The Human Rights Council asks to slow down the adoption of the law on logging on Lake Baikal – Kommersant
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The head of the Russian Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights (HRC), Valery Fadeev, sent a message to State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin asking him to postpone the adoption of the bill allowing clear-cutting in the central ecological zone of Lake Baikal until 2030. We are talking about draft amendments to the laws “On the Protection of Lake Baikal” and “On Environmental Expertise”, adopted by the State Duma in the first reading in July 2023. The document also proposes to allow the construction of roads, wastewater treatment plants, public utilities, cafes, restaurants and toilets in the central ecological zone of Lake Baikal.
The Baikal natural territory is under the protection of UNESCO: within its boundaries it is prohibited to build new economic facilities (and reconstruct existing ones) without a positive conclusion from the state environmental assessment. The central zone of the Baikal natural territory includes Lake Baikal with islands, a water protection zone adjacent to the lake and several protected areas. The bill was accompanied by a list of 75 plots (with a total area of up to 600 hectares) where hydraulic structures could be cut down and built. The project caused a scandal: opponents in the State Duma called it “the funeral of a sacred lake” (see Kommersant, July 12). The legal department of parliament opposed it, recalling the special status of Baikal.
Valery Fadeev writes in a letter about the need to scientifically assess the consequences of the adoption of the bill and discuss this with representatives of civil society. “We must not forget about the rights of local residents… At the same time, the law must completely neutralize environmental risks, including the danger of clear cuttings in the interests of unscrupulous businesses,” the appeal says.
It should be noted that in August 2023, the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Ecology, Vyacheslav Fetisov, announced an appeal to the Prosecutor General’s Office regarding the verification of the legality of the allocation of 14.5 thousand land plots in the specially protected area of Lake Baikal. Alexander Voronov
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