast for the development of mass drying up of forests and no assessment of the consequences of this phenomenon.
The relationship between forest drying and climate change has not been reliably established. Although this hypothesis remains practically uncontested.
The whole complex of reasons for spruce stands drying up has not been fully identified.
From preliminary assessments of the current situation, it follows that the existing methods and means cannot change the growing dynamics of mass desiccation. In a number of regions, the problem is beginning to acquire an extremely acute economic, social and environmental character. Only in the Arkhangelsk region in the North-West of Russia, the zone of active drying covered valuable forest tracts with a total reserve of coniferous wood of about 400 million cubic meters. In the heart of one of the key forest regions of Northern Europe, a huge “powder keg” is being formed, which, with the combination of a number of factors, can become a source of a powerful volley of CO2 emissions into the global atmosphere. Urgent comprehensive studies are required, the result of which may be the adoption of cardinal decisions. The points mentioned above are very sensitive for the economy and ecology of the European Community. Probably, here it is necessary to develop a consolidated opinion. It is obvious to us that mass drying up of forests is not a purely Russian problem. The scale of this phenomenon is pan-Eurasian and panboreal. Therefore, international cooperation in the study, evaluation and coordination of efforts to minimize its negative consequences is essential.
The problem of deforestation is not new. A lot has already been said about it, books and articles have been written, but basically it is considered together with other environmental problems. Therefore, I would like to combine all the available material on this issue in one abstract, in connection with the significance of this problem for humanity. It considers not only anthropogenic factors affecting the quantity and quality of the forest, but also natural ones. For example: various harmful fungi and insects, fires (peat fire). Ways of dealing with anthropogenic and natural factors that adversely affect forests are also noted.
1. The fate of forests
The forest is a multilevel biosocial system where countless elements co-exist and influence each other. These elements are trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants and other flora, birds, animals, microorganisms, soil with its organic and inorganic constituents, water and microclimate. The planet's forests are a powerful source of atmospheric oxygen (1 hectare of forest releases 5 tons of oxygen per year into the atmosphere). It should not be thought that only tropical rainforests are globally important. On the territory of Russia there is a unique forest area - the Siberian taiga, which supplies oxygen not only to its region, but also to North America (where about 95% of its own forests were destroyed). The oxygen produced by forests and other components of the Earth's vegetation cover is important not only in itself, but also in connection with the need to preserve the ozone screen in the Earth's stratosphere. Ozone is formed from oxygen under the influence of solar radiation. Its concentration in the stratosphere is steadily decreasing under the influence of chlorofluorinated hydrocarbons (refrigerants, plastic components, etc.). Despite the currently internationally adopted restrictive and prohibitive measures (for example, the Montreal Protocol on organochlorine compounds), which, moreover, are not universally implemented, ozone will continue to be destroyed over a number of years by compounds already released into the atmosphere, slowly rising into the stratosphere . This contributes to the growth of the "ozone hole", which, spreading from the South Pole, reached the latitude of Tierra del Fuego and "covered" in 2000 the settlement of Punta Arrenas (Chile).
Giving life-giving oxygen that counteracts the formation of the "ozone hole", forests also absorb carbon dioxide, turning it into biomass during photosynthesis (100 m2 of forest absorb 400 kg of CO2 per year). Industry emits significant amounts of this gas, one of the main culprits of the "greenhouse effect", which threatens global warming (already begun), the shift of the planet's agricultural zones to the poles, the swamping of land areas with permafrost, the melting of glaciers, the flooding of coastal cities, and more and more frequent cataclysms (hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.). Forests also absorb noise, soften seasonal temperature fluctuations, slow down strong winds, and contribute to precipitation. Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has already shortened the rainy season, threatening to have catastrophic consequences for agriculture. One could go on listing reasons why the planet's forests are vital to us.
However, we should, of course, be motivated to preserve forests not only by pragmatic considerations. Forest conservation is part of a broader biocentric program for biodiversity conservation. Only the tropical rainforests of the Amazon, the Congo Basin, Southeast Asia contain about 1.7 million species of plants and animals.
