The Ministry of Natural Resources has prepared a bill on the protection of Red Book mushrooms

The Ministry of Natural Resources has prepared a bill designed to “regulate legal relations related to the protection” of Red Book mushrooms. The agency proposes to equate them to rare plants so that mushrooms receive similar legislative protection. At the same time, the bill allows for the “confiscation” of Red Book plants and mushrooms for the sake of capital construction. In 2021, the department already proposed a similar initiative, but abandoned it after public discussions.

Last week, the Ministry of Natural Resources sent out draft amendments to the Federal Law “On Environmental Protection” to scientific organizations (the document is available to Kommersant). The agency proposes to supplement the federal law with a new article 60.1 “Features of the protection of rare and endangered plants and mushrooms.” The explanatory note clarifies that this topic is currently covered by federal legislation “fragmentarily.” Officials propose extending “standards for the protection of rare and endangered plants” to mushrooms. Then a business planning “economic and other activities in the territories and water areas where Red Book plants and mushrooms live (grow)” will be obliged to “develop and implement measures” for their protection. Moreover, to preserve such plants and fungi, “specially protected natural areas can be created.”

At the same time, the bill allows for the “harvesting (collection, seizure)” of Red Book plants and mushrooms “in exceptional cases.”

These are mainly research activities, such as “monitoring the state of the population” or “artificial breeding with subsequent return to nature.” However, in the list of “exceptional cases” there is item “d” – it allows such “harvesting” for “carrying out economic and other activities in the absence of options for locating capital construction projects (including linear objects) outside the habitats (growth) of plants and fungi included in The Red Book.” In paragraph “e” a similar reason is indicated – “ensuring the safe operation of existing capital construction projects.”

“Extraction in exceptional cases” must be carried out under permits, the procedure for issuing which will be established by the government of the Russian Federation.

And the assessment of “the possible negative impact of the planned mining” and “the admissibility of such mining in the planned volumes” should be carried out by a commission for reviewing materials for obtaining permits in the field of conservation of biological diversity. The bill provides for “mandatory compensatory measures for the restoration of plants and fungi.”

“The adoption of the bill will lead to a significant deterioration in the condition of the rarest and most vulnerable flora and destruction of their habitat,” says Mikhail Kreindlin, a member of the expert council on reserves. “This may lead to the destruction of these species or their populations.” The expert believes that the inclusion of item “e” in the list will “untie the hands” of those who “have long wanted to develop, including for tourism purposes, the habitats of Red Book species.”

The ecologist insists that the compensatory measures prescribed in the legislation “most often cannot not only increase the population, but at least restore what was destroyed by construction.”

“Interacting with endangered species is a very complex process. You can’t just transplant Red Book plants even onto similar soil – this can lead to their complete destruction,” says Mr. Kreindlin. “Therefore, we need to preserve them with all our might. And find construction options that do not interfere with their natural growth.”

In 2021, we recall that the Ministry of Natural Resources has already announced amendments to the law “On Environmental Protection”, designed to streamline the issues of “harvesting” Red Book plants “for the implementation of a number of state and federal projects for the development of transport and social infrastructure.” That bill also included a list of “exceptional cases,” and it was proposed to give decision-making powers to Rosprirodnadzor. But after public discussion, officials did not return to the initiative. Later, the Coordination Council for Environmental Well-Being under the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation stated that it had “obtained the repeal of the bill on the removal of Red Book plants from their natural habitat.”

Development Director of the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation (VOOP) Alexey Reteyum believes that the new bill has a number of advantages, since the algorithm for confiscating Red Book plants and fungi for scientific purposes is not currently prescribed. “Often, botanical gardens and nurseries have to document the origin of Red Book specimens of plants and fungi – that they were not obtained from “black diggers.” The bill will help simplify and streamline the process of seizure, protection and use of such species,” the botanist believes. However, he also points out that paragraph “d” contradicts existing environmental legislation. “On behalf of the VOOP, we would write a positive opinion on the bill and recommend it for adoption, but only if this clause is excluded from the text,” Mr. Reteum told Kommersant.

Kirill Nikitin, head of the environmental department of the Vegas Lex law firm, confirms the presence of gaps in the legislation on the treatment of Red Book species. “Builders constantly face such problems, especially in regions where large areas are covered with forest. There is a lack of a clear codifier with which one can consult and determine what cannot be built here because of protected species,” says the lawyer. “Now such plants are stumbled upon already in the process, which lengthens and increases the cost of construction.”

According to Mr. Nikitin, this most often happens during the construction of infrastructure facilities, such as electrical networks. “In Kamchatka, such cases happen all the time,” he gives an example. “Here we need a compromise on how to make it least bad for everyone.” The lawyer emphasizes that recently the decisions of Rosprirodnadzor have been balanced, “therefore, there is no need to fear abuse and manipulation, and such a rule could really streamline construction processes.”

The Ministry of Natural Resources confirmed to Kommersant that work on the 2021 bill was “recognized as inappropriate” after public discussion. Nevertheless, the department did not abandon the idea of ​​amendments to the Federal Law, so “at the moment, together with the scientific community, changes are being worked out that will specify the rules on the features of protection” of Red Book plants. “Following the conclusions of scientific organizations with experience in studying and preserving rare and endangered plants listed in the Red Book of Russia, the bill will be finalized and posted on the official portal of draft regulatory legal acts,” the press service of the Ministry of Natural Resources reported. “But it is premature to talk about its filling at the moment.”

Polina Yachmennikova