Forestry and forest products industry has a key role in the economy of the Republic of Karelia. In 1990, the forestry and forest industry sector covered ca. 40 per cent of the total industrial production. In addition, the machine manufactur-ing, mainly consisting of forest and forest industry machine manufacturing, covered respectively 20 per cent. There-fore, timber produc-tion and economi-cal sus-tainabil-ty can-not be ex-cluded when study-ing the manage-ment of forests. In terms of Karelian transi-tion to market economy the problems of economical sus-tainability and ap-propriate technology of forestry are also of great im-portance.
Choosing of appropriate technology suitable for the develop-ment stage of the society influences both the economical and social aspects and must be studied together with the sustainability. The situation of Karelia is quite favourable for utilizing the advanced foreign technologies in industry. On the other hand, Karelia has been a region with highly developed forest industry in the Rus-sian scale, where the experiences from other parts of Russia have been ac-cumulated. Adap-tion of foreign technologies in logging and silviculture causes some problems connected with differences in legistla-tion, initial con-ditions of forests and levels of technology and work organisations. The unemployment and low wage levels must be considered when changing the technologies.
Inadequate regeneration of clear-cut areas and lack of suitable logging technology for thinnings have been the limiting factors in the development of Karelian forestry on the sustainable basis. The subproject will provide infor-mation and demonstra-tions to further the solutions for both problems.
Multiple-use and by-products of forest have a big role in the welfare of local people in the rural areas of Karelia. Therefore, it is important to develop the forestry and logging practices to meet the needs and demand of woody and by-products of villagers.
Back to Subproject 3 Home Page
