In 2017 the volume of illegal timber in Russia amounted to 1.7 million m3, including 1.1 million in the Irkutsk region. The damage caused by illegal logging totalled 11.5 billion rubles.

Pilot project for monitoring all the timber harvested in the Irkutsk region was iImplemented in 4 following steps. Issuing ID cards to forest users (people entitled to use a part of forest fund) in the Irkutsk region. ID card allows to monitor if timber logging is legal, as well as to collect date and number of a person's forest use report, forestry and local forestry name, dacha name (if applicable), forest compartment and subcompartment numbers, logging area number and size, forest management unit, kind of timber logged, and felling volume at the logging area.
Registering and certifying points for wood receiving, processing and transporting. In order to be registered, a company that owns such point is to submit an application to the Ministry of Forestry’s territorial administration. The application is established by the authorized body, and it should contain taxpayer’s ID and the point’s address.
Requiring monthly reports on the timber received, processed and transported. The report should be submitted before day 10 of each month. It is accepted as either an e-signed electronic document, or a paper document formed by the means of the Lesregistry system.
Identifying points for illegal wood receiving and railway transporting. Comparing the reports submitted, and the data on timber contracts allows to estimate felling volume received by the points and establish if it is legal. If these data seem suspicious, Lesregistry can be used to start an inspection.
In 2020, new timber monitoring system is to roll out. It will eliminate ID cards and allow forest users to apply codes. New system will also enable marking lumber in addition to marking roundwood.