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FSF Report 7

FSF Report 7

Report on a field visit to Irkutsk Region and Tunkinsky National Park, Buryat Republic

REGION: Irkutsk Oblast and Buryat Republic

DISTRICT: Ust-Ilimsk District and Tunkinsky District

DATES OF RIDES: 27.06 - 16.07.2004

PARTICIPANTS:

Andrey Laletin (FSF)
Viktor Yarovoy (FSF)
Natalya Novitskaya (Botanical Society, Irkutsk)
Nina Vecher (Appeal of Arshan, Tunkinsky, Buryat Republic)
Zinaida Shvedova (Appeal of Arshan, Tunkinsky, Buryat Republic)

Summary

In July 2004, members of the Krasnoyarsk regional social-ecological movement "Friends of Siberian Forests" (FSF) working in partnership with representatives of the local community, visited the Ust-Ilimsk district of Irkutsk Region and the Tunkinsky district of the Buryat Republic. It is known that in 2003 in just one forestry district of Irkutsk Region (Ust-Ilimsk), 85 violations of forest law took place, during which more than 7,000 m3 of timber was felled at a total financial loss of more than 33,700,000 roubles. The director of Ust-Ilimsk forestry district, Yuriy Zinovyev, showed an interest in our project and he has been given copies of the relevant material.

Activities carried out by project members to stop illegal logging in the Tunkinsky National Park led to the dismissal of its director, Tsyrenov on 12 January 2004. The level of illegal logging in the park has fallen this year and no new logging activity has been recorded in the village of Arshan. Although logging is continuing in many other areas, it is now being done more covertly than before. So, the visitors documented illegal logging on the Mon hill, a sacred site for the Buryats near the village of Zun-Murino, also located within the Tunkinsky National Park.

Purpose

This investigation was carried out to study illegal logging in the Irkutsk Region and to assess changes in patterns of illegal logging within Tunkinsky National Park compared to last year.

Introduction

According to official statistics (Irkutsk Main Directorate for Natural Resources) the level of illegal logging in Irkutsk Region is slowly but steadily decreasing. In 2002, 1108 cases of illegal logging were recorded, a total volume of 101,299 m3. In 2003, 929 cases were recorded with a volume of 82,702 m3 and in the first half of 2004 there were 390 cases with a volume of 33,950 m3.

Tunkinsky National Park is important as an area with rich cultural and natural heritage. Participants in the 2003 field visit reported numerous flagrant violations of Russian forest legislation. Recommendations for improving the situation were made and sent to the Russian and Buryat natural resources ministries, as well as the presidential representative in the Siberian Federal District. A participant in the project, Valeriy Tolstikhin, a journalist from Ulan-Ude, broadcast three radio programmes dedicated to the situation in the forests of the Buryat Republic and Tunkinsky National Park. On 12 January 2004, the former director of Tunkinsky National Park, Tsyrenov, was dismissed. The director's position is temporarily (until September) filled by chief forest warden Nina Krakhmal, with whom project members had already established good relations based on mutual respect in 2003.

Establishing the age of an illegally felled tree in Ust-Ilimsk forestry district. Photo ©FSF

Findings

In Irkutsk, project members met Konstantin Galkin, the head of the division for conserving and protecting the forests of the Irkutsk Main Directorate for Natural Resources, Natalya Novitskaya, an activist from the Botanical Society and the joint chairs of Baikal Environmental Wave, Jenny Sutton and Marina Rikhvanova. We informed all our colleagues in Irkutsk about the current phase of our project and gave them "The Wild East" report. Unfortunately Yoran Sundberg, an expert in forest management from the Irkutsk division of the IKEA company was on holiday and it was not possible to meet him.

