According to him, the forestry agency has launched the formation of a large-scale space monitoring system of Russian forests to track down violations of the forest legislation and prevent illegal forest felling.
"In 2005, space monitoring will cover 60% of Russian forests and in 2006 the agency plans to monitor 100% of their territory," Roshchupkin said at an intergovernmental conference of European and North Asian countries in Moscow on Monday.
Control over timber transportation is another prospective trend in the fight against illegal felling, he added. The forestry agency is already forming a system to control all timber lots from felling sites to consumers.
"The Russian government realizes the scale and complexity of the illegal forest felling problem and their negative consequences for the country. Therefore, it is taking measures to improve the forest, civil, tax and customs legislation," Roshchupkin said.
