Even under the USSR, there were slogans "Forest is our wealth" or "Take care of the forest." Indeed, it is a wood resource that can be used for a wide variety of purposes. This is fuel, and building material, and paper production, and other areas of human activity. And if you treat this resource carefully and economically, you can get considerable economic benefits and improve the ecology of the whole country.
What is a forest?
The forest from a geographical and biological point of view is a plot of land of large sizes, overgrown with trees, shrubs between them and other vegetation. Forests of Russia occupy an area of about 850 million hectares of the total territory (1712518700 ha - state area).
Forest is an ecosystem, which is a closely related living and non-living organisms. The first includes all plants, microorganisms and the animal world. The second is air, water and soil. And the composition of the forest, its flora and fauna depend on the inanimate component (abiotic).
The role of the forest in nature
If earlier forest plantations were treated simply as consumer goods, today the situation is somewhat different. Many figures from various economic and political spheres began to realize that the forest is our wealth, and began to call for its more rational use. The environmental impact is as follows:
- Participation in the water cycle in nature and support for water balance.
- The formation of soil cover.
- The presence of forests contributes to the formation of weather and climate.
- Forests can reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, thereby reducing the greenhouse effect.
The role of forests in the state economy
Even in the days of Kievan Rus, the forest was of great importance. Our wealth lay in many areas of its use. For example, this:
- source of animal and plant food;
- construction material;
- fuel source (firewood, charcoal, biofuel);
- raw materials for such industries as pulp and paper, chemical, woodworking;
- food source for animals.
Green trees - both spontaneous and controlled - have a big impact on people's health. Forest is able to transform part of the pollution, especially atmospheric. Coniferous, birch and linden forests possess these properties to the greatest extent. They absorb dust and industrial pollution very well, which is why forests are planted in cities in the form of parks or groves. Phytoncides, secreted by some tree species, contribute to healing. Therefore, you should always remember that the forest is our wealth, and use it carefully and rationally.
Harm of unsustainable tree felling
Although the forest is a self-reproducing and self-healing ecosystem, it needs protection from various harmful factors. This is due to prolonged wasteful use of wood and increased environmental pollution. The importance of the forest is difficult to overestimate. But the fact that his role was not defined for a long time caused irreparable harm to some regions of the Russian Federation.
Deforestation on the coast of the Aral Sea led to the greatest disaster. Due to the destruction of trees, the balance of the water cycle in the adjacent territories and on the lake itself was disturbed. As a result, increased evaporation and even uncontrolled water intake for irrigation of agricultural land. The Aral Sea is so shallow that it is divided into two lakes.
The destruction of trees along the Volga coast led to a similar situation. The river has become so shallow that vessels with deep draft cannot pass along the fairway. Mass forest planting is necessary so that after several decades the level of environmental disaster will decrease. Perhaps then the water level can rise a little.
Forests of Russia and their protection
Since trees play a large role in nature and affect the environmental situation, they require respect and protection. In Russia, federal laws have been issued to protect them, which regulate the use of forests, as well as measures for their protection and restoration.
According to the Law on Environmental Protection, the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Forest Code, the Civil Code, the UN Declaration and other normative acts, the protection and protection of forests is carried out by monitoring, creating and maintaining a forest cadastre, and the development of forestry. All these measures, their proper organization allow more rational use of natural resources. Forestry is gaining the greatest importance among them - with their help, many issues related to the protection of trees and other green spaces are being solved.
Forests and forestry
Forests in Russia require protection and respect for themselves. The main body that deals with this is forestry. The following functions are assigned to it:
- protection of forest plantations from unauthorized felling;
- pest protection and prevention;
- Timely removal of the drier to reduce the risk of fire;
- fire safety;
- protection of fauna from extermination;
- planting of new seedlings for reforestation.
Such measures allow preserving quantitatively and qualitatively the forests of Russia. Forestries can control the number of trees of each variety by cutting and planting seedlings, thereby preserving the forest in its original form. If such control were not carried out, some trees would replace others uncontrollably, and therefore the rest of the animal and plant world would change. Only by all complex measures can the forest be preserved. Our wealth should increase, and not decrease every year.
Forests and their protection against fires
Despite the fact that many people understand that the forest is our wealth and must be protected, the fire is still the biggest problem. Most often, forest fires occur in the summer, which are characterized by low humidity, high temperature and lack of rainfall for a long period of time. Especially fast spreads fire in strong winds. Despite the adopted laws, the material base for the implementation of full-fledged preventive and fire-fighting measures is very weak.
Such insufficiency is evidenced by fires, which affected the forests of Russia and even settlements. In 2014, fires became so frequent that in June a special decree was issued on making amendments to the rules for monitoring the reliability of fire safety information. This happened after the fires in Transbaikalia (April 2014), Amur (April 2014) and the Irkutsk region. In many regions, emergency modes have been introduced and residents of neighboring settlements are not allowed to enter the forest.
It is possible that in future equipment and technologies will help prevent fires in forests, but today the area of arrays covered by fire is increasing. When the entire population takes more care of the trees, a full-fledged material and technical base will be created, then the protection will be more effective.