The forest takes us to the world of beauty (it has a bio-aesthetic value), in it we are imbued with the grandeur of wildlife, we enjoy at least a landscape relatively unpolluted by civilization. Moreover, forest plantations artificially planted on the site of clearings (often of a park type), with all the diligence of their creators, are often completely dependent on human care likeness of natural, virgin forests.
Sadly, forests have been destroyed in recent decades at a rate of about 1 hectare per day, and forest restoration on each hectare requires 15-20 years. During the existence of civilization, more than 42% of the entire original forest area on the planet has been eliminated, and, of course, forests are being destroyed at an increasing pace. So, for the period 1955-1995, about 40% of tropical forests were cut down. At the current rate of deforestation (about 15 million hectares per year), tropical rainforests will be completely destroyed between 2030 and 2050. A similar fate will befall the Siberian taiga even before this date, if its unrestrained exploitation, which involves foreign companies (for example, CFMG from the USA, as well as Chinese enterprises), is not stopped. On the whole, the areas of coniferous forests are decreasing in Russia, which are being replaced by less valuable small-leaved forests. In many areas, timber is harvested in excess of its growth; mountain forests, which regenerate with difficulty and grow slowly, are particularly affected.
2. The problem of forest death
The problem of forest death, as well as environmental issues in general, is closely related to the global political problems of our time. This relationship is two-way: along with the undoubted influence of the environmental situation on political decisions, in general, on politics, there is also an inverse effect of the political situation in the world on the environment in certain regions of the world. As for the forests of the planet, in most cases they are eliminated not on a whim, but in order to survive, not to die of hunger. The world is divided into the developed countries of the West, where less than 1 billion people (the “golden billion”) live in conditions of economic prosperity, and all the rest, developing countries (“the third world”), the haven of the rest, more than 5 billion people. Approximately 1.3 billion people in these countries live in poverty; 840 million people, including 240 million children, are hungry or malnourished (2). Making up about 20% of the world's population, the "golden billion" manages about 85% of the benefits and resources of mankind.
Both categories of countries contribute to bios destruction (albeit for different reasons). But specifically, the destruction of forests is directly carried out on the territory of the countries of the "third world"; the rich countries of the West, which previously destroyed most of their forests, are now busy restoring them, "recultivating", carefully protecting the remnants of virgin forests and newly created plantations from pollution (for example, in Germany a real campaign was launched against the "forest extinction" - Waldsterben). However, residents of developing countries are not up to environmental considerations, when they must provide themselves with food using archaic means (up to the method of sowing cultivated plants in clearings fertilized with the ashes of burnt trees, known to us from history textbooks), with a colossal population growth. We add that this method is unproductive in the rainforests of the tropics, because the layer of nutritious humus in their soils is very thin; after 2-3 harvests, the soil is depleted and a new piece of forest needs to be destroyed. The unrestrained exploitation of natural resources, including forests, is facilitated by the significant financial debt of the countries of the "third world" in relation to creditors from the countries of the "golden billion", so that the "golden billion" is indirectly responsible for the fate of the forests of the "third world", from which depends on his own survival. Measures were proposed to remove or postpone part of the debt from developing countries, subject to their obligatory compliance with the norms of protecting forests and the bio-environment in general.
It's hard to overestimate. No wonder the trees. They generally constitute a single ecosystem that affects the life of various species, soil, atmosphere, water regime. Many people do not even realize what a disaster deforestation will lead to if it is not stopped.
Deforestation problem
At the moment, the problem of cutting down trees is relevant for all continents of the earth, but this problem is most acute in the countries of Western Europe, South America, and Asia. Intensive destruction of forests leads to the problem of deforestation. The territory, freed from trees, turns into a poor landscape, becomes unsuitable for life.
To understand how close a disaster is, you should pay attention to a number of facts:
- more than half have already been destroyed, and it will take hundreds of years to restore them;
- now only 30% of the land is occupied by forests;
- regular felling of trees leads to an increase in carbon monoxide in the atmosphere by 6-12%;
- every minute disappears the territory of the forest, which is equal in size to several football fields.
