Continuous logging on Lake Baikal may be allowed for reforestation

Continuous logging may be allowed in some cases in the territories of the central ecological zone, which includes Lake Baikal, its islands and territories adjacent to the lake. Such a bill was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers on July 7, Izvestia found out.

Amendments have been proposed to the draft law introduced by a group of deputies and senators, which passed the first reading in the State Duma in 2023, said Vladimir Gruzdev, Chairman of the Board of the Russian Bar Association. In particular, it provided for the establishment of a list of cases in which continuous logging of forest stands in specially protected areas adjacent to Lake Baikal is allowed.

"The amendments provide for a number of clarifications. For example, the draft list of forest fund lands and forest areas where continuous logging is allowed can be considered only if there is a position from the Russian Academy of Sciences," he said.

It is proposed to allow continuous logging in the Central Ecological Zone of the Baikal Natural Territory only for the purpose of forest reproduction if the dead plantations have lost their useful functions.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Clumsy work: complete tree felling can be allowed on Lake Baikal