Management Of Natural Resources And Environmental Protection Being Discussed In Khabarovsk, Russian Far East

The first regional session devoted to the state of and prospects for the management of natural resources and environmental protection in the Russian Far East is being held in Khabarovsk (December 18-19). It was organised by the office of the plenipotentiary representative of the President in the Far Eastern federal district with the active participation of the natural resources ministry. Adviser at the office of the President's representative Roman Sokolovsky told RIA Novosti that "the wide-scale production of mineral resources, mass procurement of timber in taiga, fishing, which is, on the one hand, officially conducted in compliance with licences, and on the other hand, by poachers, as well as taiga fires which occur every year, and catastrophic floods on the rivers make ecologists and state bodies search for more efficient measures of nature protection, and elaborate scientifically substantiated methods of managing natural wealth." The session in Khabarovsk will discuss these problems. According to Sokolovsky, it is supposed that proposals and recommendations from the region will be worked out to be included in the new project of the federal law on nature management.