In October 2004 Evgeny Fedorov, a researcher from Friends of the Siberian Forests, made repeated trips to Boguchansky regional forestry administration to collect information on illegal logging in the forest reserves of the region. He conducted meetings with representatives of the Forest Use and Ecology Department of the Boguchansky District Administration, specialists from Boguchansky's Main Forestry Enterprise, and members of the local community. Boguchansky Region is one of only a few areas in Krasnojarsk Krai where there are still many forests and where it is still possible to log them. As a result of this research, information on the scope of illegal logging in the region's forests during the elapsed period of 2004 was collected.

To collect information on illegal logging and to identify the reasons for the degradation of forests in Boguchansky Region.

The total land area of Boguchansky forest reserves is 5,278,232 hectares. Of these lands, 4,982,070 hectares, 92.3 percent, are wooded. The total area of the region is 5,398,506 hectares.

The general growing stock in the whole forestry enterprise totals 38,442,700 m³. Coniferous growing stock makes up 28,486,200 m³ of the total; soft-wooded broadleaved - 9,956,500 m³. In contrast with 1990 the general growing stock has decreased by 14,908,700 m³. The exploitation stock of the forestry enterprise has also vastly decreased (by 17,451,000 m³). This was mainly at the expense of the coniferous stands - 17,401,300 m³. The reduction of both the general growing stock of the stands, and that of the exploitation stock is connected, first of all, with principal felling and wildfires.

According to data provided by the Forest Use and Ecology Department of the Boguchansky District Administration, at present more than 3 million m³ of timber is logged annually. Reforestation efforts are carried out on approximately 2,000 hectares of the forest reserves, but more than 15,000 hectares are deforested every year. Moreover, due to inadequate financing of breeding services, the survival rate of seedlings is unknown -- this means that the actual percentage of reforested land in the forest reserves is even lower. At this rate, there will be nothing left to log in 20 years (or fewer in case of wildfires) and the region's economy will suffer drastically.

A year has passed since a researcher from Friends of the Siberian Forests last travelled to Boguchansky Region to expose illegal logging actions in the forestry sphere. Virtually nothing has changed in the forestry protection service: forestry workers continue to be poorly paid; they endure unacceptable working conditions (in terms of their authority to protect the forests); the forestry administration's staff is not large enough; the forestry service is constantly being restructured and its staff frequently leave in search of better-paying work. Two people are left to manage a vast territory and somehow deal with violations of forestry regulations in each division of Boguchansky's forests. Inspections of new paths and roadways in the great expanses of forest were reduced from three times weekly to once a week. It is not realistic even to discuss permanent posts or roadway checkpoints - there are simply no funds for such checkpoints.

As a result, new opportunities for illegal logging operations arise. The quantity of timber logged illegally this year is slightly greater than last year. The accessibility and lack of protection of expanses along roadways and around populated areas are partly to blame for this increase.

According to forestry workers, for the first time in the history of Boguchansky Forest Service, illegal loggers, who managed to lay in a stock of timber and prepare lumber for sale in the space of a few weeks, were caught. The well-known road from Karabula to Boguchany became the illegal loggers' means of making a profit under the cover of road builders working there. In 2002, Boguchansky's Second Road Building and Improvement Administration began building the roadway piece by piece. It did not occur to the forestry workers to inspect the areas in which roadwork was taking place. Heavy machinery was constantly in use in these areas; temporary housing for the builders was located there; vehicles carrying asphalt and gravel were in operation - nothing attracted the suspicion of the forestry workers. It was almost by chance, then, that, during a routine raid by the forest service, a Kamaz vehicle was spotted leaving the forest near some of the road builders' equipment. Upon inspection of the vehicle, fully loaded with rough pine logs, the driver was found to be without the proper documents. When the circumstances were explained, the illegal logging operation and its barbaric disregard for nature were discovered. On the site of the felled trees, the butts and tops of the trees were left behind - evidence of the removal of only the most valuable parts of the trees. But that was not all. In sector 133, lot 2 of Boguchansky forestry enterprise, on an area of approximately 100 hectares, several workers, with the help of a homemade device, were preparing boards from tree trunks brought from the surrounding forest. The waste materials were moved to the edge of the leafy forest, thereby increasing the risk of fire. A settlement of workers worked in this location over the course of several weeks of illegal lumber manufacture. Trailers and even a washstand and toilet had been set up - an instructive model in terms of profit making. The unauthorized loggers managed to sell a few truckloads of lumber, but the number of felled trees was determined by calculating the quantity of fresh saw cuttings - the loss amounted to 392 thousand roubles.

Nearly two months have passed since the discovery of the illegal logging. The loggers' case has been sent to court. They have been taken to the site of the logging more than once for crime re-enactments. So offended was the public by the loggers' illegal actions that both defendants were led to the scene in handcuffs. The forest service has been unable to find anyone willing to buy the illegal logging site and clear it of rubbish. There is therefore the possibility of spring fires, which could result in the burning of much healthier parts of the forest. During the trip, meetings were held with Mikhail Ustinovich Rukosuev, director of Boguchansky's main forestry administration; Aleksandr Iosifovich Salnikov, the head of the forest reserve protection division; Dmitri Aleksandrovich Obraztsov, the Boguchansky government forest inspector; Ljubov Fedorovna Kuznetsova, Gremuchinskij forestry administration forest usage engineer; Vladimir Vladimirovich Soldatov, Boguchansky regional forest usage and ecology inspector (for specially protected natural resources); and Anna Vasilevna Smolentseva, judge's assistant at Boguchansky regional court.

Forest protection agents in Boguchansky region have recorded 86 illegal logging sites in the region's forest reserves. The economic loss to the region amounts to approximately 40 million roubles and 13,500 m³ of timber.

Seventy-five cases have gone to court; defendants have been found guilty in 6 of the cases (on the basis of Article 260, Part 2 - inflicting major damage upon the region's forests). The violators await sentencing of up to one year of imprisonment.

In 16 cases charges were dropped after fines were paid and the losses were repaid to public funds by the violators.

Unfortunately, in 26 cases of illegal logging, those responsible could not be found and the cases were closed. As a result, more than 3 million roubles will be lost.

• In order to combat illegal logging in the region, village administrations must work with the forestry administration and take decisive, quick action to stop the violation of existing laws. They must strengthen their control over the illegal sale of wood in the region and take control of the region's main roadways.
• Promote careful, ecologically sound attitudes toward nature. Keep the population constantly informed about those who disrupt the ecological balance and the effects of their illegal activities on the environment.