Probably everyone has heard the expression “Forests are the lungs of our planet.” Forests occupy about 1/3 of the land area; the forest area on Earth is 38 million km². By the beginning of the 21st century, humans had destroyed about 50% of the forest areas that previously existed on the planet.

Let's walk through the forests and look at different trees around the world, from Madagascar to Poland, from Scotland to Hong Kong.

1. The very first land plants were discovered in Australia. Their age is approximately 395 million years. About 370 million years ago (the beginning of the Devonian period), vegetation of low shrubby forms became widespread on land. And the very first forests were low-growing forests of giant horsetails and club mosses, more than 7.5 m in height.

South Sumatra, Indonesia. (Photo by Beawiharta | Reuters):

2. About 345 million years ago, the Carboniferous period began, during which dense, extensive forests of giant horsetails and tree ferns, which were about 30 m high, spread over the land.

Pitlochry, Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell):

3. This rare tree with the fabulous name “Dragon's Blood” (Dracaena Cinnabari) is very interesting. It got its name from the red resinous juice it exudes. Dracaena vermilion is endemic to Socotra Island.

An old Indian legend says that a long time ago, in the Arabian Sea on the island of Socotra, there lived a bloodthirsty dragon who attacked elephants and drank their blood. But one day an old and strong elephant fell on the dragon and crushed it. Their blood mixed and wet the ground around them. Trees called dracaenas grew in this place. (Photo by Khaled Abdullah Ali Al Mahdi | Reuters):

4. About 225 million years ago, the era of dinosaurs began - the Mesozoic era. In the Triassic and Jurassic periods, the main tree stand was formed by cycads and conifers (many redwoods), and a large number of ginkgo

North Carolina, USA. (Photo by Jonathan Drake | Reuters):

5. At the beginning of the Paleogene period, during the Paleocene era, the climate continued to be warm and humid, which contributed to the diversity of flora and abundance of vegetation, including angiosperm woody plants. The forests of the Northern Hemisphere were similar to modern tropical and temperate forests.

An interesting composition: stone crosses marking the graves of German soldiers at the German War Cemetery in Hoglede, Belgium, are being absorbed by nature over time. Crosses are not a hindrance for the development of a powerful tree. (Photo by Christopher Furlong):

6. And this bush is not hindered by several thousand tons of used tires in a landfill in France. (Photo by Eric Cabanis):

7. In general, as soon as a person finishes his activity, nature immediately takes its toll, growing through anything. (Photo by David Goldman):

8. By the way, half of the forest zone of the Earth. belongs to tropical forests. (Photo):

9. At the end of the Cenozoic period, which began 66 million years ago and was characterized by a wide variety of land, sea and flying animals, conifers began to dominate. The Quaternary period, which ended Cenozoic era, began approximately 1.8 million years ago and continues today. The alternation of eras of extensive continental glaciations and warm interglacial eras led to the extinction of many species of trees and other plants.

By the way, this is the Tunnel of Love - a natural monument of local importance. It is located near the village of Klevan, in the Rivne district of the Rivne region of Ukraine.

10. Hong Kong. Bricks are not a hindrance to this tree and its roots. (Photo by Clément Bucco-Lechat):

11. The site near Marlborough in southern England is one of the most spectacular places in Britain to see bluebells in spring. (Photo by Toby Melville | Reuters):

12. Over the past 8,000 years, humans have completely cleared about 50% of the forest areas that existed on the planet; these areas are occupied by crops, pastures, settlements, wastelands and other anthropogenic landscapes; of the remaining forests, only 22% consist of natural ecosystems. Moreover, more than 75% of forest destruction occurred in the 20th century.

Snow in Antrim, Northern Ireland. (Photo by Charles McQuillan):

13. Beautiful leaf fall in Shaanxi province, China. (Reuters Photo):

14. Another “capture” of territory by nature is a magnificent tree in Guadeloupe. (Photo by Nicolas Derne):

15. This is what the road to the house should look like. Louisiana mansion and oak alley. (Photo by Tim Graham):

16. This tree has been voted one of the most terrifying trees in Britain. It's like mucus is dripping from his mouth. The tree is located near a nursing home. One of the workers says that his children, after seeing this tree, could not sleep peacefully for a week. (Photo by David Garnham):

17. We are all accustomed to a slightly different view of the Great Chinese wall. But in reality, in many areas it looks like this. Instead of millions of tourists in many places, the Walls are trees. (Photo by Damir Sagolj | Reuters):

18. And it’s snowing again in Minnesota. Like in the TV series Fargo. (Photo by Scott Olson):

19. It is difficult to convey the impressions of visiting such grandiose places as the Cambodian temple complex. A special place here is the Ta Prohm Temple, where huge trees, reminiscent of centuries-old sequoias or oaks, merge with walls and towers and hug the stones with giant roots. (Photo by Lucas Schifres):

20. This is what the forest looks like after forest fires. Location south of Santiago, Chile. (Photo by Martin Bernetti):

21. A few years ago in Pakistan there was a massive invasion of spiders, thanks to which you can observe an unprecedented spectacle: they covered roadside trees so thickly with their web that they are barely visible under the accumulation of the finest threads.

