“We want it like in Europe”: protective forests in Russia’s mountain ecosystems will be destroyed

Why is wildlife always the victim of any economic development? People see money somewhere and immediately start tearing natural heritage apart, without even trying to think about the consequences. The only goal is to “line their pockets.” But the worst part is when the last refuges of wildlife are sacrificed — fragile, unique ecosystems that serve as recovery points for species and as refugia where they can still hide from humans. It is literally the same as retreating until you hit a wall: that is it, there is nowhere left to go. Retreat becomes impossible.

Right now, the authorities are trying to pass draft law No. 155253, which would legalize the destruction of ancient forests in the country’s mountain ecosystems. And this specifically concerns clear-cutting in protective forests. We have been opposing this project for a very long time already: the first version was beaten back (the draft law was withdrawn from consideration), while the second version remains active and they are trying to push it through now.

They are doing this brazenly, ignoring the scientific community, the public, and even the conclusion of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation, which also opposed it. More than that, when the draft law was posted on the government initiatives website, we personally documented mass “vote-rigging,” allegedly showing that people support the seizure and destruction of mountain forests for the benefit of big business. Technical anomalies were recorded in the final hours of the public discussion of the draft law.

We are now continuing to monitor the status of the draft law. It has not yet been adopted, but lobbyists are actively trying to force it through. The reason is that it is backed by highly influential people within the government — top officials in federal agencies. For example, on June 3, 2025, at a “round table” in the Federation Council, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Dmitry Vakhrukov personally spoke in support of the draft law.

“Despite growing demand, no more than 5% of our citizens ski today, whereas in Europe this figure is around 17%.”

So, in other words, they want it “like in Europe,” with more ski resorts, and for that they are ready to destroy protective forests, including in fragile mountain ecosystems across the country. And on top of that, citizens, apparently, do not like skiing enough. So the goal is not only to “develop what has not yet been developed,” but also to make people love skiing. To make them travel to expensive resorts and pay enormous sums for it.

At the same time, the new draft law is specifically about complexes that would be large-scale tourism clusters with classified ski runs exceeding 10 kilometers. They would be placed on forest fund lands.

Here I need to clarify the terms immediately, so that people understand what exactly is at stake.

Protective forests — the forests they want to destroy, while also legalizing clear-cutting — are of enormous importance both for wildlife and for people. These are especially valuable forest areas, including forests within specially protected natural territories, forests in water protection zones, urban forests, and so on. Around cities, for example, such forests protect public health, act as air filters, and reduce the negative impact of industrial enterprises. In mountain ecosystems, protective forests must not be touched at all: they are effectively the structural framework of mountain ecosystems, because they maintain soil integrity, regulate water cycles, regulate local and global climate, and perform other critical functions. It is impossible to restore or replace the functions they provide.

Mountain ecosystems, meanwhile, are now refugia — shelters for wildlife — where species can hide from humans in an era of global destruction of terrestrial biogeocenoses. Mountains are points of species self-recovery; their complex relief allows completely different microclimates and ecological niches to be maintained within a very small area. This is why they contain many endemic species that can live only in such ecosystems. Many Red Data Book species. Many endangered species. One could say that mountains are disproportionately rich in biodiversity: abrupt environmental gradients intensify community turnover, ecological specialization, and population isolation, and this increases both species and genetic uniqueness.

This probably deserves a separate major article, because the subject is both important and complex. But even from this brief description, I think it is already clear why clear-cutting in protective forests — especially in mountain ecosystems — must not be allowed.

Even the justification that “we are only going to allow tourism” is merely the first “tail of development.” It is enough to lower the protection status and punch a hole in the system for further exploitation of wildlife under other pretexts. Suddenly, it will be “necessary” to build mining enterprises in order to give jobs to local residents. Then towns and settlements will have to be built for these residents, especially since roads and electricity will already have been extended there. That is how they will seize these territories, step by step. And with each new law “cutting off another piece” of nature, they will justify it by saying that people are suffering, there are no jobs, infrastructure is lacking, and so on. Wherever tourism clusters have already been built in mountain ecosystems, land prices have risen sharply, because all the wealthy want to live “closer to the resort.” Officials then begin looking for ways to sell off protected lands, burrowing farther and farther into the refuges of wildlife.

When I studied the scientific works of researchers around the world, I often came across the term “path dependence.” It is an effect that means dependence on an already chosen trajectory. The initial intervention triggers a cascade of secondary ones, and stopping it later becomes impossible. The system itself starts generating “new necessities.”

And even now, the issue is not about minor, careful interventions, but specifically about large-scale construction. Based on the draft law, it is known that the ban on building hotels in protective forests would be lifted. Forests would also be allowed to be reclassified into recreation zones, meaning places for mass leisure, where sanatoriums and boarding houses could be built. Restrictions on the maximum area of ski runs and cableways on forest lands would also be removed, and so on.

And at the same time, officials, in justifying the urgent need to adopt this draft law, add that all of this is necessary in order to unlock at least 304.8 billion rubles for the construction of more than 260 tourism facilities in mountain ecosystems across the country.

At least they said honestly that this is simply about money. Business, and nothing personal — is that what it comes down to? So for the sake of this, mountain protective forests can simply be “pushed aside,” clear-cutting can be carried out. After that, they can talk to senators, restrict foreign travel under all kinds of pretexts so that citizens are forced to vacation only within their own country, and in the end it will supposedly become “almost like Europe.” With that logic, perhaps the 5% of people who ski will surely be pushed up to the European 17%?

The Ministry of Economic Development itself says:

“The initiative will increase the number of new investment projects and make this area even more attractive to entrepreneurs.”

And the fact that this is about the destruction of first-category forests, whose primary function is the preservation of animals and plants, does not concern anyone. The main thing is that entrepreneurs will make money, and officials will be able to report to the government: “look, now we are like Europe.”

So that people would ask fewer questions, officials proposed in the draft law to compensate for destroyed ancient forests with “seedling rows somewhere farther away.” In other words, they would destroy ancient ecosystems, make money from it, and then stick seedlings into the ground in neat rows somewhere else, making money from that again. Double profit in their pockets.

Let me remind you once again that according to the report of the Accounts Chamber of the Russian Federation, up to 90% of all seedlings in Russia die within the first three years after so-called “reforestation.” This is practically ABSOLUTE DECEPTION from the standpoint of real benefit for wildlife. More than that, seedling rows are not the same as a real ancient forest, with its millennia-old connections, complexity, and genetic and physiological heritage. This is called plantation forestry — a concept originally developed in the USSR for growing trees as timber, while preserving real natural forests. And now, somehow, “sticking seedlings in rows” has been equated with a full replacement for destroyed ancient forests.

And incidentally, under this same new draft law, officials also immediately provided for the possibility of selling the timber from the cut forests. In other words: they carry out clear-cutting, destroy mountain refuges, sell the timber, and receive money. After that, they get even more money in the form of state subsidies. Then still more money from inflated construction costs, contracts, and so on.

So, allies. We have conducted a full review of the draft law on the destruction of mountain forests. It has not yet been adopted, but its authors have already found support in the Federation Council itself, as well as among very influential figures within federal agencies. They intend to pass it.

Our public initiative remains active, and we continue to push back against this madness. In the near future we will carry out additional large-scale work and try once again to influence the situation. The effort of every single person will be needed.

Public initiative

And now I ask all allies to review the official opinion document of the Civic Chamber, which also opposed the draft law.

File Civic Chamber opinion 422 KB

And please do everything possible to help spread this information. The struggle for Life is becoming harder and harder. You are the only hope of the Russian Taiga.

© PAVEL PASHKOV