The seal and the flying squirrel are defended in the Supreme Court – Newspaper Kommersant No. 49 (7494) of 03/23/2023

Greenpeace Russia asked the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to evaluate the order of the Ministry of Natural Resources on changing the boundaries of the Ladoga Skerries National Park (Karelia). Earlier, the agency removed the protection status from the Rautalahti peninsula with an area of ​​​​more than 2 thousand hectares. In the statement of claim, the Greens insist that this decision contradicts several federal laws at once. Lawyers interviewed by Kommersant agree with the environmentalists’ arguments, but warn that such violations do not automatically lead to the abolition of regulations.

Greenpeace Russia sent an administrative lawsuit against the Ministry of Natural Resources to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (Kommersant has a copy). Ecologists are asking to invalidate the new provision of the ministry on the boundaries of the Ladoga Skerries National Park. As Kommersant said, in early February, the Greens noticed that the Ministry of Natural Resources was planning to remove the protected status from the peninsula near the settlements of Reskula, Kortela and Rautalahti (see Kommersant on February 3). This section of the national park does not have a toponymic name, but in official correspondence it is called the Rautalahti Peninsula. According to Greenpeace Russia, its territory is more than 2 thousand hectares.

According to Kommersant’s information, last spring the little-known Institute of Ecology and Land Use LLC turned to President Vladimir Putin with a request to provide this site “for recreational activities.” The head of state instructed the Ministry of Natural Resources to work out the proposal – and the department asked the subordinate All-Russian Research Institute “Ecology” to clarify whether the peninsula is part of the national park. The scientists answered in the affirmative. At the same time, the Greens pointed out that the law prohibits the exclusion of land from the composition of national parks. They warned that the adoption of such a document would create a dangerous precedent for the entire reserve system. However, on February 15, the Ministry of Natural Resources signed an order on the new borders of the Ladoga Skerries.

In the statement of claim, Greenpeace Russia recalls that the national park was created by a decree of the Russian government dated December 28, 2017. This was preceded by a comprehensive ecological survey of the territory, as a result of which the forest fund lands on the Rautalahti peninsula were fully included in the boundaries of the national park. Moreover, some of them entered the protected area, and this is an even higher level of protection. The State Ecological Expertise gave a positive conclusion to this. The plaintiffs recall that the federal laws “On Specially Protected Natural Territories” and “On Environmental Protection” prohibit changing the intended purpose of national park sites, as well as seizing lands of the natural reserve fund. They refer to the position of the Ministry of Justice, which in 2019 stated in a letter to the Russian government: “Changing the boundaries of the national park, as a result of which territories that were previously part of it, are excluded, is not provided for by the current legislation of the Russian Federation.” In addition, the law “On the Fauna” prohibits actions that may worsen the situation of wildlife objects listed in the Red Books of the Russian Federation or the region. In the lawsuit, the Greens indicate to the Supreme Court that the peninsula is the habitat of the Ladoga seals, ospreys and flying squirrels. Finally, environmentalists add that the Ministry of Natural Resources violated the terms of public discussion of the order. The claim has been filed, but has not yet been registered with the Supreme Court.

Evgeny Zharov, managing partner of Zharov Group, confirms that the change in the border of the national park violates the federal laws specified in the lawsuit and the Land Code of the Russian Federation. He adds that non-compliance with the terms of the discussion can be a significant argument in court. Kirill Nikitin, head of the Vegas Lex law firm, also believes that the contested documents could have been adopted with violations of the law and public discussion procedures: “But the presence of formal violations in itself does not entail the automatic repeal of the legal act. For this, violations must be of a significant nature and really violate the rights and legitimate interests. For example, a change in boundaries may be due to their initially incorrect definition. And the construction provided for by the project may be permitted by law as an exception. All these, as well as other circumstances relevant to the case, are to be established by the Supreme Court.”

Mr. Nikitin recalls that Greenpeace Russia has previously managed to achieve the abolition of legal acts regulating the legal status of nature reserves. Thus, in 2014, the RF Armed Forces satisfied the Greens’ claim to partially invalidate the order and regulation of the Ministry of Natural Resources on the Yugyd Va National Park in Komi. Then the arguments of Greenpeace Russia were similar, the expert says. “The legal position of the Prosecutor General’s Office will be important for the case, and its involvement in the consideration of the case is mandatory,” the lawyer says. “Traditionally, the prosecutor’s office is very zealous about environmental protection and ecology, often entering into legal confrontation with relevant ministries and departments.”

The Ministry of Natural Resources told Kommersant that it has not yet received a statement of claim. “The ministry is also unaware of the actual grounds for the claims of the administrative plaintiff. The final legal position on this issue should be formulated after familiarization with the claims, ”said representatives of the department. They added that the ministry had previously considered Greenpeace Russia’s comments on the matter, but did not provide details.

Anna Vasilyeva