Pine nut collection facilities in oil and gas development areas

Abstract

The total area under the Siberian stone pine forests in Russia is 39.5 million hectares, 57.2% of which are in Eastern Siberia, including 17.5% in Irkutsk region. However, human economic activities lead to a permanent reduction in the area of Siberian stone pine forests. For example, many Siberian cities emerged in places where Siberian stone pines once flourished. Mass fires are cause enormous damage to pine nut gathering. Exploration and development of the Kovykta gas and condensate field also led to the reduction in the area of Siberian stone pine forests and in yields. In this article we have presented the retrospective analysis of pine nut business to identify its features and significance for the area, to determine the possibility of its revival. The authors provided the analysis of pine nut business on example of Zhigalovskii fir farm (FF) in Irkutsk region. It has been found that pine seeds harvesting was inefficient during the Soviet time although there were a lot of activities for the organization of pine nut business. We believe that despite the existing problems, pine nut business has the necessary prerequisites for development and great demand. Pine nut business is considered as an alternative to illegal logging. Based on that experience the prospects for development of local economy are considered.