Russia, Siberia

In the Northeast Asia sub-region, environmental pollution, transboundary sand and dust storms (SDS), agricultural expansion, deforestation, and overgrazing are growing challenges that are being further complicated by the impacts of climate change. Desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) are a significant problem affecting soil, air and water quality, threatening forest and woodlands, pasture and rangelands as well as irrigated and rain-fed croplands that support the livelihoods of more than half of the sub-region’s population.

IUCN's Temperate and Boreal Forest Programme (TBFP), which is part of the broader IUCN Forest Conservation Programme, has identified Russia as a top priority for the development of a country-level program to promote conservation and sustainable forest management initiatives in temperate and boreal countries. As a result, a series of four participatory workshops were held across the country, examining the Russian Far East, Siberia, and European Russia.

This series presents the results of an investigation by IUCN’s Global Change Programme into the possible implications of predicted global change for natural systems and their management. This publication examines issues specific to terrestrial ecosystems.