The State Duma proposed to remove barriers to the improvement of urban forests

The State Duma of the Russian Federation, together with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia, is working on legislative changes that will legalize the improvement of urban forests. Alexander Kogan, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, told Izvestia on March 25.

"We will do everything to ensure that parks in our cities are improved, and the improvement programs approved by municipalities are implemented. People should rest comfortably and safely, and officials should work without fear of departmental barriers where simple human needs are at stake," the parliamentarian said.

According to him, today municipalities face a serious legal conflict. City administrations strive to improve parks and forest parks, but they often encounter fierce opposition to these actions from the supervisory authorities, accompanied by numerous lawsuits. The reason why this happens, as Kogan explained, lies in a legislative flaw, due to which the category of urban forests is classified as protective, but it is not separately named in the list of areas where non-capital construction is allowed.

"A paradox arises: we cannot improve forest areas exactly where it is needed most — in large cities, where these territories are the main recreation areas for millions of people," he added.

The Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee stressed that similar problems have already been encountered in the Kursk and Samara regions, where the prosecutor's office is challenging the decisions of municipalities on the simplest arrangement of public spaces.

The future is in technology: scientists talked about bio-settlements and tokamaks of the new generation

What was discussed and what was shown on the second day of the largest forum

On February 25, during the Forum of Future Technologies, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed creating a network of bioeconomy engineering development centers in the regions. This project, as the Russian leader added, will make it possible to increase the sphere in question with personnel. It is assumed that the facilities will be opened on the basis of domestic universities and scientific institutes. Putin stressed that what was being created should be not only fundamental, but also applied.

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