Russia’s Global Forest
Forest Certification as Protection from Over-Felling
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Globalisation has reached the taiga. Wood from the boreal forests of Russia is a highly sought after good on the global market. Where the state is weak and corruption flour-ishes, one-of-a-kind primeval forests are threatened by over-felling. However, the opening of borders also has positive aspects. Multinational lumbering corporations are under observation by international NGOs. Many of their customers purchase wood only if it can be shown by a certificate that ecological and social sustainability was guaranteed in the felling of trees. Forest certification not only serves to protect nature, it strengthens civil society in Russia.
(Osteuropa 4-5/2008, pp. 439–446)