Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed several laws reforming the forest industry
The laws signed by the Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 2, 2021, are called to improve the effectiveness of reforestation, regulate the use of forests in construction, including the construction of recreational facilities, and reform forest management.
Changes in the forest inventory system are reflected in the Forest Code and the law on general principles of organization of local self-government in the Russian Federation. The authority to carry out forest management on the lands of the forest fund is transferred to the federal level - subordinated to the Federal Forestry Agency FGBU “Roslesinforg”. At the same time, the rights to form and establish boundaries of forest districts located on lands of settlements are assigned to local governments.
Norms are established to improve forest reproduction and afforestation. The terms of fulfilling obligations for compensatory afforestation or afforestation are increased from one to three years, if agro-technical care of the created forest crops is provided within three years after planting. State and municipal forest institutions can now perform compensatory afforestation work at the expense of forest users obliged to perform such work. This should increase the efficiency of forestry enterprises and enable them to earn additional funds.
Changes are being made in the legal regulation, which allows regulating the placement of capital and non-capital objects in the forests. Objects of the tourism industry, physical fitness, and sports facilities for recreation, tourism, physical fitness, and sports are allowed to locate on the territory not occupied by forest plantations, an area not exceeding 1 hectare and 20% of the total area of the forest area allocated for recreation. Placement of housing facilities for individuals on such forest plots is prohibited. At the same time, the federal law allows commercial fishing in forests located in water protection zones.
It is expected that these measures will qualitatively improve the level of recreation in forests and the investment attractiveness of forest management.
Signed federal laws are developed according to the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation.
According to the materials of the press service of the Federal Forestry Agency