No integrated federal body of control over the system of SPNA, as well as a continual series of reforms of state environmental bodies during recent years resulted in the situation when reserves’ development in Russia has sunk in the swamp of bureaucracy and official red tape. Actually, nature reserves and parks, which are the national patrimony of Russia, are left by the government to the mercy of fate.
As a result cases of illegal withdrawal of territories out of SPNAs for aims of economic use became more frequent in recent years. Local authorities, managers and criminal groups often put pressure upon the directors and employees of reserves and national parks.
"In Russia there are 135 state nature reserves and national parks, -says the corresponding member of the RAS Danilov-Danilian, who has been managing the wh?le state environmental system of Russia for many years. – In recent years 13 of them (10 % of the total number) experienced the attempts of illegal withdrawal of their territories and their transfer for economic use. Unfortunately, the state bodies in charge of SPNA are not able and often don’t want to take measures to protect the territories, as well as people who work there".
As a result non-governmental environmental organizations and individuals have to fight to protect state environmental interests.
"During last year non-governmental environmental organization have many times had to address to the prosecutor’s offices and courts with a demand to reverse resolutions of various authorities (including the RF government) about illegal withdrawal of lands of SPNA, – comments Greenpeace Russia forest campaign expert Mikhail Kreindlin. – Most suits brought by ecologists were sustained. Almost in all cases the Ministry of Natural Resources, in whose jurisdiction most reserves and all national parks are, was either neutral, or, as in case of Sochi national park, openly supported illegal actions of the RF government".
Despite the fact that the MNR is officially responsible for the development of reserves in the country, pseudo-economic arguments of its officials about the impossibility to create new reserves in Russia, as well as the atmosphere of bureaucracy and irresponsibility in the ministry became the obstacle for further increase in number of SPNAs.
"Since 2000 in Russia no new reserve or national park has been created, – says Vsevolod Stepanitsky, honourable ecologist of the RF. – It’s the longest break in the process of SPNA system development for 50 years, which demonstrates the attitude of the government to these issues".
Complete inefficiency of the current model of SPNA management in Russia forced the leaders of non-governmental environmental organizations to address the RF President in December 2004 with a proposal to create a special Federal Agency for Specially Protected Natural Territories authorized to carry out state control in the field and working under immediate direction of the RF government.
Additional information
Development of the network of specially protected natural areas (SPNA) that were fully or partly withdrawn from the economic use is one of the most important forms of biodiversity conservation. This is provided for by the UN Convention on Biodiversity, ratified by Russia. The system of Russian SNPAs is one of the most developed and world-wide recognized. Many reserves and national parks of Russia are under protection of international conventions and agreements and they are of international importance.
At present in our country there are 100 state nature reserves with the total area of 33.5 million hectares (more then 1.57% of the total territory of Russia) and 35 national parks with the area of 7 million hectares (0.41% of the Russian territory). 95 reserves and all national parks are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation.