Carbon storage and sequestration in the Russian forest sector

Research on country-level carbon budgets provides a quantitative basis for national policy decisions on greenhouse gas mitigation strategies. For many countries, including Russia, the carbon pools and flux associated with the forest sector are important components of the national carbon budget. Russia has 884 mill. ha of forest storing an estimated 42.1 PgC in live biomass, 29.5 PgC in detritus, and 2.9 PgC in forest products. Between 1988 and 1993, carbon stores in live biomass were reduced by 0.5 Pg as a result of the timber harvest (which exceeded carbon accumulation in growing trees), fires, and other natural disturbances. Only a small portion of the disturbed forest carbon pool is instantly released into the atmosphere: the greater part of it is transferred into the detrital pool while some is accumulated in forest products. The lack of data on these key components leads to large uncertainties in carbon flux estimates. Russian forests have significant potential to be managed for the purposes of carbon sequestration. The analysis indicates that forest management measures can increase the future level of carbon storage in Russian forests on a sustainable basis by 2.0 PgC, approximately 2.8%.