The Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia (Minprirody) has prepared a draft law which enshrines the concept of "eco-tourism". It prohibits construction of objects on the territory of all nature reserves and establishes unified rules for visiting such territories, head of the department Alexander Kozlov said.

"We have prepared a draft law that should regulate issues related to the concept of "ecological tourism". We passed the first reading in the Duma, and in the autumn session we will do everything to pass the second and third readings to approve this document by the President in January 2022, and we started working", - Kozlov said within the framework of the Eastern Economic Forum - 2021.

According to the head of the department, the key objective is the preservation and protection of natural areas. So, according to the draft law, it will be forbidden to build capital facilities, cut down the forest and create biosphere reserves. The ban also applies to protected areas and specially protected areas of national parks.

"To avoid a "scattering" and "vacillation" later, it is necessary to adopt a certain planning of territories. <...> Accordingly, how we conduct this zoning depends on how these areas will be further developed. For this to be done properly, we will help to plan the allowed socio-economic activities. Among other things, there is such a term - recreational capacity, it will be established for each of these areas. It is important from the point of view of security", - explained the head of the Ministry.

In the framework of this bill, the Ministry of Environment plans to provide a transparent and clear bidding procedure for investors - the creation of a so-called "single window" for the investor, as well as the elimination of administrative barriers - for example, it is proposed to remove the need for rental contracts. In addition, it is planned to introduce a system of long-term planning in the horizon of 10 years, so that investors, together with the state, could maintain these territories and help them develop.

"In the framework of the bill we will have to take about 10 laws and regulations that regulate many issues, including uniform rules for visiting protected areas", - said the head of the department.

He noted that today in Russia there are 13 thousand protected areas, including 336 - of federal importance, with 1.5 thousand located in the Far East.

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Author: Karina Kamalova