The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia has prepared a bill that will form a national system for the protection of the most valuable wetlands. For the first time, a special status will be established for such territories and a security regime will be defined.
Particularly valuable will include water bodies and land areas that are of particular importance for breeding, recreation and migration of waterfowl and near-water birds. One of the main criteria is the number of birds: at least 20 thousand individuals or at least 1% of the breeding population of a certain species or subspecies must be in the territory at the same time. Additional criteria will be set by the Russian Government.
Today, there are at least 360 wetlands in the country, but only 35 of them have international status. The new mechanism will make it possible to protect valuable territories regardless of their international status. At the same time, there will be no uniform restrictions for all territories. The regime can be set taking into account the natural conditions, the time of year and the socio-economic characteristics of the region.
The changes are scheduled to take effect on September 1, 2027.
