KYOTO PROTOCOL: RUSSIA WILL HAVE TO 'COUNT' ALL ITS TREE ROOTS

MOSCOW, (RIA Novosti commentator Tatyana Sinitsina). A "Kyoto working group" has been set up by the Forestry Agency under the Ministry of Natural Resources.

 The working group has been tasked with drafting an action plan to develop the system to monitor sinks, emissions and the absorption of greenhouse gases in the forests. It is also to provide the regulatory-legal framework for these activities. The working group is made up of Forestry Agency employees, scientists, and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

People who work in the forest management sector, from scientists to ordinary forest rangers, will carry out the bulk of the work to implement the Kyoto Protocol. Forests cover 70% of the territory of Russia, i.e. 882 million hectares (a quarter of the world's forests). Georgy Korovin, director of the Center for Ecological Problems and Forest Capacity, firmly believes that, "The forestry sector can and must make a significant contribution to efforts to mitigate climate change. It must assist the Russian Federation meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Forests are the only part of the biosphere that is capable of reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through carbon absorption and long-term carbon storage in tree vegetation and dead organic matter."

However, if the carbon potential of Russian forests is to be realized, then a huge amount of work lies ahead. This includes reforestation and afforestation, improvement of the systems to protect forests from fire, pests and diseases, and the creation of a national system to monitor carbon sinks and sources. For instance, the roots of all the trees in the forests must be "counted". Korovin explains that, "The roots account for about 20-25% of the tree. They participate in the processes of photosynthesis and respiration, and when they die they release carbon into the atmosphere. The problem is that traditionally in Russia only the above-ground biomass has been taken into account, while underground biomass also contributes to carbon pools."

Of course, the word "count" is not to be taken literally. It would be just as foolish to attempt to count the roots of all the trees, as it would be to try to count all the stones on a beach. The work will be carried out using a special scientific methodology. Is it realistic to carry out such an inventory? At present, a forest inventory is carried out in Russia every five years. However, it has always been concerned exclusively with timber use, and therefore the main indicators have been the numbers of growing trees and the species composition.

No one has attempted to find out how many dead trees there are in the forests. Yet dead wood affects the carbon balance. Dead wood refers to both trees that have died but remain standing, and trees that have fallen over and are in various stages of decomposition. Tropical forests contain almost no dead wood, because wood decomposes very quickly in tropical conditions. But in Russia's northern-latitude forests there is an abundance of dead wood (about 20% of the world's total). Roots, dead trees, wind fallen trees, and decomposing wood and leaves are all organic matter, or carbon, and they should also be included in inventories. The carbon in the soil, which includes swamps and peat bogs, is also important. This is especially the case in Russia where swamps cover vast areas and can be up to several meters deep.