ИСТИНА

Earlier we developed the system of carbon balance inventory in forestry of Russia, called Regional Evaluation of Carbon Budget of Forests (ROBUL). Since 2010, the ROBUL system has been used in the National Greenhouse Gas Cadaster.This study aims at characterization of the changes in carbon balance in the forests of Russia during the period from 1998 to 2015.The RECBF system uses the data from the State Forest Register or archival materials of the State Forest Fund Account as the source. Evaluations given in this article refer to the forested lands of the Forest Fund, the area of which increased from 758.7 to 785.6 million hectares from 1988 to 2015. Carbon sink to the forests of Russia was minimal in 1988 (80.3±65.1Mt C/year). Since the first half of the1990s, there was an increase in the carbon sink to 200.9±of 59.5 Mt C/year in 1998 and 239.4 ±57.7 Mt C/year in 2008. This increase was connected with a significant reduction of the timber harvesting in connection with socioeconomic reforms in the country. After reaching the maximum value in 2008, the carbon sink was gradually reduced, the reduction reaching 33.3 Mt C/year by 2015, when the carbon sink was 206.1 ± 58.9 Mt C/year. This reduction of the carbon sink was by 44.5% due to increased losses in logging operations, by 21.5% due to forest fires and by 34.5% due to a decrease in absorption. Growth trends of carbon loss were confirmed by independent information on the annual values of felling and fires. The reduction in carbon sink by forests is associated with the decline of forested areas (1.6 million hectares during the 2008–2015) on the background of growing disturbances. Earlier, we predicted a reduction of the carbon sink to forests of Russia in a series of studies carried out using the Canadian model CBM-CFS3. According to these forecasts, with increasing disturbances the reduction of the carbon sink in forests should be traced since the beginning of the 2010s. It was accelerated since the second half of the 2010s.These predictions are supported by the modern dynamics of the carbon sink. The attention of scientific community and decision-making governmental and regulatory bodies to the values of carbon absorption in Russia in general and forests in particular has increased significantly in connection with the discussion on feasibility of the Paris agreement ratification.