Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan

11 January 2019, Friday

In 2019, a number of laws aimed at improving the Forest Code will come into force in the Russian Federation. In particular, on January 1, Federal Law No. 212-FZ dated July 19, 201 “On Amendments to the Forest Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Regarding the Improvement of Forest Reproduction and Forestation” entered into force, affecting such an important aspect of modern forest management as compensatory reforestation, aimed at integrated conservation of Russian forests. The law expands the range of people who use forests for forest plantations felling. Now they have been obliged to restore forests. The law also improves the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of reforestation and afforestation, focuses on the use of seedlings with a closed root system, since their survival rate in forests is much higher, providing a solution of the problem of forests preserving, including on the basis of their reproduction, in accordance with the Presidential Decree of the Russian Federation "On national goals and strategic objectives of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024". Trees should be planted in the same region where they were cut down during the year. First of all, the requirements will concern projects related to performance of work on geological study of subsoil, development of mineral deposits and construction of linear objects. On July 1, 2019, Federal Law No. 538-FZ dated December 27, 201 “On Amendments to the Forest Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation to Improve the Legal Regulation of Relations related to Forests Conservation on Forest Land and Other Land Categories". The law was prepared pursuant to the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation and provides for comprehensive regulation of legal status and regime of protective forests and specially protected forest areas, as well as imposing strict restrictions on clear-cutting. Let us recall that protective forests include massifs located in specially protected natural areas and in water protection zones, trees that serve as protection of natural and other objects, forests with valuable tree species and urban forests. Also on January 1, Federal Law No. 77-FZ dated April 18, 2018 “On Amending Article 32 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation” came into force, giving citizens the right to freely collect deadwood in forests for their own needs. Norms of the law are regulated locally by regional amendments. The term "deadwood" defines dry branches or trunks of trees that fell to the ground as a result of exposure to storms, windbreaks, or significant snowfall. Thus, deadwood is equated to non-wood sources, which also include mushrooms, berries, stumps, bark of trees and shrubs, brushwood, moss, reeds, etc. On June 1, 2019, Federal Law No. 471-FZ dated December 18, 2018 “On Amendments to the Forest Code of the Russian Federation and Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Regarding the Improvement of the Provision of Forest Areas for Free Use”, will come into force. It will establish the concept of a standard contract, which is concluded for 5 years. The Forest Code of the Russian Federation is supplemented by a number of articles that regulate the procedure for concluding a contract for uncompensated use of forest plots, and also establishes the concept of a standard contract of gratuitous use, which must be approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia for each type of forest use and which reflects measures for conservation, protection and reproduction of forests. In addition, the law replaces the concept of “temporary construction” with “non-capital buildings and structures”. This is due to the fact that in the current legislation there is no definition of “temporary construction”, and the Urban Development Code of the Russian Federation gives a clear definition of the concept “non-capital structure”. This innovation will allow to control the legality of construction of non-capital buildings on the leased forest areas.

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A number of laws aimed at improving the Forest Code of the Russian Federation will come into force in 2019