OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2012. The World Bank’s Board of Directors approved a USD 40 million loan to co-finance with the Russian Federation a USD 121.26 million Forest Fire Response Project in Russia, reported the press-centre of WB. 

The Project will assist the Federal Forestry Service and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to improve forest fire prevention and suppression in select forest ecosystems, including targeted protected areas. It also will help enhance forest management in pilot regions, which include Voronezhskaya and Moskovskaya oblasts, Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk Krais, and the Republic of Komi.

Russia, one of the largest countries in the world, also has the largest area of true closed forests, which represent 20 percent of the world's forests and account for 15 percent of the world's growing stock. Russian forests play an important role in the carbon cycle, providing significant carbon sequestration services, including to other countries.

Official data on forest fires shows that on average there are 24,000 forest fires annually covering 1.4 million ha of forest. Preliminary analysis of data collected during project preparation indicates that up to 93 percent of the country's forest fires are of human origin.  In addition, total carbon emissions from fire-disturbed Russian forests are estimated at 50 to 231 million tons of carbon per year.

Most human-origin fires are quite naturally near settlements, which for that very reason are the more urgent to prevent, monitor, suppress, and extinguish, given the high potential for loss of life and property. In more remote locations, many fires may be worsened by clear-cutting by leaseholders.

Any successful program of fire prevention will thus have to invest in public awareness campaigns, and devote attention to forest practices which may increase fire incidence.

“By supporting the Government in its forest fire prevention and management efforts, the Bank continues its long-standing and comprehensive engagement with the Russian Federation on forest management, where efforts have centered on policy development, institutional strengthening, information and land-use planning systems and strengthening regional forest inventory and pest protection organizations,” said Michal Rutkowski, World Bank Country Director for Russia.

Further, the Bank's engagement also provides direct support to the country's Forest Sector Development Strategy through 2020, a national policy document approved by Executive Order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Agriculture in October 2008. According to the Strategy, the systemic problems facing forest sector development include significant loss of forest resources from fires, pests and diseases; as well as low quality forest regeneration; and a high level of illegal timber logging. The primary objective of the Strategy is to support sustainable forest management and to maintain and strengthen forest resources, as well as the environmental capacity of forests.

“This engagement includes analytical and advisory activities as well as the current EU-supported Forest Law and Governance (FLEG) program, which the Bank is implementing with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Through this support, the Government has come to rely on the Bank as a source of global best practice on forest fire management and sustainable forest management,” added Angela Armstrong, World Bank Project Team Leader.

The Project will support two of the four strategic themes of the World Bank Country Partnership Strategy with Russia for 2012-2016, which was discussed by the Bank Board of Directors in December 2011. In particular, forest fire management improvements envisaged by the Project will support sustainable development and effective protection of the environment under the first strategic theme, Increasing Growth and Diversification. In addition, the Project will strengthen Russia's contribution to global public goods, thereby supporting another strategic theme, Deepening Russia's Global and Regional Role.

The loan has a final maturity of 18 years including a grace period of 5 years.

Russia joined the World Bank (IBRD-member and IDA-donor country) in 1992. Today, IBRD is financing 9 investment projects in Russia for the total amount of US\\$ 756 million.