 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Russia To Tackle Growing Threat To Its Forests
Moscow (AFP) Jun 10, 2005 Illegal logging has doubled since 1992 in Russia, which contains a quarter of the world's forest land, according to new official figures. The country must take the offensive in the fight against the loss of the forests, a government official said Thursday. The deforestation now stands at over 700,000 cubic metres per year, according to the official figures. Even these figures are "lower than reality", said Valeri Roshchupkin, head of the federal agency for forest resources. Two-thirds of Russian territory is covered by forest. The worst-affected areas are in the export zones bordering Europe, Finland, China and Japan, he added. "Russia now places great importance on the fight against illegal logging. We have taken concrete measures and we are not hiding the fact, we are now adopting an offensive attitude." The country, covering 11 time zones and some 1,162 billion hectares, has been moving towards satellite detection alongside the more traditional air surveillance to counter the problem. Next year it is hoped that the surveillance efforts will cover all of Russia, as opposed to 60 percent this year. Forest fires, man-made or otherwise, are a great problem. Nowadays 69 percent of such fires are mastered within a day, as opposed to eight percent in 2003, according to the official figures. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
Russian High-Tech Firms Mount A Charge On ASEAN
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Dec 12, 2005The market is tight and the obstacles daunting, but after years of watching Western high-tech firms scoop up deals in Southeast Asia, Russia is mounting a charge of its own targeting rich ASEAN economies. |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