Konstantin Galkin provided us with statistics for 2002, 2003 and the first half of 2004. He noted that the level and volume of illegal logging in the region was gradually decreasing (he believed this was due to the successful work of the forest police), although illegal logging still remains a serious problem for his department. Galkin also told us of two visits to Irkutsk Region (in 2003 and March 2004) by the managers of a Malaysian firm, "Rimbunan Hijau", who wanted to lease a large areas of untouched forest in the Kirensk, Ust-Kutsk, Kachug and Zhigalovskiy districts in the north of the region. Natalya Novitskaya presented interesting material on illegal logging in Irkutsk Region. A 6-month agreement (from July to December 2004) has been concluded with her to prepare a half-yearly report on the problem of illegal logging in Irkutsk region and the press coverage of this problem. Jenny Sutton told the Krasnoyarsk project members about the conclusions of an international seminar "The role of analytical centres and NGOs in developing anti-corruption policy", which she had attended in July in Irkutsk. Taking part in the seminar were 16 experts from the USA, Hungary, Moscow, St Petersburg, Blagoveshchensk and Irkutsk. They discussed a wide range of issues linked to corruption, anti-corruption measures and civil activism in Russia. Jenny established and will maintain close contact with the seminar participants from Irkutsk and if necessary will put project members in touch with them.

Tunkinsky National Park. A pine tree, felled on the sacred hill of Mon. Coordinates: lat. 51.43306 �N, long. 102.53098 �E. Photo ©FSF

In Ust-Ilimsk we met the director of the local forestry district, Yuriy Mikhailov. He said that in 2003 in the Ust-Ilimsk forest 85 violations of forestry law had been recorded, during which over 7,000 m3 of timber was felled, leading to financial losses of more than 33,700,000 roubles.

Yuriy Mikhailov noted with regret that nearly all the court cases brought for illegal logging collapsed either in court or at even earlier stages of the process. Forest wardens risking their lives arrest those carrying out illegal logging on the spot and hand them over to the state. In effect they are handing them the end of a thread that would lead to an entire criminal web and would allow them to trace those who ordered the crimes. However, the state does not want to do this and, as in other regions, it cuts the thread found by the forest wardens. In the future, it may be necessary for project members to learn methods for exposing and fighting against corruption.

During our visit, as before, a global positioning (GPS) device was used and photographs and video footage were taken. In the Tunkinsky district of the Buryat Republic we worked with the leaders of a local community organization, Nina Vecher and Zinaida Shvedova. Although illegal logging in the area still continues, the level has decreased. We did not find evidence of new logging in the village of Arshan, where logging was common last year. Although logging continues in many other areas, it is now done more covertly than before. So, the visitors documented illegal logging on the Mon hill, a sacred site for the Buryats near the village of Zun-Murino that is also located within Tunkinsky National Park. The majority of people we met in Tunkinsky district condemned the timber thieves, although a few did try to justify their actions, blaming the authorities for creating the hopeless situation in which many local residents find themselves.

We also met the acting director of Tunkinsky National Park, Nina Krakhmal, and the deputy director of the park responsible for security, Aleksey Bardashov. It was explained that although the total volume of illegal logging and the number of violations had fallen compared to the first half of 2003, illegal logging remains the main problem facing the national park.

In 2003, forest authority permits were issued to allow commercial logging with a total volume of 42,000 m3, but illegal logging continued out at night. Park inspectors carry out night raids together with the police, but it seems the policemen warn the loggers about the raids in advance as not a single raid carried out in collaboration with the police has produced results. Previously, park inspectors carried out the raids alone and often caught criminals red-handed. However, the criminal cases failed to reach court or collapsed in court due to "lack of evidence of a crime". So, the situation concerning illegal logging is the same in the Buryat Republic as in Irkutsk Region (and other regions in Siberia and Russia's Far East).

Tunkinsky National Park. Illegal logging on the sacred hill of Mon. Coordinates: lat. 51.43313 N, long. 102.53059 E. Photo ©FSF

Recommendations

  • It would be desirable to train NGO activists in methods for exposing and fighting corruption.
  • It is essential to distribute information on the problems of illegal logging in Russia widely (both in the country itself and abroad).
  • It is essential to encourage a lack of tolerance among the forest villages and communities towards the timber thieves and particularly those ordering and sponsoring these crimes.
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