23 October 2013: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) have announced an Investment Roadmap for the sustainable use of forest resources in the Russian Federation.

The Roadmap, which was presented at a regional Investment Forum convened by FAO and EBRD, targets the Russian Federation’s Far East, which contains, according to FAO, more than 9 per cent of the world’s forests and supports millions of people including indigenous peoples. These forests also play an important role in the global carbon cycle and have significant economic potential.

The Roadmap focuses on improving legal frameworks for forest and timber management, developing forest inventories, and modernizing forestry and supporting infrastructure. The Roadmap also notes the need to modernize harvesting and wood processing technologies as well as logging techniques.

In presenting the Roadmap, FAO and EBRD staff noted the importance of balancing the multiple uses of forests, including forest ecosystem services and forest biodiversity, which can be accomplished through the promotion of sustainable forest management (SFM). [FAO Press Release] [EBRD Press Release]