Moscow wants to grow forests

The "green belt" of the capital can leave the regional subordination near Moscow forests have become a source of discord for metropolitan and regional officials. On Friday, the head of the Moscow Department of Nature Management and Environmental Protection Leonid Bochin said that without transferring forests to the capital, more than 180 thousand hectares of forest can be cut down.

The question of monitoring the 30-kilometer "green belt" of the capital is not raised by chance. “On November 9, a second reading of the Forest Code is planned in the State Duma,” Bochin explained. Last week, the State Duma postponed the consideration of the Code precisely because of uncertainty with suburban forests, and failed to decide in whose jurisdiction they should still be-the Moscow Region, Moscow or the Russian Federation.

Although today the forests are under the jurisdiction of the federal body, in fact, the regions are made by decisions on their use. In the case of a 30 -kilometer zone of forests around the capital, this is the Moscow region.

The Moscow authorities do not agree with this approach. "The forest -park belt was created precisely to protect the city, Moscow financed all operational work," Bochin explained. And the authorities, in his opinion, allowed to cut down 200 hectares of forest for development, and now the threat hung over 180 thousand hectares. The “commercial price of the“ green belt ”is from $ 100 billion,” the official says. “We would understand the position of our colleagues from the Moscow Region if a complete ban on development, economic activity and any rolling of trees was imposed there. But our proposals, unfortunately, did not find support.”

The Moscow Region authorities, of course, do not agree with the loss of control over part of their own territory: they have already stated that they were surprised by the claims of the capital's officials and attempts to violate Article 72 of the Constitution, which involves the equal rights of the constituent entities of the Federation in matters of nature management. According to the Minister of Natural Resources, Yuri Trutnev, it is necessary to transfer forests near Moscow to the jurisdiction of the federal authorities. His position is also supported by the barrels.

Of course, the high cost of forests around the metropolis is the key point in this dispute: no official will refuse such a financial reserve. However, for the residents of the Moscow region themselves, another question is much more important: whether the authorities can finally make the forests around the capital are operated in a civilized way. This problem has already been resolved in many countries: for example, in Finland you can build a house in the forest if all environmental requirements are observed.

In the suburbs there is now a situation when, on the one hand, plots in the forest are proposed in the country's country's market, and on the other, the owner of the site, on which at least one pine is growing, is not protected from the claims of the environmental department.

10/29/2006 / Evgenia Pertseva, the material was published in the newspaper No. 198 dated 10/30/2006.