Ecologists express concern about plans of Krasnodar authorities to close natural reserve "Bolshoy Utrish"

Department of Natural Resources and State Ecological Control of the Krasnodar Territory has announced a contest to prepare the materials for the closure of the state natural reserve "Bolshoy Utrish". Ecologists are concerned about plans to close the natural reserve, and they believe that the authorities intend to deprive of the protection status the most valuable parts of the Mediterranean forests, located on the Black Sea coast between the cities of Anapa and Novorossiysk.

According to ecologists, authorities of Krasnodar Territory intend to deprive of protection status Mediterranean forests to build residences for top-ranking officials of country

Information about the contest for preparation of the materials of ecological surveys to close the state natural reserve of regional importance "Bolshoy Utrish" and to change boundaries and area of the natural reserve "Abraussky" was released on the state procurement website on January 19. The ordering party for the works was the Department of Natural Resources and State Ecological Control of the Krasnodar Territory. The initial cost of the contract is 1.3 million roubles. Consideration of applications will take place on March 11, 2012.

According to the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", the administration of the Krasnodar Territory intends to deprive of the protection status the most valuable parts of the country's Mediterranean forests, located on the Black Sea coast between the cities of Anapa and Novorossiysk to build recreational residences for top-ranking officials of the country.

The most valuable coastal areas, for which the natural reserve "Bolshoy Utrish" was created, were excluded from the boundaries of the new state natural reserve at the insistence of the Administration of the Russian President and the administration of the Krasnodar Territory, the statement on the website of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus" reports.

According to the ecologists, in particular, an area of 120 hectares in the heart of the natural reserve was excluded from the initial draft of the natural reserve and leased to the Foundation of the regional non-profit projects "DAR" to build the so-called "sport and recreation centre". This centre is planned to be built at the initiative of the administration of the Russian President to provide recreation of the state leader.

In this case, in accordance with the law, the former protection status, which does not allow cutting of juniper and pistachio forests and conducting of capital construction, is still valid on the areas of natural reserves, non-incorporated into the federal natural reserve. Therefore, according to the ecologists, the regional administration has decided to close the natural reserve "Bolshoy Utrish" and to move the boundaries of the natural reserve "Abraussky" from the sea.

According to Andrei Rudomakha, the coordinator of the "Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus", the total protected area within the boundaries of the natural reserves "Bolshoy Utrish" and "Abraussky", which at present is expected to be deprived of the special protection status, is 2000 hectares.

Authorities: new specially protected area can be created from parts of natural reserves "Bolshoy Utrish" and "Abraussky"

Sergey Eremin, the head of the Department of Natural Resources of the Administration of the Krasnodar Territory, called the claim of the ecologists ungrounded.

"We do not talk about deprivation of the protection status, we talk about the establishment of new protected area: when parts of the natural reserves form the federal natural reserve, the regional administration shall register the boundaries of the remaining territories, conduct public hearings and examination; and then, a new specially protected area of regional importance can be created from the parts of the natural reserves 'Bolshoy Utrish' and 'Abraussky'," Sergey Eremin has explained.

According to Georgy Dzagurov, General Director of the Company "Penny Lane Realty", suspicion of the ecologists that the area will be deprived of the protection status for further sale of land plots for construction is ungrounded.

"The Territorial Law 'On Specially Protected Natural Areas of the Krasnodar Territory' contains an exhaustive list of reasons to change the boundaries of a natural reserve, or to liquidate it. The latter is admitted if the objects, protected under a specially protected natural area, are included into a specially protected area of another category," the newspaper "Kommersant" quotes Sergey Radchenko, Senior Lawyer of the Bar "Yug" (South), as explaining.