Private Forest Ownership on Agricultural Lands in the Russian Federation: Legal Framework and Development Prospects

This article examines the legal mechanisms governing the development of private forest ownership on agricultural lands in the Russian Federation, assesses the potential for integrating abandoned farmland into forestry use, and benchmarks possible reform trajectories against the experience of other boreal countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Canada, USA). The study draws on an analysis of Russian federal legislation, data from the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA 2025), state land-use reports of Rosreestr, and a synthesis of domestic and international scientific literature. The findings confirm that the legal framework for afforestation on agricultural lands remains unresolved. The conflict between the Forest Code and the Land Code of the Russian Federation, compounded by subsequent amendments to Government Decree No. 1509, has precluded the emergence of a fully-fledged private forest ownership institution. At the same time, according to Rosreestr data, as of the beginning of 2025, 130.2 million hectares of agricultural land are in private ownership, of which, according to researchers' estimates, up to 76 million hectares are abandoned and are being intensively overgrown with tree and shrub vegetation. Potentially, such lands could be used for the establishment of highly productive plantation stands. The legal regulation of the use of agricultural lands for forestry purposes has the potential to resolve existing legal conflicts and become a driver for the development of the domestic forest complex. To achieve this, it is necessary to legislatively establish forestry as an independent type of land use on agricultural lands, create mechanisms for the inventory and registration of forest stands on such lands, and implement long-term regulatory instruments, including shortened rotation cycles (short rotations).

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