The Russian forest sector is now undergoing global changes related to the development of digitalization and innovation. Raising the innovation level is a strategically important task for the country. It depends on the conditions created for the development of intellectual resources. Forest is a natural capital, partially forming the country’s national wealth. Russia occupies leading positions in the world forest yield. Attraction of innovation to the forest sector is the urgent task. For a long time, forest sector was unattractive for businesses and investors due to the long cultivation cycle, natural risks and large fire losses. Here innovations should come to rescue. They enable to automate biological processes and gain progress in productivity growth. Innovations should not be borrowed technologies, but created using our own resources. Today, scientists from Germany, Italy, and Costa Rica are looking for different approaches increasing forestry innovative potential. We propose to use knowledge for innovative development of the forest sector: there is a direct relationship between the levels of innovative activity and education. The aim of this article is to create instruments for the forestry innovative development, based on the knowledge economy, leading to the innovation formation.