News Center of the Russian Federal Forestry Service, March 8, 2024: According to the latest data of the National Forest Register, the area of special protected areas in Russia has increased by 1 million hm2 in 2023. So far, the total area of special protected areas in Russia has reached 86.8 million hm2.

According to the data, Kamchatka Krai has the largest area of special protected areas with 10.5 million hm2, Irkutsk Oblast ranks second with 9.8 million hm2, and Magadan Oblast ranks third with 9.2 million hm2.

Parts of protected forests, economic forests and reserve forests in Russia may be designated as special protected areas, within which special forest use management guidelines apply. In particular, activities such as logging and infrastructure development in Russia's special protected areas will be severely restricted.

Peter Mika, head of the Information System Development and National Forest Registry of the Russian Forestry Service, stressed that in recent years, in view of the growing demand for forest ecosystem services and social functions, as well as the need to maintain forest biodiversity while exerting the economic benefits of forest resources, the construction of special protected areas is being highly valued by the Russian government. (News from China Forestry Information Network. Zhao Dan)