The reason for this was the most catastrophic flood in the last 80 years, which affected the lives of millions of people and caused long-term flooding of most of the country. (Photo by Russell Watkins):

22. Well, a very unusual tree trunk in Guangxi, China. Like a web.

23. There is a legend about the unusual appearance of this tree in Africa. One day there was a disagreement between God and the baobab tree. Angry with the tree, God tore it out of the ground and stuck it back upside down. Read more: “Baobab is a tree that grows upside down.” (Photo by Anthony Asael):

24. Buddha's head intertwined with the roots of a tree in the ruins ancient city Ayutthaya, Thailand. (Photo by Jorge Silva | Reuters):

There is a misconception that has even found its way into textbooks: forests are the lungs of the planet. Forests actually produce oxygen and the lungs consume it. So this is rather an “oxygen cushion”. So why is this statement a misconception? In fact, oxygen is produced not only by those plants that grow in the forest. All plant organisms, including inhabitants of reservoirs, and inhabitants of steppes and deserts, constantly produce oxygen. Plants, unlike animals, fungi and other living organisms, can synthesize organic substances themselves, using light energy for this. This process is called photosynthesis. As a result of photosynthesis, oxygen is released. It is a by-product of photosynthesis. A lot of oxygen is released, in fact, 99% of the oxygen that is present in the Earth’s atmosphere is of plant origin. And only 1% comes from the mantle, the underlying layer of the Earth.

Of course, trees produce oxygen, but no one thinks about the fact that they also waste it. And not only them, all other inhabitants of the forest cannot be without oxygen. First of all, plants respire on their own, this happens in the dark when photosynthesis does not occur. And we need to somehow utilize the reserves of organic substances that they created during the day. That is, feed yourself. And in order to eat you need to spend oxygen. Another thing is that plants spend much less oxygen than they produce. And this is ten times less. However, we should not forget that in the forest there are still animals, as well as mushrooms, as well as various bacteria that do not produce oxygen themselves, but nevertheless breathe it. A significant amount of oxygen that the forest produced during daylight hours will be used by living organisms of the forest to support life. However, something will remain. And this is something like 60% of what the forest produces. This oxygen enters the atmosphere, but does not remain there for very long. Then the forest itself removes oxygen, again for its own needs. Namely, the decomposition of the remains of dead organisms. Ultimately, forests often spend 1.5 times more oxygen to dispose of their own waste than they produce. After this, it cannot be called the oxygen factory of the planet. True, there are forest communities, which operate on a zero oxygen balance. These are the famous rainforests.

The tropical forest is generally a unique ecosystem; it is very stable, because the consumption of substances is equal to production. But again, there was no surplus left. So even tropical forests can hardly be called oxygen factories.

So why then, after the city, does it seem to us that the forest is clean, Fresh air that there is a lot of oxygen there? The thing is that oxygen production is a very fast process, but consumption is a very slow process.

So what then are the oxygen factories of the planet? There are actually two ecosystems. Among the “land” ones are peat bogs. As we know, in a swamp the process of decomposition of dead matter is very, very slow, as a result of which dead parts of plants fall down, accumulate, and peat deposits are formed. Peat does not decompose, it is compressed and remains in the form of a huge organic brick. That is, during peat formation, a lot of oxygen is not wasted. Thus, swamp vegetation produces oxygen, but consumes very little oxygen itself. As a result, it is the swamps that provide exactly the increase that remains in the atmosphere. However, there are not so many real peat bogs on land, and of course it is almost impossible for them alone to maintain the oxygen balance in the atmosphere. And here another ecosystem helps, called the world ocean.

There are no trees in the world's oceans; grasses in the form of algae are observed only near the coast. However, vegetation still exists in the ocean. And most of it consists of microscopic photosynthetic algae, which scientists call phytoplankton. These algae are so small that it is often impossible to see each of them with the naked eye. But the accumulation of them is visible to everyone. When bright red or bright green spots are visible on the sea. This is phytoplankton.