Reasons for deforestation
Some of the most common reasons for felling trees include:
- wood has high value as a building material and raw material for paper, cardboard, household items;
- often destroy forests to expand new agricultural land;
- for laying communication lines and roads
In addition, a large number of trees suffer as a result, which constantly occur due to improper handling of fire. They also happen during the dry season.
Illegal deforestation
Quite often, tree felling occurs illegally. In many countries of the world, there are not enough institutions and people who can control the process of deforestation. In turn, entrepreneurs in this area sometimes commit violations, annually increasing the volume of deforestation. It is also believed that timber supplied by poachers who do not have a license to operate comes through to the market. There is an opinion that the introduction of a high duty on timber would significantly reduce the sale of timber abroad, and, accordingly, would reduce the number of felled trees.
Deforestation in Russia
Russia is one of the leading timber producers. Together with Canada, these two countries contribute about 34% of the total amount of exported material in the world market. The most active areas where trees are cut down are the territory of Siberia and the Far East. As for illegal logging, everything is solved by paying fines. However, this does not contribute to the restoration of the forest ecosystem in any way.
The main result of tree cutting is deforestation, which has a lot of consequences:
- climate change;
- environmental pollution;
- ecosystem change;
- destruction of a large number of plants;
- animals are forced to leave their usual habitats;
- deterioration of the atmosphere;
- deterioration in nature;
- soil destruction, which will lead to;
- emergence of environmental refugees.
Deforestation permit
Companies that cut down trees must obtain a special permit for this activity. To do this, you need to submit an application, a plan of the area where the cutting is carried out, a description of the types of trees that will be cut down, as well as a number of papers for coordination with various services. In general, obtaining such a permit is difficult. However, this does not completely rule out the illegality of deforestation. It is recommended to tighten this procedure while it is still possible to save the forests on the planet.
Sample permit for deforestation
What will happen to the planet if all the trees are cut down
Introduction
The value of the forest in human life
Fight against deforestation
Conclusion
Introduction
a century not only - a century of discoveries and development, but also of huge environmental problems. One of them is the problem of deforestation on the planet.
Forests are climax communities in a large part of the planet and not so long ago covered a third of the land. Now forest area temperate zone decreases slightly, but these are only the remains of their continuous prehistoric massifs, cut down by man. Even before the active offensive of man on nature, forests occupied almost the entire territory of Europe. At present, they are preserved on one third of its area. The most populated European state is Finland, where 70% of the territory is covered with forests. The poorest in this respect is Great Britain - less than 6% of the country's area is covered by forests. As before, vast forest areas remain in Asia - in the Siberian lowlands and on mountain slopes, as well as in tropical and subtropical regions in the southeast of the continent. Forests cover about two-thirds of the area of North and South America: in the north - coniferous taiga, in the subtropics - coniferous and deciduous forests and palm trees, in the equatorial zone - evergreen rain, or tropical rainforests. In addition, forests remain the dominant biome in a quarter of Africa and about a fifth of Australia.
Today, more than 13 million hectares of forest are cut down every year, and the areas freed from the forest are used for agriculture, road construction and growing cities. Of the cut areas, 6 million hectares are virgin forests, i.e. no man has ever set foot in these forests. Therefore, this topic is currently particularly relevant.
The purpose of the work: to study the problems and possible measures to combat the destruction of forests.
To do this, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:
characterize the role and importance of the forest in human life;
outline the main measures to combat deforestation.
1. The value of the forest in human life
Many scientists call the forest the "lungs" of our planet, as plants enrich our atmosphere with oxygen. But, despite this, the deforestation of our planet is happening with great speed.
Deforestation is a serious global environmental problem. Deforestation is mainly the result of human activities associated with deforestation. Wood is used as fuel, raw material for pulp and paper mills, building material, etc. In addition, forests are cut down in clearing areas for pastures, in slash-and-burn operations, and in mining sites.
Developed countries experienced massive deforestation before and during the Industrial Revolution, which led to severe consequences for them, for example, the decline in the fertility of many lands. However, industrialized countries have generally recognized this problem and are now reforesting at a rate at least equal to that of deforestation.
