Translated material
Sergei Sobyanin abolished all specially protected natural areas in Moscow
Sergei Sobyanin abolished 146 specially protected natural areas (SPNA) in Moscow. Activists who defend the Bitsevsky forest drew attention to the capital mayor’s resolution of December 27.
According to the document, Sokolniki, Tsaritsyno, Serebryany Bor, Vorobyovy Gory and other parks have been transferred to the category of specially protected green areas (SPG). PAs are protected by regional legislation, and PAs by federal legislation. The change in status reduces the level of protection of all Moscow specially protected natural areas.
Ecologist Galina Morozova calls such a transition a serious threat to the ecology of the capital. She notes that it is allowed to build roads and railways, labor pipelines, power lines, buildings and parking lots at the protected area.
In addition, according to Morozova, the federal law “On Environmental Protection” does not provide for the possibility of transforming protected areas into protected areas. In the summer of 2023, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued a clarification according to which the status of a specially protected natural area can only be downgraded within the framework of a special approval procedure at the federal level.
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