The total territory of protected areas (PAs) in Yakutia is amounted to 1.1 million square km, reported Minister of Nature Protection Sakhamin Afanasiev during the round table in the framework of 1st Congress of municipal deputies.
"The head of republic Egor Borisov has tasked our ministry this year - Ecology Year in the Russian Federation - to increase the protected areas up to 1 million square kilometers. We have already accomplished this task. Now the total area of PAs is 1.1 million square kilometers (37% of the territory of the republic). Yakutia ranks first in the country by this indicator," - the minister said.
According to him, within the framework of the implementation of the federal law on the Far Eastern hectare, the work on cadastre registration of PAs of republican and municipal significance has been fully completed. In Yakutia, more than 70% of the land is not subject to the federal law on the Far Eastern hectare.
As Chairman of Permanent Committee of Il Tumen Vladimir Prokopiev believes, the area of protected areas can grow: "The cadastral registration of all unaccounted land plots will protect more lands."
According to the Minister of Nature Protection, in the framework of Ecology Year works on restoration of biological resources and elimination of illegal dumps will also be held in the republic. At the federal level, a project for the acclimatization of the forest bison has been supported, being implemented in Yakutia since 2006. "Almost all municipalities have adopted targeted environmental programs, in 2017 it is planned to use 275 million rubles for them," - said Sakhamin Afanasiev.