Since the beginning of this century, the area under African forests has almost halved, and in some countries by 5-10 times. So, in Ethiopia at the beginning of the century, forests were located on 40% of the territory. Now only 3.5% remains under forests. In India, 40 years ago, forests covered 22% of the territory, now they barely account for 10%.
In developing countries, for two-thirds of the population (about 2.5 billion people), the era of modern energy has not yet arrived. Firewood is still needed for heating and cooking. Even in cities, many people use charcoal produced in rural areas by cutting and burning wood. Approximately 60% of these people are cutting down forests faster than they are growing. In some countries, clearing is five times faster than reforestation.
Forests play an important role in the global carbon and oxygen cycles. Through the process of photosynthesis, trees purify the air by absorbing carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. When trees are cut down and burned, the carbon they contain is released into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. Deforestation also oxidizes and releases carbon that has accumulated in the soil under the trees into the air.
Forests provide a natural habitat for more wild plant and animal species than in any other ecosystem. This makes them the largest repository of biodiversity on our planet. In addition, forests absorb noise, many air pollutants and have a beneficial effect on people's mood, providing their need for privacy and beauty.
Forests also play an important role in the conservation of soil and water, maintaining a healthy atmosphere. The water cycle in nature is disturbed, as trees feed on groundwater with the help of roots. The destruction of the forest causes an increase in the level of groundwater, which leads to floods.
The damage caused and the extinction of forests lead to soil erosion, degradation of river basins. Forests are often found on uplands and watersheds and intercept much of the rainwater. The forest canopy mitigates the impact of intense tropical rainfall on the environment in various ways. It returns a large amount of water to the atmosphere through evaporation and transpiration, while minimizing surface runoff, i.e. allowing water to seep into the soil (infiltration). This leads to the formation of a stable aquifer at a depth that evenly feeds streams and rivers. If the forest canopy is destroyed, then surface runoff will increase sharply, which will lead to the drying up of watershed areas and sharp drops in water levels in lowland rivers. For example, the unprecedented flooding in Bangladesh in the summer of 1988, which affected much of the country, is attributed mainly to the deforestation of mountains in northern India and Nepal. And increased surface runoff leads to soil erosion. Its fertile layer can be completely eroded, so that the exposed soil becomes unsuitable not only for agricultural use, but also for the restoration of the original forest stand. Simultaneously, siltation of reservoirs, estuaries and harbors will occur, which will require their regular dredging. There will be a threat of landslides and mudflows.
In the process of photosynthesis, forests absorb a huge amount of carbon dioxide, so their destruction can lead to an increase in its concentration in the atmosphere, which, as many scientists believe, will increase in the 21st century. will contribute global warming in connection with the so-called. greenhouse effect.
Of particular concern is the destruction of tropical forests, the average annual percentage of loss of which reaches 1% of their area. Rainforests- the source of half of all hardwood mined in the world. According to T. Miller's book Life in the Environment, over 50 years of life, the average tree in a tropical forest provides an "ecological income" from oxygen production, air pollution reduction, erosion and soil fertility control, water regime regulation, habitat provision for wildlife and protein industries in the amount of $196,250. Sold as timber, it will fetch only about $590. Rainforests in places like Indonesia, the Congo and the Amazon are especially vulnerable and at risk. At this rate of deforestation, tropical rainforests will be gone in less than 100 years. West Africa has lost about 90% of its coastal rainforests, similar rates in South Asia. In South America, 40% of tropical forests have disappeared, new areas have been developed for pastures. Madagascar has lost 90% of its eastern rainforests. Several countries have declared catastrophic deforestation of their territories.
Among the foodstuffs obtained in tropical forests are coffee, cocoa, spices, nuts, and fruits. The raw materials for a quarter of all the medicines we use come from plants that grow in the rainforest. Aspirin is made from a substance extracted from the leaves of tropical willow trees. About 70% of promising cancer drugs can be obtained from tropical rainforest plants.
