They say that forests in Russia are only increasing. Is this true?

Recently, major media outlets, public figures, and even officials in their official responses to the public on questions about forest destruction have been publishing information that everything is fine. They claim that not only are forests not being destroyed, but on the contrary, they are increasing! I think many of our comrades have already encountered such publications online and have seen responses from agencies.

This has been spread so widely that the idea of 'infinitely growing forests' now floats in society. Many people are hesitant to write about the destruction of the Russian Taiga, fearing they might be wrong. After all, 'opinion leaders' claim that everything is the opposite and that no problem has ever existed.

Let's now delve into this issue together. This is the third part of our joint investigation. In earlier materials I published, we examined the real scale of forest destruction using examples from the Russian North, the European part of the country, Siberia, and the Far East.

Brief conclusions:

1. As early as 2001, scientists established that large, minimally disturbed forest areas occupied only 13.8% of the forest zone of European Russia. But they were already being encroached upon from all sides by anthropogenically altered landscapes.

   
   

2. From 2000 to 2025, Russia lost the status of minimally disturbed forest landscapes over an area of 53.2 million hectares — almost a fifth of the level at the beginning of the century. In other words, true ancient forests have been fragmented and isolated from each other.

   
   

3. In Central and Eastern Siberia, over 23 years, the road network in the studied area increased by 102,767 kilometers, and the number of fragments of undisturbed forests grew 4.3 times. Literally: our taiga is torn to shreds, scattered into pieces.

   
   

4. This has led to a massive movement of animals towards humans, loss of habitat, and abnormal forest fires. From 2001 to 2023, fires covered a total of 107.57 million hectares of the studied Siberian territory, including repeated ignitions. Later, scientists demonstrated in field studies that about half of the fires start precisely from roads.

   
   
5. In Yakutia alone, satellite monitoring recorded a loss of tree cover over an area of 26.6 million hectares in a quarter of a century. Research by the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences showed that even 60–70 years after selective logging, the native Korean pine-broadleaf forests of Primorye have not restored their original structure: the stock of Korean pine remained almost nine times lower than in old-growth forests.

Here is the real scale of the ongoing degradation of Russia's forests—a systematic and unrelenting destruction.

But! Meanwhile, we are told about the growing area of forests, and this is enough for the average person to dismiss it: “Oh, well then there are no problems at all.”

Is that really the case?

In 2026, a scientific paper was published titled “Assessment of the Annual Dynamics of Russia's Forest Area in the Current Century Based on Space Monitoring Data”, in which Russian scientists reported that the forested area of the country increased by 49.77 million hectares. These are the data that officials use and publish in the media to justify the absence of a deforestation problem.

So, can we just disperse and breathe easy? Everything is fine?

In reality, no.

Firstly, satellite monitoring has improved. More reliable methods of analysis and data collection have emerged. Previously, it was simply impossible to assess the scale even from satellites—there were neither proper maps nor unified data.

Secondly, scientists themselves in their work state that the reasons for the growth are:

• overgrowth of abandoned agricultural lands;

  
  

• the spread of woody and shrub vegetation into the tundra and drying swamps;

  
  
• densification of tree stands and forest regeneration after disturbances.

Moreover, scientists previously aimed to legalize forest cultivation on abandoned agricultural lands in the country to preserve true ancient forests. The principle was to harvest what was grown to preserve natural ancient biocenoses.

Now, with the help of satellite monitoring, the authors of the study have established that the forest area has increased from 744.84 to 794.61 million hectares.

Thus, it is about the fact that thanks to modern technologies and satellite monitoring, it has become possible to more accurately assess the total forest area in the country. It has been recorded that young growth is covering abandoned agricultural lands, forests are naturally regenerating in some areas, swamps are drying up and becoming overgrown, and so on.

But the most important thing here is the shift of the boreal forest 'fringe' into tundra territories. That is, the taiga is literally slowly advancing into the tundra due to climate changes. It is getting warmer in the tundra zone of the Arctic, and young shrub trees are beginning to appear there.

However, for a forest to become a full-fledged biological system, it takes at least 100–300 years. Currently, the total area where young forests have been discovered is being calculated. Which is not surprising at all.

However, the integrity of the forest ecosystem determines its quality, with feedback loops in the taiga biocenoses that have formed over thousands of years. A young 'sapling' on abandoned fields or the shift of the taiga 'fringe' towards the tundra does not replace the real complex ecosystems of the Russian Taiga.

