Geospatial factors of the organization of sustainable forest management

Abstract

The paper analyzes the importance of the geospatial factor in the development and transformation of the forest complex of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation over the past century, as well as the conditions that ensure the implementation of the sustainable development of the country’s forest territories. Based on a detailed analysis of the factors affecting the sustainability of forest management in the country, the authors conclude that the geospatial characteristics of the territory used in forestry are a key factor. It is also emphasized that the successful consideration of the geospatial characteristics of forest areas has always been associated with the availability of labor resources that ensured the maximum use of the geospatial and environmental properties of the territory. Among the main reasons of modern problems in the development of forest management, there is a lack of the necessary territorial infrastructure, as well as information on the ecological state of forest areas. The paper indicates the need to form modern geographic information resources as the basis of the forest industry. It also shows that the implementation of the forest management system should be carried out in close connection with the land use and land management system as the basis for the sustainable development of the natural and ecological framework of the state, while digitalization, which is currently actively developing in the country, should be one of the key tools that will provide the forestry complex of the Russian Federation with reliable and operational information. The paper highlights the need to create a new legislative framework that allows regulating forestry on a conceptually new basis of forest management, based on the principles of environmental and economic balance, ensuring the sustainability of the development of this most important sector of the country, as well as the need to strengthen the role of the state in forest management on the basis of a planned system for regulating forest consumption, including strengthening control functions that prevent illegal trafficking in forest products and its theft. Based on the analysis of project documents and state programs, other justified recommendations and proposals are also given to solve a number of current problems of the Russian timber industry in the framework of the implementation of the Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Rural Territories of the Russian Federation for the Period until 2030.