The consequences of deforestation are the extinction of species, soil degradation, a decrease in runoff on watersheds and an increase in the accumulation of precipitation in water bodies, a decrease in the buffer role of forest swamps, a decrease in carbon stocks in terrestrial biomass, an increase in CO 2in the atmosphere, reducing the amount of precipitation. In addition, scientists have calculated that 80% of all species of flora and fauna live in tropical forests. Deforestation destroys ecosystems and leads to the disappearance of many species of animals and plants, some plants are irreplaceable species from which medicines are obtained. Their destruction will lead to the extinction of little-studied forms of life, i.e., a decrease in the planet's genetic reserves and a reduction in biological resources potentially useful to humans. The rainforests have already given us antimalarial and anticancer drugs, and scientists are intensively researching the plants of these forests in search of cures for AIDS and many other diseases. Forests are dying not only in the tropics. Mass disease and death of forests due to pollution of the atmosphere, water and soil occurs in Europe and North America. As a result of intensive logging, almost destroyed coniferous forests Central Russia, the most valuable and accessible for technology forests in Siberia in the Far East are steadily reduced. The forests of Siberia are disappearing at a dangerous pace. Here, more than half a million hectares of forests are cut down annually, while new plantings are carried out on only one third of the clearings. Scientists record changes in the Siberian landscape. In most cases, swamping of the area begins at the site of clearings. Since, first of all, pine and even cedar forests, the most valuable forests, are cut down, depletion of forest cover is observed everywhere. Cedar is called the miracle of Siberia, the pearl of the taiga, breadfruit. The kernel of its nut contains up to 60% fat, 20% protein, 12% starch, 4% fiber, as well as a whole complex of vitamins that improve blood composition and have a beneficial effect on skin tissue. Pine nut oil is not inferior in calories chicken eggs, it good remedy in the treatment of pulmonary and renal diseases. So, under the onslaught of man, forests recede on all continents, in almost all countries, but especially massive destruction of forest cover occurs in the tropical zone. On the one hand, being one of the main components of the human environment, the forest affects the climate, the availability of clean water, clean air, protects agricultural land, provides places for comfortable living and recreation for people, preserves the diversity of wildlife, which is an environmental or ecological the role of the forest. On the other hand, the forest is a source of many material resources that humanity cannot do without and is unlikely to be able to do in the foreseeable future - wood for construction, paper and furniture production, firewood, food and medicinal plants, and others - this is an economic, or resource the role of the forest. On the third hand, the forest is part of the cultural and historical environment, under the influence of which the culture and customs of entire nations are formed, the source of work, independence and material well-being of a significant part of the population, especially those who live in forest villages and towns - this is the social role forests. For humanity as a whole, all three roles of the forest are equally important: ecological, economic and social. In conclusion of the chapter, we note that forests have a remarkable feature - the feature of renewal. Therefore, we need to learn how to manage forest management in accordance with environmental requirements, learn how to deal with deforestation in all corners of the globe. 2. Fight against deforestation Forests are among those natural resources, the use and protection of which, as a rule, are regulated by national legislation. In the 21st century In our country and in the world, there is a reassessment of the importance of the forest in people's lives: now the forest is perceived, first of all, as a socio-cultural value, a guarantee of the sustainable development of mankind in connection with the fulfillment of global ecological functions. Therefore, the problem of combating deforestation is one of the areas of environmental protection and goes beyond the boundaries of one country, acquiring international significance. Urgent and effective measures are needed to prevent the complete destruction of forests. Industrialized countries have generally recognized this problem and are now reforesting at a rate equal to or greater than that of deforestation. Work is intensifying around the world on the formation of a coherent forest policy, the main objective which actively promote the science-based, integrated use of forests, their protection, protection and reproduction, based on the following principles: constancy, inexhaustibility and relative uniformity of forest management; preservation of the biological, genetic, species and landscape diversity of forests, increasing their ecological and resource potential; education of people in the spirit of caring for the forest as an important component of the national wealth of the country; strengthening the economic and social role of forestry. establishment of the order of ownership, use and withdrawal of forests; management of the unified state forest fund; establishment of the procedure for assigning