And now look:

According to satellite monitoring, the total area covered by forest increased by 49.77 million hectares, but at the same time, during the same period, scientists recorded the destruction of real natural forests, which had formed over thousands of years, on an area of 53.2 million hectares. This is not an equivalent 'exchange'! A queen was traded for a pawn, which might someday become a queen.

This is a 2025 study titled "Intact Forest Landscapes of the World: Area and Changes from 2000 to 2025"According to their data, the area of intact forest landscapes decreased from 274.4 to 221.2 million hectares. This is the largest absolute reduction among countries worldwide.

Thus, while the total area of tree cover is increasing, often with completely low-quality young growth, real ancient forests with the most complex millennia-old biogeocenoses are being rapidly destroyed. They are being fragmented, isolated, burned, and logged on an unimaginable scale.

Incidentally, similar data is presented in scientific studies from other countries around the world. For example, our boreal taiga belt also passes through Canada. In a scientific study titled "Forest Degradation Leads to Widespread Habitat and Population Declines of Forest Birds"published in 2022, scientists confirmed:

1. More than 3 million hectares of forest have been clear-cut;

   
   

2. The area of old forests has decreased by 39%;

   
   

3. Meanwhile, the total forest-covered area increased by 6.5%;

   
   

4. For 66% of the 54 bird species studied, models showed a reduction in suitable breeding habitats.

   
   
5. The loss of habitats was closely linked to the disappearance of older age classes of forests.

Thus, note that the story is the same: the overall area of the shifting 'forest fringe' retreats towards the tundra, yet the true ancient forests are being destroyed on a catastrophic scale. In one period, the forested area increased by 6.5%, but the area of natural ancient forests decreased by 39%.

Scientists studied 130,000 km² of forest landscapes in Eastern Canada over 35 years.

The real situation is that animals have nowhere to live; their habitat is destroyed because the lives of all species are intricately woven into millions of complex feedback loops of a millennia-old biogeocenosis of the wild. To reestablish such connections would take at least hundreds of years, and possibly thousands for full formation. During this time, humans must not further destroy these sacred refuges of wildlife.

Again, let me remind you: this is the main foundation of our proposed Concept of Territories of Full Ecological Tranquility (TFET). That is, we, comrades, are striving for and speaking about the necessity of changing the existing global conservation system altogether.

Let's now take a deeper look at the supposedly media-promoted 'expansion of the taiga,' which is currently being presented to us as justification for the destruction of real Ancient forests.

I studied data from Global Forest Watch, which is also satellite monitoring. The total loss of tree cover across the country from 2001 to 2025 amounted to 92 million hectares. Meanwhile, the status of intact forest landscapes was lost over an area of 53.2 million hectares: these fragments of wilderness have been torn apart and isolated from each other, as we discussed earlier. The absolute loss within such intact ancient forests over these years was 25 million hectares.

Moreover, this data was published in the analytical section of the World Resources Institute on primary forests quite recently—on April 29, 2026.

Thus, within the intact forest landscapes alone, a loss of tree cover comparable to the area of the United Kingdom has been recorded. The total nationwide loss of tree cover over a quarter of a century exceeds the area of Turkey.

I must add that the most valuable and absolutely tragic aspect is the loss of those very 25 million hectares of ancient millennia-old forests. It is literally the destruction of the genetic and physiological heritage of the boreal taiga!

We cannot simply subtract from the lost forests the figures recorded by satellite monitoring as 'forest area growth.' Doing so would be a complete distortion of the data, as we are talking about entirely different things. Qualitatively different forests.

But we can draw a conclusion. Justifiably. Scientifically.

1. Scientists have recorded the growth of the 'fringe' of the boreal forest towards the tundra due to climate changes, as well as the emergence of young forests on abandoned agricultural fields, dried-up swamps, and so on—approximately 49.7 million hectares.

   
   

2. At the same time, genuine ancient forests were irretrievably lost over an area of approximately 53.2 million hectares, of which 25 million hectares were completely destroyed. And we are talking about complex millennia-old ecosystems.

   
   
3. Meanwhile, the total loss of tree cover across the country during the same period amounts to about 92 million hectares due to logging and fires.

Here it is, the scale of forest destruction in Russia! And if someone tries to casually present the figures of newly emerged forests as an absolute value and truth, you can confidently refer to the data from our small but very important investigation.

The total forest area, even according to the data presented to us, has increased by 6.7%, whereas the area of minimally disturbed ancient forests has decreased by 19.4%—almost a fifth. This is a colossal loss for the Russian Taiga.

© PAVEL PASHKOV