Each of these little algae produces enormous amounts of oxygen. It consumes very little itself. Due to the fact that they rapidly divide, the amount of oxygen they produce increases. One phytoplankton community produces 100 times more per day than a forest occupying the same volume. But at the same time they spend very little oxygen. Because when algae die, they immediately fall to the bottom, where they are immediately eaten. After that, those who ate them are eaten by other, third organisms. And so few remains reach the bottom that they quickly decompose. There is simply no decomposition that lasts as long as in the forest, in the ocean. There, recycling occurs very quickly, as a result of which oxygen is virtually not wasted. And so the “big profit” occurs, and so it remains in the atmosphere. So the “lungs of the planet” should be considered not forests at all, but the world’s oceans. He is the one who makes sure that we have something to breathe.

There is a journalistic cliche that forests are the lungs of planet Earth. But what then to do with the data of science, which suggests that the oxygen atmosphere arose on our planet long before photosynthesis?

In fact, plants of both land and oceans produce approximately as much oxygen through the process of photosynthesis as they then consume during respiration.

Initially, the Earth's atmosphere was generally reducing in nature: methane + ammonia + water + carbon dioxide.

The earth's crust should also have had a restorative character - after all, it was in equilibrium with the atmosphere.

And today we have that the atmosphere contains 20% free oxygen, and most rocks are completely oxidized and the system is in a state of equilibrium (the composition of the atmosphere has not changed significantly for several hundred million years).

In order to oxidize the entire primary atmosphere and lithosphere, a huge amount of free oxygen is needed.

The balances don't add up

According to the generally accepted hypothesis, it is believed that living organisms are responsible for the release of oxygen.

But they are not suitable for this role, since despite the fact that plants release a significant amount of oxygen per unit time, in general the biosphere is quite stable - the circulation of substances occurs in it. The release of free oxygen can only be achieved through the accumulation of undecomposed residues (mainly in the form of coal). In other words:
H2O + CO2 = biomass (C + O + H) + O2 + C + CH4.

Considering that the current biomass is small compared to the mass of even free oxygen in the atmosphere (it is approximately one hundred times less), we obtain that in order for all the atmospheric and lithospheric (for the oxidation of the primary lithosphere) oxygen to be formed, it is necessary to store it somewhere in the Earth there would be similar mass reserves of coal and hydrocarbons - and this is a layer of several meters only for atmospheric oxygen, and for lithospheric oxygen it is orders of magnitude larger. No such reserves are observed (estimated reserves of coal and other hydrocarbons approximately correspond to the total biomass).
So, our balance sheets clearly don’t add up.

In the bright sun

Note that another source of oxygen is the dissociation of water molecules under the influence of solar radiation.

As is known, the speed of molecules in a gas obeys the Maxwell distribution. According to this distribution, there is always a certain proportion of molecules whose speed exceeds the second cosmic speed. And such molecules can leave the Earth freely. Moreover, light gases—hydrogen and helium—are the first to escape from the atmosphere. Calculations show that the time for complete evaporation of hydrogen from the earth's atmosphere is only a few years. But hydrogen is still present in the atmosphere. Why? For oxygen and other gases, this time exceeds the lifetime of the Earth. million years. In the earth's atmosphere, hydrogen and helium are constantly renewed due to supply from the earth's interior and a number of atmospheric processes. The hydrogen that forms the “corona” around the Earth is a product of the dissociation of water molecules under the influence of ultraviolet and X-ray radiation from the Sun.

Calculations show that over a period of about ten million years, an amount of oxygen equal to the current value appears in the atmosphere due to photodissociation.

So we get:
1) Initially, the atmosphere, lithosphere and entire mantle of the Earth are of a reducing nature.
2) Due to photodissociation, water (which, by the way, came from the mantle as a result of volcanic activity) decomposes into oxygen and hydrogen. The latter leaves the Earth.
3) The remaining oxygen oxidizes the primary lithosphere and atmosphere to its current state.
4) Why does oxygen not accumulate, since it is constantly supplied as a result of photodissociation (the current amount accumulates in 10 million years, and the age of the Earth is 4.5 billion)? It goes towards oxidation of the mantle. As a result of the movement of continents in subduction zones, new crust is formed from the mantle. The rocks of this crust are oxidized under the influence of the atmosphere and hydrosphere. These oxidized rocks from oceanic plates at subduction zones are then released back into the mantle.