forests to groups and categories of protection; establishment of the procedure for the use, reproduction, conservation and protection of forests; establishment of uniform for the country systems of forest management, forest inventory, procedures for maintaining the state forest cadastre and forest monitoring; implementation of state control over the state and use of forests, compliance with the requirements of forest legislation. In recent decades, many programs have been carried out to protect and restore the forest. The UN Conference on Environment and Development (Rio de Janeiro, 1992) adopted the Statement on Conservation of Forests, which enshrined agreed forest principles aimed at achieving a global consensus on the rational use, conservation and development of forests of all kinds. This document emphasizes that the management of forest lands should be based on the principles of equitable and non-exhaustive use of resources, taking into account the need to meet the social, economic and spiritual needs of present and future generations. An essential part of the forest principles is the recognition of the leading role of forests of all kinds in supporting ecological processes, meeting the demand for energy, various types of industrial raw materials and consumer products, and a favorable impact on the sustainable development of agriculture. The document focuses on the need to eliminate the factors that hinder the rational, sustainable use of forests. It is necessary to refuse, on the one hand, from unreasonable restrictions on the development of timber, on the other hand, from unrestrained felling of forests. To this end, the international trade in timber should be strictly regulated, and for states where reforestation is effectively carried out, certain advantages in trade can be established. In December 2010 at the UN climate conference, more than 200 countries agreed to work together to help indigenous peoples and promote the sustainable use of wood. The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IFRIO) has a comprehensive forest protection policy that includes consumer education, and also provides for measures such as assistance to indigenous people dependent on healthy forests. The report published by the ISLIO states that the problem of deforestation cannot be solved by increasing the area of forest plantations alone, it is necessary to solve the problems that lead to the destruction of the forest. The survival of forests depends on whether we can recognize and preserve their ecological, climate-protective, social and economic value. Among the promising measures is the Lacey Act in the US, which prohibits the importation of timber from stolen trees into the country. And Brazil, for example, is constantly introducing more and more new programs to reduce the level of deforestation in the Amazon. In addition to promoting sustainable forest management, countries should establish or expand protected area systems: public nature reserves, National parks, natural monuments, dendrological parks and botanical gardens, health-improving areas and resorts. These forests are essential for the conservation of ecological systems, biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife habitats. When using forests, a favorable environment for the natural inhabitants of the forest must be preserved. Among forest protection measures, fire fighting is of great importance. The fire completely or partially destroys the forest biocenosis. Fires cause great damage, destroying plants, game animals, other forest products: mushrooms, berries, medicinal plants. A different type of vegetation develops in the forest fires, and the animal population changes completely. Up to 97% of forest fires are caused by humans. Therefore, among the measures to combat fires, an important place should be occupied by fire propaganda among the population. Agricultural burnings, fire cleaning of cutting areas, flames and sparks from the exhaust pipes of tractors and motor vehicles, pipes of diesel locomotives are a great danger for the occurrence of fires. In the forests, it is necessary to create fire-fighting cutting areas, strips, ditches, pave fire-fighting roads, clean cutting areas and sanitary cuttings. A watchdog service is organized in forest areas to detect fires. Diseases and pests cause great harm to forests. Mass outbreaks of pests (for example, the Siberian silkworm) cover vast areas. It is also necessary to carry out preventive actions to combat forest pests (Siberian silkworm, pine iodine, etc.). The economic damage caused to the forest by diseases and pests often exceeds the damage from forest fires. In years with favorable conditions for the reproduction of pests, the scale of damage caused by them sharply increases. In order to prevent the spread of pests, it is important to timely identify the centers of their reproduction and carry out the fight by all known methods, taking into account the biological characteristics of the species. These measures are just a few of those envisaged to restore and protect the planet's forest cover. Governments need to work with scientists, inventors, indigenous peoples, local authorities and the public to develop long-term forest conservation and forest management policies for everyone woodland. These steps will help: to increase the planting of new forests, reducing the load on the main forest funds and old forests. Plant areas between trees with useful crops to further increase the value of used forests; to bring