Environmentalists opposed the possibility of construction in Kirzinsky

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation proposed to adopt a new regulation on the Kirzinsky nature reserve, located in the Novosibirsk region. The ministry talks about the need to increase the efficiency of the legal regime of the reserve. However, environmentalists point out that the draft regulation allows for clear-cutting on the territory of the reserve. In their opinion, the approval of the document will create a threat to rare species of birds and plants in the unique Chanovskaya lake system.

The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation has prepared a draft “Regulations on the state nature reserve of federal significance “Kirzinsky”” in the Novosibirsk region. On September 15, it was posted on the Federal Portal of Draft Regulatory Legal Acts. According to the portal, a public discussion of the document was recently completed.

The press service of the ministry told Kommersant that the emergence of the project was caused by the need to update regulations on specially protected natural areas (SPNA). In relation to Kirzinsky, such work has not been carried out since 2010, officials clarified.

“The new version of the regulation is aimed at improving the legal regime for the protection of protected areas and ensuring more effective management of them,” the press service noted.

“The draft order defines the types of permitted use of land plots within the boundaries of the reserve and establishes the maximum parameters for permitted construction, reconstruction of capital construction projects on land plots, in cases where the permitted use of land plots within the boundaries of the reserve allows such construction, reconstruction,” says the explanatory note note from the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation. The department noted that when preparing the project, it did not consult with the authorities of the Novosibirsk region, since Kirzinsky is assigned to the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal ministry.

The document caused sharp criticism from the Expert Council on Reserve Affairs. Environmentalists point out that the regulations allow clear sanitary logging in the reserve, as well as logging associated with the construction, reconstruction and operation of linear facilities. In addition, it allows the development of up to 20% of the area of ​​individual land plots of Kirzinsky. In the current regulations, felling is permitted only in connection with the reconstruction and operation of existing linear facilities.

“Development of capital construction projects, clear-cutting, and mass movement of equipment off roads pose a threat of degradation of natural landscapes, disruption of the habitat of animals and plants, and increased disturbance of wildlife, including rare and endangered species. All this contradicts the tasks assigned to the federal reserve,” says the conclusion of the Expert Council on Reserve Affairs. It was sent to the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov.

Environmentalists considered it unacceptable to adopt the regulation in this form and suggested that the minister order the document to be finalized, taking into account their comments. “When the order comes out, we’ll see whether our comments were taken into account or not,” Vsevolod Stepanitsky, co-chairman of the Expert Council on Nature Reserves, told Kommersant. According to him, if the regulation on Kirzinsky is approved in its original form, council members will “think” about possible further actions.

Valery Lavsky, Novosibirsk