Statistics of the universe

Well, what about living organisms, you ask? They actually play the role of extras - there was no free oxygen, they lived without it - at the primitive single-cell level. It appeared - they adapted and began to live with it - but in the form of advanced multicellular organisms.

So whether there are forests on Earth or not, this will not affect the oxygen content in the planet’s atmosphere. Another thing is that the forest clears the air of dust, saturates it with phytoncides, provides shelter and food for many animals and birds, and gives people aesthetic pleasure... But calling the forest “green lungs” is, at the very least, illiterate.

There is an opinion that " lungs of the planet"are forests, since it is believed that they are the main suppliers of oxygen to the atmosphere. However, in reality this is not the case. The main producers of oxygen live in the ocean. These babies cannot be seen without the help of a microscope. But all living organisms on Earth depend on their livelihoods.

No one argues that forests, of course, need to be preserved and protected. However, not at all because they are these notorious “lungs”. Because in fact, their contribution to the enrichment of our atmosphere with oxygen is practically zero.

No one will deny the fact that the oxygen atmosphere of the Earth was created and continues to be maintained by plants. This happened because they learned to create organic substances from inorganic ones, using the energy of sunlight (as we remember from school course biology, a similar process is called photosynthesis). As a result of this process, plant leaves release free oxygen as a by-product of production. This gas, which we need, rises into the atmosphere and is then evenly distributed throughout it.

According to various institutes, thus, about 145 billion tons of oxygen are released into the atmosphere on our planet every year. Moreover, most of it is spent, not surprisingly, not on the respiration of the inhabitants of our planet, but on the decomposition of dead organisms or, simply put, on decay (about 60 percent of that used by living beings). So, as you can see, oxygen not only gives us the opportunity to breathe deeply, but also acts as a kind of stove for burning garbage.

As we know, any tree is not eternal, so when the time comes, it dies. When the trunk of a forest giant falls to the ground, its body is decomposed by thousands of fungi and bacteria over a very long period of time. All of them use oxygen, which is produced by surviving plants. According to researchers' calculations, such “cleaning up the territory” consumes about eighty percent of the “forest” oxygen.

But the remaining 20 percent of oxygen does not enter the “general atmospheric fund” at all, and is also used by forest inhabitants “on the ground” for their own purposes. After all, animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms also need to breathe (without oxygen, as we remember, many living beings would not be able to obtain energy from food). Since all forests are usually very densely populated areas, this residue is only enough to satisfy the oxygen needs of only its own inhabitants. There is nothing left for neighbors (for example, residents of cities where there is little native vegetation).

Who, then, is the main supplier of this gas necessary for breathing on our planet? On land these are, oddly enough... peat bogs. Everyone knows that when plants die in a swamp, their organisms do not decompose, since the bacteria and fungi that do this work cannot live in swamp water - there are many natural antiseptics secreted by mosses.

So, dead parts of plants, without decomposing, sink to the bottom, forming peat deposits. And if there is no decomposition, then oxygen is not wasted. Therefore, swamps contribute about 50 percent of the oxygen they produce to the general fund (the other half is used by the inhabitants of these inhospitable, but very useful places).

Nevertheless, the contribution of swamps to the general “charitable oxygen fund” is not very large, because there are not so many of them on Earth. Microscopic ocean algae, the totality of which scientists call phytoplankton, are much more actively involved in “oxygen charity”. These creatures are so small that it is almost impossible to see them with the naked eye. However, their total number is very large, amounting to millions of billions.

The entire world's phytoplankton produces 10 times more oxygen than it needs for breathing. Enough to provide useful gas to all other inhabitants of the waters, and quite a lot gets into the atmosphere. As for the oxygen consumption for the decomposition of corpses, in the ocean they are very low - approximately 20 percent of the total production.

This happens due to the fact that dead organisms are immediately eaten by scavengers, of which there are a great many living in sea water. Those, in turn, will be eaten by other scavengers after death, and so on, that is, corpses almost never lie in the water. The same remains, which are no longer of particular interest to anyone, fall to the bottom, where few people live, and there is simply no one to decompose them (this is how the well-known silt is formed), that is, in this case, oxygen is not consumed.

So, the ocean supplies the atmosphere with about 40 percent of the oxygen that phytoplankton produced. It is this reserve that is consumed in those areas where very little oxygen is produced. The latter, in addition to cities and villages, include deserts, steppes and meadows, as well as mountains.

