POLICY BRIEF article
Front. For. Glob. Change
Sec. Temperate and Boreal Forests
Coniferous vs. deciduous: why it is important to optimize the reforestation in Russia to save forests and preserve more carbon?
Provisionally accepted
- 1Institute of Geography (RAS), Moscow, Russia
- 2Sibirskij federal'nyj universitet, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
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Current forest restoration regulations in Russia hinder the development of forestry and the achievement of national targets for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions. This paper discusses possible changes that could help addressing the issue. We estimate the carbon sequestration rates of various tree species in major Russian regions using data on tree growth and the calculation technique proposed in the paper. Deciduous species like birch, aspen, and alder sequester carbon significantly more effectively than traditional coniferous monocultures. The use of deciduous planting material over pine or spruce could offer a more efficient investment in carbon offsets for Russian forestry. Natural deciduous regeneration over coniferous monocultures reforestation could enhance carbon sequestration. It could contribute to achieving national climate goals and improve conservation of biodiversity in forests.
Keywords: Carbon Sequestration, Climate-smart forestry, forest management, forests, reforestation, Russia
Received: 08 Dec 2025; Accepted: 02 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Shvarts, Pyzhev and Baybar. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Evgeny A. Shvarts
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