The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill regulating the use of forests to accommodate recreational facilities. It mostly concerns tourist and sports bases, sports facilities and others. The corresponding bill was passed by the government of the Russian Federation. Amendments are made to the Forest and Urban Development Codes, as well as to the law on the change of land category from one to another.
The bill says that recreational facilities cannot occupy an area exceeding 20 percent of the total area of the provided forest zone. This will be controlled by the state and municipal expertise of forest development projects.
Recreational facilities will be allowed to be built exclusively in areas defined in the forest plan of the region after passing the process of public discussion. The area of such a zone should not exceed 3 percent of the area of the relevant forestry.
The list of capital construction and temporary buildings will be approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. Forest exploitation for the building of such facilities will be forbidden. The document will also include a ban on the change of category of land from the forest fund provided for the placement of recreational objects to the lands of other categories.
According to the Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, the head of the Federal Forestry Agency Sergey Anoprienko, "the bill will simultaneously increase the investment attractiveness of «recreational» forest zones and, accordingly, improve the quality recreation in the country.»
The law does not violate the right of citizens to stay in the forests.
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