PART∨ FORESTRY IN ECONOMIC GROUPS 125 Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States(CIS)was established in December 1991. It is a voluntary association consisting of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The main purpose of the Commonwealth is to develop and strengthen cooperation and to serve the cause of peace and security DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST SECTOR Nearly one-quarter of the worlds forests are located in the CIS. The Russian Federation, which alone contains 22 percent of the world,s forests, accounts for 94 percent of the group's total forest area. In addition to the russian Federation, which has 50 percent of its land area under forest, Belarus and georgia are also heavily forested(with 45 and 44 percent of their land under forest, respectively). The other countries have a low to moderate forest cover. The Russian Federation accounts for about 90 percent of both production and consumption of forest products in the CIS. It is a major exporter of industrial roundwood, accounting for 24 percent(by volume) and 14 percent (by value)of world trade in logs. This is a significant increase from 1996, when the Russian Federation accounted for 20 percent of the volume of world trade in logs. The other countries are highly dependent on imports to meet their requirements for wood products. Forest resources Production of wood-based products, 1998 Land area('000ha 2177597 Quantity %of world total Total forest area, 2000(000 ha) Woodfuel (000 m) Percentage of land under forest 41.1 Forest area per capita (ha) Sawnwood(000 m) 5 Annual change in forest area, 1990-2000 Wood panels(,000 m) Thousand hectares Pulp for paper ('000 tonnes) 3907 Percentage 0.1 Paper and paperboard('000 tonnes)3932 s. International forest products trade: quantity and value, 190 Product xport Export value Import value USS thousands of world total USs thousands of world total Woodfuel 23059 16 2 Industrial roundwood(000 m2) 202 15 24117 Wood panels(000m) 328885 2 112036 Pulp for paper('000 tonnes) Paper and paperboard (000 tonnes) 768490 708 Note: ns.=not significant, indicating a very small value.PART IV FORESTRY IN REGIONAL ECONOMIC GROUPS 125 Commonwealth of Independent States Quantity % of world total Woodfuel (’000 m3) 43 267 2 Industrial roundwood (’000 m3) 100 929 7 Sawnwood (’000 m3) 20 358 5 Wood panels (’000 m3) 4 160 3 Pulp for paper (’000 tonnes) 3 907 2 Paper and paperboard (’000 tonnes) 3 932 1 Forest resources Land area (’000 ha) 2 177 597 Total forest area, 2000 (’000 ha) 894 411 Percentage of land under forest 41.1 Forest area per capita (ha) 3.1 Annual change in forest area, 1990-2000 - Thousand hectares 709 - Percentage 0.1 Production of wood-based products, 1998 Product Export Export value Import Import value quantity quantity US$ thousands % of world total US$ thousands % of world total Woodfuel (’000 m3) 988 23 059 16 2 74 n.s. Industrial roundwood (’000 m3) 21 042 976 611 15 582 24 117 n.s. Sawnwood (’000 m3) 5 222 611 756 3 1 058 88 390 n.s. Wood panels (’000 m3) 1 408 328 885 2 434 112 036 1 Pulp for paper (’000 tonnes) 1 007 338 827 2 54 29 513 n.s. Paper and paperboard (’000 tonnes) 1 762 768 490 1 708 704 622 1 Note: n.s. = not significant, indicating a very small value. International forest products trade: quantity and value, 1998 The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was established in December 1991. It is a voluntary association consisting of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The main purpose of the Commonwealth is to develop and strengthen cooperation and to serve the cause of peace and security. DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST SECTOR Nearly one-quarter of the world’s forests are located in the CIS. The Russian Federation, which alone contains 22 percent of the world’s forests, accounts for 94 percent of the group’s total forest area. In addition to the Russian Federation, which has 50 percent of its land area under forest, Belarus and Georgia are also heavily forested (with 45 and 44 percent of their land under forest, respectively). The other countries have a low to moderate forest cover. The Russian Federation accounts for about 90 percent of both production and consumption of forest products in the CIS. It is a major exporter of industrial roundwood, accounting for 24 percent (by volume) and 14 percent (by value) of world trade in logs. This is a significant increase from 1996, when the Russian Federation accounted for 20 percent of the volume of world trade in logs. The other countries are highly dependent on imports to meet their requirements for wood products