So, oddly enough, the human race lives and thrives on Earth precisely due to the microscopic “oxygen factories” floating on the surface of the ocean. It is they who should be called “the lungs of the planet.” And protect in every possible way from oil pollution, heavy metal poisoning, etc., because if they suddenly stop their activities, you and I will simply have nothing to breathe.

Everyone knows that forests are the lungs of the planet. Trees growing in forests, and any other green plants, create organic matter, using carbon dioxide as a source of carbon, which they absorb from the atmosphere. Oxygen is released back into the atmosphere. Many sources claim that the “lungs of the planet” are the equatorial rainforests of Brazil. But when comparing some indicators, the question involuntarily arises: Does this popular opinion correspond to the truth? In my article I made several comparisons with Russian forests. So what can be called the “lungs” of our planet?

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"LIGHT PLANETS" - BRAZIL OR RUSSIA.

Litvak Nadezhda Anikievna

Geography teacher, Municipal Educational Institution Secondary School No. 5

[email protected]

Everyone knows that forests are the lungs of the planet. Trees growing in forests, and any other green plants, create organic matter through the process of photosynthesis, using carbon dioxide as a source of carbon, which they absorb from the atmosphere. Oxygen is released back into the atmosphere.

Many sources claim that the “lungs of the planet” are the equatorial rainforests of Brazil. Let's make some comparisons with Russian forests.

First, let's compare the total forest area. Brazil's forests cover an area of ​​480 million hectares, while Russia's forests have a total area of ​​766.0 million hectares. Thus, comparing the area of ​​forests, the score is in favor of Russia.

Secondly, let’s compare the volumes of deforestation. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, deforestation has increased by 8.5 percent in the past decade compared to the 1990s. Asia has the highest rate of deforestation at 1.2% per year since 1990, followed by Latin America at 0.8%, and Africa at 0.7%. However, during the same period, the total area of ​​deforested areas per year in Latin America is 7.4 million hectares, in Africa - 4.1, in Asia - 3.9. Researchers from the Brazilian Institute Imazon found that in the last five months of 2012, the area of ​​Amazon forests decreased by 1.288 thousand square kilometers. This is 127% more than in 2011. The Amazon Research Institute draws these conclusions based on satellite monitoring of the Amazon forest. In addition, the Brazilian Space Agency, which conducts monthly forest assessments, also confirmed a decrease in forest cover from August to October 2012.

The last forests on planet Earth that can still be called virgin, clean and untouched are boreal forests, all kinds of formations of tree and shrub vegetation growing in cold, moderately cold and temperate climates.

Large tracts of relatively untouched forests remain only in Russia and Canada (1.4 billion hectares).

About a quarter of all forests on the planet are located in Russia. These forests make up about 3 of all forests on the planet, which means that they absorb about 3 of the carbon dioxide that is released into the Earth's atmosphere. Of course, the untouched forests of northern Russia are also in danger of destruction. IN Lately the situation began to change dramatically. But if we take into account the fact that most of these forests are located in Western Siberia, where the forest zone is called forest-swamp and the wood has no High Quality and Eastern Siberia, which has the lowest population density, for example, the population density in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is 0.31 h/km 2 , Evenki district Krasnoyarsk Territory according to the 2010 census it is 0.04 h/km 2 .

Today, these forests remain virtually untouched, and the main reason for this is that the northern regions have very low population densities.

But what is happening now to tropical forests cannot be called “danger” or “trouble.” This is a catastrophe! The earth has already lost half of its selva. And experts are alarmingly predicting that the remaining half could disappear within the next fifty years. Whereas just 50 years ago tropical forests made up 15% of the Earth's surface, today that number is only

6%. It is not difficult to imagine what this percentage will be in 10 years at the current rate of deforestation of rain forests.

It is a proven fact that if deforestation continues at this rate, by 2020 we will lose as much as 90% of all tropical forests. Every day, 200,000 acres of these precious oxygen generators, our planet's natural filter, are destroyed.

10 “record holders” for annual net forest loss from 2000 to 2010: 1 – Brazil, 2 – Australia, 3 – Indonesia, 4 – Nigeria, 5 – Tanzania, 6 – Zimbabwe, 7 – DRC, 8 – Myanmar, 9 – Bolivia, 10 – Venezuela.

Thus, the score in this “confrontation” becomes 2:0 in favor of the Russian Federation.

You can compare such an indicator as the number of roads. In the forested areas of Siberia there are practically no railways and modern highways, car roads connect internal areas and do not go to the Trans-Siberian Railway and other transit highways. In Brazil, the Trans-Amazonian Highway is the largest transport route, the length of which is 5.5 thousand kilometers; economic development and settlement of land was carried out at a distance of 20 kilometers along the highway.

