Geological Exploration Gives the Company the Right Not to Reforest
A subsoil user can be released from the obligation to carry out compensatory afforestation only in the case of geological exploration, the press service of the Federal Forestry Agency reported.
The department receives questions about the need for compensatory reforestation from tenants who are engaged in geological exploration of the subsoil, in connection with this it publishes relevant explanations.
“Subsoil use is often carried out under a combined license: for geological exploration and mining. At the same time, the forest user is exempted from compensatory reforestation only during geological exploration. We gave explanations on how this works,” Elena Borodavkina, head of the Department for Legal Support and Use of Forests of Rosleskhoz, said through the press service.
The company is released from the obligation to carry out compensatory reforestation if it complies with a number of conditions. Firstly, the purpose of using the forests according to the lease agreement is exclusively geological exploration. Secondly, the infrastructure created in the forest is needed only for the geological study of the subsoil and is included in the lists approved by the government (government orders No. 999-r of 04/23/2022 and No. 1084 of 04/30/2022).
In other cases, the subsoil user is obliged to perform compensatory reforestation in accordance with forest legislation.
As Rosleskhoz reported earlier, large-scale works on artificial reforestation are carried out annually within the framework of the “Preservation of Forests” and “Ecology” projects. In 2023, afforestation activities are planned on an area of more than 1.4 million hectares.
