GFMC: Forest Fires in the Russian Federation, 19 October 2000

Forest Fires in the Russian Federation

19 October 2000


Chief of the Russian Aerial Forest Fire Protection Service Avialesookhrana appointed to Chief of the Forest Service

On 2 October 2000 the Minister of Natural Resources appointed Mr. Nicolai A. Andreev to the position of Chief of the Department of Exploitation and Restoration of the Forest Fund. Until his appointment Nicolai Andreev served as Chief of the Russian Aerial Forest Fire Protection Service Avialesookhrana.

Mr. Nicolai Alekseevich Andreev was born in 1937, graduated as a forestry engineer at the Leningrad Academy of Forestry in 1959 and as a pilot observer classes in 1960. In the following years he served as pilot observer, chief of Kostroma subdivision, and deputy chief of the Russian Aerial Forest Fire Protection Service Avialesookhrana. Since May 1973 he served as Director of Avialesookhrana. Nikolai Alekseevich has received the title of Honored Forester, one decoration and several medals. The new forest administration which he will be chairing is presented in the organizational diagram below.

The Global Fire Monitoring Center on behalf of the international community of fire specialists congratulates Nikolai Alekseevich for this assignment and wishes all the best success for the future of forest protection in the Russian Federation.

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Organizational setup of the new forest administration in Russia
(Source: Avialesookhrana, translation by A.Eritsov and GFMC)

Daily, 10-days and Season Fire Activity Maps of Russia
The Institute for Solar Terrestrial Physics, Irkutsk, publishes daily fire observations (High-Temperature Events) depicted by the NOAA AVHRR sensor on the territory of the Russian federation and the neighbour territories of China and Mongolia (within the range of the receiving station). The institute provides daily fire occurrence summaries (today not available), 10-days fire summaries (accumulated fires during the last ten days, today not available) and a fire season total summary.

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Season summary
up to 19 October 2000

Daily Fire Occurrence and Fire Danger Maps of the Fire Laboratory of the Sukachev Institute of Forest, Krasnoyarsk
Selected fire occurrence maps, satellite images and a forest fire danger map are prepared daily by the Russian GFMC correspondent Dr. Anatoly Sukhinin, Fire Laboratory of the Sukachev Institute of Forest, Krasnoyarsk, in collaboration with the Emergency Situation Monitoring and Forecasting Agency, Krasnoyarsk branch. The maps are produced on the base of satellite data (classification by the NOAA AVHRR). They show the fire locations (by latitude and longitude) and the area affected by fire (red signature, size in ha). The red arrow at each fire location points to the nearest populated place. The terms Oblast or Krai used in the maps are designations of administrative regions. Updated fire danger maps are provided about two to three times per week.

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Map legend

Coverage map showing
regional boundaries

18 October 2000:

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Evreiski Autonomous Oblast

Evenkiski Autonomous Region / Khabarowsk Krai

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Amurskaia Oblast

Evenkiski Autonomous Region / Khabarowsk Krai /Amurskaia Oblast
Satellite image showing forest fires (red dots) on 18 October 2000

The Aerial Forest Fire Protection Service (Avialesookhrana) of the Federal Forest Service of Russia reports the state of fire in the 2000 fire season to the GFMC. The latest report is from 3 October 2000:
Up to 3 October 2000 a total of 17,528 fires occurred in forests under the control of the Federal Forest Service of Russia, burning a total of 877,616 ha of forest and 272,216 ha non-forested areas (inside forest lands).
During the day of 3 October 2000 a total of 13 fires were burning in Amurskaya Oblast and affected 230 ha of forest and 927 ha of non-forest lands.

Latest News on the Reorganization of the Forest and Forest Fire Service of Russia, from the Russian Environmental Digest (REDfiles by Transboundary Environmental Information Agency)
REDfiles is a compilation of the week’s major English-language press on environmental issues in Russia. This news is from the REDfiles Vol. 2 (No. 28) covering the reporting period 10-19 July 2000.

Latest News on the Reorganization of the Forest and Forest Fire Service of Russia, from the Russian Environmental Digest (REDfiles by Transboundary Environmental Information Agency)
REDfiles is a compilation of the week’s major English-language press on environmental issues in Russia. This news is from the REDfiles.

  1. World Bank Freezes $60 Million Loan for Russia’s Forest Projects (Interfax Russian News, 12 July 2000)
  2. Environmentalists Denounce World Bank Forestry Loan to Russia (Agence France Presse, 12 July 2000)
  3. Environmentalists Urge World Bank to Stop Lending to Russia (Bloomberg, 11 July 2000)
  4. World Bank Loans Raise Ire of Russian Environmentalists (Press Release of Pacific Environment and Resources Center, 11 July 2000)
  5. Huge Increase in Illegal Logging this Year (BBC, 14 July 2000 )
  6. Prominent Russian Culture Figures Call on Authorities to Restore Federal Environmental Protection Agency (Interfax News Agency, 19 July 2000)
  7. Environmentalists sue Over Russian President’s Decree (United Press International, 22 August 2000)
  8. World Bank to Release $ 60 Million Forest Loan in Russia (Interfax News Agency, 31 August 2000)
  9. CEE Bankwatch Network and Pacific Environment and Resources Center (World Bank, 21 September 2000)
  10. World Bank Approved Loan To Abolished Unit Russian Forest Service Funding (Financial Times, London, 27 September 2000)
  11. State Forest Service to Manage Russian Forests as part of Natural Resources Ministry (Interfax Russian News, 4 October 2000)
  12. Forestry Cooperation with China (British Broadcasting Corporation, 6 October 2000)

Earlier comments on the reorganisation of the Federal Forest Service of Russia and the consequences on forest fire protection capabilities were released by the BALTEX FIRE 2000 (6 June 2000 and 7 June 2000) and the GFMC statement  The Future of Forest Fire Protection in Russia. Latest news from Moscow indicate that final decisions on the fate of former Federal Forest Service personnel will be made next week. A decision about the future of Avialesookhrana is not expected before the end of the current, sever fire season.

The translated wording of the the resolution (decree) of the Russian government concerning the abolishment of the State Forest Committee has been made public (non-official translation). Additionally two translated articles from Lesnaja Gazeta (Forestry Gazette) of 15 July 2000 are of interest.

For more details on fire in the Russian Federation, Mongolia and China: See IFFN Country Notes. Scientific details on fire in the Russian Federation are provided by the Fire Research Campaign Asia-North (FIRESCAN) report.

Bibliography on fire in ecosystems of boreal Eurasia:
One of the results of the first international fire science conference in the Russian Federation (1993) was the publication of a monograph on fire in boreal Eurasia, including some selected contributions on boreal North America. The literature cited in the monograph contains numerous publications which in many cases are not easily accessible. To facilitate literature search the bibliographical sources are provided by topic (chapter).
Goldammer, J.G. and V.V.Furyaev. 1996. Fire in Ecosystems of Boreal Eurasia. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 390 p.


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