WRI Forest Page 9. Yet the future of this resource is threatened by ineffective management policies, uncertain property rights, deteriorating forest conditions caused by pollution and other factors, the prospect of increasingly massive cutting in Siberia, and the possible cutting of remaining undisturbed forests in European Russia. Some of the largest tracts of pristine temperate forest remaining in the world are also found in the Russian Far East. Although the total area of forests seems to be stable or increasing slightly, wide areas of Russia's forests appear to be degraded.
Pollution also contributes to forest degradation.
For example, air pollution from huge nickel smelters in the Arctic city of Norilsk has killed 350,000 hectares of forest and has damaged another 140,000 hectares. Logging is another significant source of degradation. About 65 percent of Siberia's forests are located in the permafrost zone and are particularly sensitive to disturbance. Logging exposes frozen soils to sunlight, and once the top layer of permafrost melts, these areas often convert to swamps, making reforestation impossible. Since the 1950s, the government has made a concerted effort to develop Siberia's timber, mineral, oil, and gas resources.