The cheapest “roads” for transporting timber are rivers, but in Siberia, unlike Brazil, rivers are covered with ice for 6-7 months of the year, and in this case this gives another point to Russia, and the score becomes 3:0.

Well, the last comparison - if in this case we are talking about forests as the lungs of the planet, then we will talk not only about the amount of oxygen produced, the area of ​​forests and the volume of their deforestation, but also about the ability of forests to purify the air from emissions from industrial enterprises and transport. In this case, the determining factor becomes geographical position countries and the atmospheric circulation system. Russia and Brazil are located at different latitudes; the main air flows in Brazil are the trade winds that come to Brazil from the tropical latitudes of Africa, across the Atlantic Ocean. Here's what you need to keep in mind:

• Africa is the most backward region modern world, in which the share of manufacturing and transport is minimal, and accordingly the amount of emissions into the atmosphere is small.
• The main producers of oxygen live in the ocean. Microscopic ocean algae are actively involved in "oxygen charity." These creatures are so small that it is almost impossible to see them with the naked eye. However, their total number is very large, amounting to millions of billions. The entire world's phytoplankton produces 10 times more oxygen than it needs for breathing. Enough to provide useful gas to all other inhabitants of the waters, and quite a lot gets into the atmosphere. So, the ocean supplies the atmosphere with about 40 percent of the oxygen that phytoplankton produced.

Thus, if we take into account the circulation of the atmosphere, the air that comes to the Amazon is not so dirty and at the same time enriched with oxygen.

Let's consider the situation in Russia, being in temperate latitudes, Russia is being influenced western winds, which bring air from Europe - one of the most developed regions of the world. High population density, high level of urbanization of countries, dense network of roads and industrial enterprises - all this leads to high levels of air pollution. And all this “air” is moving into the territory of our country. It is the forests of Russia, especially Siberia and Far East, begin to work “lungs”. Thus, if we talk about forests as the “lungs of the planet,” then Russian forests are the clear favorite. Many ecologists agree with this: “Russia, on whose territory there are large forested areas, where carbon dioxide is converted into plant fiber carbon and free oxygen, should have preferential quotas to reduce CO2 emissions"

“It seems appropriate that countries that produce oxygen receive payment for it and use these funds to maintain forests.”

It is noted that within the framework of the UN, proposals from “low-forest” countries (Germany, etc.) to preserve and increase Russian forests in the interests of the entire planet are being considered. And regarding tropical forests, a similar agreement was adopted in the early 90s. Developed northern countries have pledged to pay developing African countries a bonus of $10 for every ton of carbon dioxide converted into oxygen. And such payments began in 1996. “It is estimated that one hectare of forest absorbs about 8 liters of carbon dioxide per hour (the same volume is released when two hundred people breathe in the same time)”

Scientists estimate that 0.6 percent of forest area disappears from the face of the earth every year.

“We advocate for the 2020 ZNDD Programme, which reflects the scale and need to address threats to the world's forests and climate. Achieving the goals of this program will help stop the depletion of forest biodiversity and the decline in the ability of forests to provide ecosystem services, as well as the associated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.” “We recognize that achieving the goals of the ZNDD is not an easy task and requires a lot of political will and a lot of attention, especially if the goal is to achieve these goals in a socially responsible and environmentally sustainable manner that respects the interests of people who depend on forests and forest resources. In addition, environmentally and socially sound strategies for implementing such a program will need to be developed at national and local levels.”

Abramson N.G., Bernstein L.G. Global ecological problems thermal power engineering and cement production // Ecology and industry of Russia. – 2005. – July. – pp. 29-31.

Garin V.M., Klenova I.A., Kolesnikov V.I. Ecology for technical universities. – Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2001. – 384 p.

Kreinin E.V. Greenhouse effect: causes, forecasts, recommendations // Ecology and industry of Russia. – 2005. – July. – pp. 18-23.

Http://www.rgo.ru/2010/07/zemelnye-resursy-rossii-–-struktura-i-mirovoe-znachenie/ Official website of the All-Russian public organization Russian Geographical Society. Economics and ecology

Ria.ru/ based on materials from RIAN NEWS.

Encyclopedia of Forestry.

http://www.prinas.org/node/389/ Natural heritage.

http://www.gks.ru/ Federal State Statistics Service.

From the World Fund report wildlife(WWF) "Living Forests".

http://www.latindex.ru/content/articles/4623/

From the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report “Living Forests.”