out, tree species are more productive and more resistant to environmental stress; protect forests from fires, pests, poachers, mining enterprises; reduce the amount of pollutants affecting forests, including transboundary air pollution; limit and stop destructive shifting tillage by addressing underlying social and environmental causes; use environmentally correct, more efficient and less polluting logging techniques and expand the production of the woodworking industry in the forest area; minimize wood waste and find uses for tree species that are currently considered worthless or unused; increase added value through the process of secondary processing of forest products in order to increase employment and income from each harvested tree; develop urban forestry to green all human habitats; expand the use of forest products such as medicinal plants, dyes, fibers, natural rubber and rubber, fodder, rattan leaf, bamboo, and stimulate the work of local craftsmen and craftsmen; encourage those uses of the forest that cause minimal damage, such as ecological tourism and the regulated supply of genetic materials used in the manufacture of medicines; reduce the damage caused to forests by promoting the rational management of areas adjacent to forests. Many of the problems listed above are also relevant for Russia, despite its richness in forest resources. Therefore, Russia is taking measures for rational forest management and reproduction of forest resources. The forest legislation of the country is aimed at ensuring the rational use of forests, increasing their ecological and resource potential, protecting and reproducing forest ecosystems, Satisfaction of society in forest resources based on scientifically based multi-purpose forest management. The tasks of protecting and protecting forests are the development and implementation of a set of organizational, legal and other measures that ensure the rational use of the forest fund, its preservation from destruction, damage, pollution, clogging and other harmful effects. Decisions were adopted on mandatory reforestation of felled areas, regulation of natural reforestation (Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation of July 16, 2007 No. 183 “On Approval of the Rules for Reforestation”). It is necessary to take into account the significant loss of forest plantations, primarily due to forest fires. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a law amending the Forest Code, which provides for increased fire safety measures and responsibility for the destruction of forests. In addition to strengthening fire safety measures, the law obliges state authorities and local governments to limit or prohibit the stay of citizens in forests during periods of increased fire danger. Public authorities are also required to develop plans to extinguish forest fires. The law also introduces amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation. They provide for increased criminal and administrative liability for violation of fire safety rules in forests. Significantly increased penalties for careless handling of fire in forest areas. For the intentional destruction or damage of forest plantations - arson - the punishment is in the form of imprisonment for up to ten years. forest clearing landscape ecosystem Conclusion So, the forest plays a special role in the life of man and mankind. In terms of the volume and diversity of their ecological functions, forests stand out among all natural complexes. Most common cause deforestation - deforestation without sufficient planting of new trees. In addition, forests can be destroyed due to natural causes such as fire, hurricane or flooding, as well as other anthropogenic factors such as acid rain. Deforestation leads to a decrease in biodiversity, wood reserves for industrial use and quality of life, as well as an increase in the greenhouse effect due to a decrease in photosynthesis. This problem is a serious problem, not only because the forest is a natural resource of extreme importance for humans, which cannot be restored in one day. Deforestation has a huge number of side effects, it is the main cause of environmental problems such as desertification, soil degradation, flooding, the formation of mudflows, silting of watercourses, the destruction of wildlife habitats, the extinction of animal and plant species, the most powerful means of enriching the atmosphere oxygen and purification of the air basin from pollution, the global facts of climate formation. Bibliography 1.Forest Code of the Russian Federation dated December 4, 2006 No. 200-FZ (as amended on July 18, 2011). .Gladky Yu.N. Give the planet a chance! / Yu.N.Gladkiy, S.B.Lavrov. - M.: Enlightenment, 1995. - 207 p. .Forest. - Encyclopedia "Circumnavigation". - [Electronic resource]. - Access mode: #"justify">. Medvedev toughened responsibility for the destruction of forests // Economics in Russia. - 2011. - No. 1. .Miller T. Life in the environment / T. Miller. - M.: Progress-Pangeya, 1993, vol. 1 - 253 p. .Panin V.F. Ecology. Part 1: Tutorial/ V.F. Panin, A.I. Sechin, V.D. Fedosova. - Tomsk: ed. TPU, 2006. - 132 p. .Stepanovskikh A.S. Environmental Protection / A.S. Stepanovskikh. - M.: Unity, 2000. - S.560. .Yanshin A.L. Lessons of ecological miscalculations / A.L. Yanshin, A.I. Melua. - M.: Thought, 1991. - 430 p. .Yaroshenko A.Yu. The value of the forest in human life / A.Yu.Yaroshenko // Greenpeace Russia Forest Forum. - 2008. - No. 8.
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