Reuters AlertNet 8 Sep 10;
MOSCOW, Sept 8 (Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday he would consider radically reforming Russia's forest management, currently under the control of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, after the worst forest fires in 30 years.
More than 50 people died and about 2,000 families were left homeless this summer after wildfires ravaged thousands of hectares in central Russia during the country's worst heat wave in decades.
Critics blame the new Forest Code that was passed by parliament in 2006 on the orders of then president Putin, Medvedev's mentor. The law disbanded a centralised system of forest protection, making a large part the country's forests a legal no man's land.
"I have made the decision to hand over the Federal Forestry Agency directly to the government," he told officials at a meeting. "But if this proves insufficient, I reserve the right to radically change the structure."
Medvedev criticised Putin's Forest Code by saying that around 13 percent of forests were left totally unprotected, and promised a new service to protect forests will be set up, which would reverse the most disputed part of the Forest Code.
"We need to analyse in the most careful manner the legislation and the structure -- or structures -- that will manage (the forests)," he said.
Medvedev also pledged to crack down on regional governors who prove unable to manage their forests. A mechanism will allow the Kremlin to deprive the regional officials of the powers to control forests and sack officials for their failings.
The Russian budget lost at least 12 billion roubles ($388.5 million) due to the wildfires, Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said last month, though experts estimated the overall damage to the economy could top $14 billion.
Russia's forests cover 809 million hectares, 22 percent of global forest resources, or twice the size of the European Union landmass, and are vital for producing oxygen amid global climate change.
(Writing by Alexei Anishchuk; editing by Elizabeth Fullerton)
