Analysis of the DNA of a felled tree will help detect illegal timber harvesting, but this requires creating a genetic map of the main tree populations. Professor Konstantin Krutovsky, head of the laboratory of forest genomics at the Siberian Federal University, told socialbites.ca.
There are projects to detect illegal logging using satellites, aircraft and UAVs. But monitoring is done on site, there is no monitoring of the entire forest area. In addition, it is not always possible to reach the site quickly and stop the illegal use of the forest due to the inaccessibility of the site. However, it is possible to determine whether the timber has been obtained legally by looking at the sample of the cut tree.
“This is why we, geneticists, can offer DNA diagnosis of the origin of wood. By genotyping, you determine the region of origin of the tree and then see if it matches what is stated in the newspapers, Krutovsky told socialbites.ca.
To perform such an analysis, a genetic map of the main tree populations needs to be created.
“There is already such a database in our country, but this concerns the human genome. It was recently created within the framework of the “DNA Diagnostics” project in alliance with Belarus. “Now they want to launch “DNA-diagnostics-2″ to create similar databases of the most important biological resources of Russia, I hope forests can also be included there,” he said.
Krutovsky added that this project could probably be started next year, but it is not yet clear how much share will be allocated to the forest.
previously scientist named The main cause of forest fires in Russia.