Russian legislators move to greenlight clearcut logging around Lake Baikal to expand railways exporting raw materials to China

Cover photo: Train passing through the Trans-Siberian track along the coast of Lake Baikal. Source: Sorovas / Wikimedia Commons

Russian lawmakers in the country’s lower house of parliament, the State Duma, have passed a bill authorizing large-scale logging around Lake Baikal for a period of ten years. The permission was necessary for the expansion of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railroads.

The bill's first reading, which occurred a year ago, sparked significant public reaction and even provoked debates within Russia’s government and parliament. Nevertheless, it passed on July 24 on its second reading. The proposed law provides a mechanism for forests situated on protected lands to be reclassified into other land categories, allowing for deforestation.

The document also specifies that clearcutting will be permitted in areas where forests have been lost due to fire and on certain plots within the so-called “forest fund.” According to an annex reviewed by the business publication RBC, this includes 49 plots in the Irkutsk Region, totaling 901.7 hectares, and 490 plots in the Republic of Buryatia, totaling 6,066.4 hectares. In total, clearcutting could be allowed on nearly 7,000 hectares of land.

The bill still needs to pass a third and final reading in the Duma before going to the upper house of parliament, and then to President Vladimir Putin to be signed into law.

The deforestation of areas around Lake Baikal was legal before the new bill. Vladimir Putin authorized clear-cut logging for the expansion of the railroads back in 2020. However, this special allowance was valid only until December 31, 2024. The new law would extend it through 2034.

“We have to explore alternative locations for the [railway] facilities, otherwise we may see the destruction of the Baikal ecosystem, as forests and water are directly interconnected. The mass logging activities on Baikal, which are already taking place today, have led to climate change in the region,” explained Ekaterina Uderevskaya, chairwoman of the Baikalskoye Sodruzhestvo (lit. “Baikal Commonwealth”) environmental association, in an interview with the business publication RBC.

The bill has been criticized by scientists and environmental activists alike, as noted by the independent Russian environmentalist publication Kedr (lit. “Cedar”). Over a hundred scientists and activists have signed an appeal to the Chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, requesting he prevent its passage.

The international community also opposes the bill. The UNESCO World Heritage Center, which safeguards Lake Baikal, has declared that any changes to Russian legislation that would weaken the lake's protection are “unacceptable.”

Experts interviewed by Kedr noted that logging around Lake Baikal can lead to the destruction of the local ecosystem. They noted that logging in Baikal's mountainous areas could result in soil erosion, potentially causing clay, sand, and biogenic elements to enter the lake's waters.

Prior to the second reading, Duma deputy Alexander Yakubovsky, one of the bill’s authors, proposed investigating the backgrounds of the bill’s opponents for potential influence by “foreign agents.” Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin mandated the expansion of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railroads by 2035 to boost raw material exports to Asia — and to China in particular. In May, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order to initiate the third phase of modernization for these crucial railway routes serving Far Eastern ports.

As highlighted by Kedr, the State Duma is also set to vote on a set of separate amendments to a law titled “On Protection of Lake Baikal,” which would also allow clear-cutting around the lake’s central ecological zone. If that bill becomes law, loggers will be able to harvest timber from another 4,000 hectares of land, Kedr notes. An expert interviewed by the publication commented that the timber will likely be exported abroad, with China listed as an eager potential buyer.

Kedr was notably designated as a “foreign agent” by Russia’s Ministry of Justice in January of this year, after which it shut down and launched a sister publication, Smola (lit. “Tar”). Smola was designated a “foreign agent” two months later, after which Kedr resumed its work.

Declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1996, Lake Baikal is recognized as the planet’s most outstanding example of a freshwater ecosystem. As the world’s largest freshwater lake by volume, Baikal holds sacred significance for the indigenous populations living nearby, and it serves as a popular eco-tourism destination. However, its ecosystem has faced increased threats in recent years.