According to lawyers, the object of state administration and protection, various rights - use, property - this is the land of the forest fund of the Russian Federation. In accordance with Article 7 of the Forest Code, the fund consists of forests together with lands that are not covered by vegetation. In our article, we consider the concept, types and legal regime of the use of forest land. In addition, we will touch on some other issues on the topic, for example, the purpose and transfer of land.
Category concept
Under the lands of the state forest fund should be understood as land of both forest and non-forest type. The former are either covered with vegetation or not, but are necessary for its restoration. It is advisable to include burned felling, clearing, clearing, wasteland and so on. Non-forest lands are those that are intended for household needs. These are roads, agricultural land, clearings, as well as other territories that are part of the lands of the forest fund (for example, inconvenience and swamps).
What is not included?
It is worth knowing that the composition of the fund does not include forests located on defensive lands, as well as in the territories of urban settlements (the so-called urban forests). The Forest Code also outlines the concept of vegetation of a tree-shrub type. It is not part of the fund and those forests that are not included in the forest fund. Tree-shrubby vegetation should be understood as trees, as well as groups of shrubs and trees that are located on:
- Agricultural territories. This includes land provided for private subsidiary plots and gardening.
- Transport areas. These are the right-of-way roads and highways.
- Territories where settlements are located (in other words, settlements), including those provided for housing, summer cottage and other construction. An exception is urban forests.
- Territories of the water fund (we are talking about lanes for channel withdrawal).
- Territories of other categories.
Legal regime: general provisions
Forest land is a special category that has its own legal regime. It is worth considering that forests included and not included in the composition of the fund, as well as vegetation of the tree-shrub type, have a different legal regime. For the rational use and conservation of forest resources of the Russian Federation, the differentiated development of forestry, today the fund is classified into three groups.
In turn, the forests of the first group are delimited in accordance with the categories of protection (according to Articles 55-60 of the LC of the Russian Federation, Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation “On the procedure for classifying forests as protection categories of forests of the first group” dated September 15, 1997 No. 1169).
It is necessary to add that the grounds for classifying forest lands are primarily the ecological, social and economic importance of forests, their functions and, of course, location.
First group
The first group of forests in the distribution of the forest fund by land categories includes territories, the key purpose of which is to perform protective, water protection, recreational, sanitary and hygienic and other functions. It is advisable to include the forests of natural territories that are under special protection. Let's consider them in more detail.
Security categories
The distribution of the lands of the forest fund of the first group by the category of protection:
- Stripes of forbidden forest areas along the banks of rivers, reservoirs, lakes, as well as other water bodies.
- Stripes of forbidden forest that protect spawning grounds of valuable commercial fish.
- Anti-erosion forests.
- Stripes of forest territories of protective importance along roads, railways of the regional, republican and federal plan.
- Forest areas in desert, light forest, steppe territories, which play an important role in protecting the environment.
- Forests located near settlements and objects of an economic type.
- Forest territories of sanitary protection zones of resort territories, as well as water supply sources.
- Particularly valuable tracts of forest.
- Walnut-commercial areas of industrial importance.
- Forest territories of reserves, natural and national parks, natural monuments and so on
Second group
The purpose of the lands of the forest fund of the second group has its own characteristics. It is advisable to classify such forests as territories in regions with extremely high density of people, as well as with a sufficiently developed network of paths for ground-type transport. These are forests that perform water-protection, sanitary-hygienic, protective, health-improving and other functions endowed with limited operational value. In addition, forest territories located in regions with insufficient forest resources should be included here, for the preservation of which the restriction of the regime of forest use is mandatory.
Third group
The third group of lands of the forest fund is forests of multi-forest terrain, which play a predominantly exploitative role. In the process of wood harvesting, the environmental functionality of these sites should be maintained. It is worth noting that the forests of the represented group are classified as developed and reserve.
Forest land transfer
Further, it is advisable to consider the Federal Law of December 21, 2004 N 172-FZ (as amended on July 29, 2017) "On the transfer of land plots or lands between categories." The features of the procedure are specified in Article 11. Thus, the transfer of fund lands that are occupied by protective forest territories, or land plots that are part of such lands, to land masses of other categories is allowed in case of:
- Organizations of natural areas under special protection.
- Changes or establishment of boundaries of the area where people live.
- Placement of objects of municipal or state significance, provided there are no other options for the placement of these objects that are possible.
- Formation of special tourist-recreational zones of an economic type.
Comments
It should be noted that in the forests of the groups analyzed above, especially protective forest areas with a limited regime of forest use can be distinguished. First of all, it is advisable to include coastal and soil-protective territories along the coast of water-type objects and slopes of ravines. In addition, this includes places of distribution of endangered and rare wildlife, representatives of the flora world and so on.
Legal regime of forest land
It should be borne in mind that the inclusion of land in the forest. Fund, as well as their withdrawal from it are implemented in the manner established by the land and forest legislation of the Russian Federation.
It is advisable to include lands that are covered or not covered with forest-type vegetation as forest. The second case involves the mission of recovery. These are deforestation, deceased forest stand, burned areas, lowlands, glades, wastelands, areas occupied by unclosed forest crops, nurseries and so on.
In accordance with Art. 9 of the LC RF to the territory of the forest fund it is advisable to include forest areas, as well as areas that are not covered by forest vegetation. This includes non-forest land. It is important to keep in mind that the boundaries of the forest fund should be indicated in nature by means of special forestry signs. They should be indicated in the materials of the planning-cartographic type (the so-called forest maps).
Consider the diagram of the lands of the forest fund of the Russian Federation:
It can be seen that in the country these lands are the predominant category. That is why it is fundamentally important to pay as much attention to their preservation and development as possible.
It should be borne in mind that the provisions of the civil law applicable in Russia regarding civil rights are applicable to the territories of the forest fund, as well as to rights of use. In addition, you should pay attention to the provisions of the legislation of the country on land, unless otherwise specified by this code. These rules are also used for forest areas that are not included in the forest fund.
For forest territories that are not included in the forest fund, the requirements of the current article are applicable, unless otherwise provided by federal laws. Those lands where, although there is forest vegetation, are not included in the fund, they are endowed with a different purpose. It is worth noting that Article 11 of the LC RF completely excludes from the fund vegetation of tree-shrub type located on agricultural lands, including those provided for personal subsidiary plots and gardening. And also on:
- Land transport (in particular, on the right of way of roads and railways).
- Settlements, pop. items, including those provided for housing, summer cottage and other construction (with the exception of urban forests).
- Plots of the water fund of the Russian Federation (these are the channel strip).
- Land areas of other categories.
Final part
So, we fully examined the category of forest fund territories. Definition, varieties, features, areas of application, legal regime of use in the Russian Federation - these and other equally important points are presented in the article.
In conclusion, it should be noted that these lands are one of the components of the ecological systems of forest areas that take part in the natural functioning of the ecosystem as a whole. The land here has a double meaning: it acts as a spatial basis on which forest vegetation is located, and also as a means for conducting production, which feeds the root system of forests with soil components (nutrients, moisture, etc.).
At the same time, both the productive and the basic functions of the earth are inseparable from each other. It is for this reason that the forest fund of the Russian Federation includes forest plantations with the land areas on which they grow, as well as lands that are intended for growing forests, land masses necessary for agricultural needs and swamps, rocky placers, char, sand and other lands located among these land territories and not assigned to other categories.