The condition of Russia's land, especially in recent years, has been unsatisfactory and in some regions critical. Data on the condition and use of the land of the Russian Federation testify to the continuing development of harmful processes (decline of humus content to an unacceptably low level, water and wind erosion, desertification and flooding, subsidiary salination and nitrification, and pollution of soil with pesticide residues, heavy metals, radionuclides, etc.). Accordingly, there is an urgent and immediate need to create a unified system for obtaining information about the condition and use of land, to apply the principle of economical land use, and to devise and introduce regulatory and economic mechanisms which will eliminate the consumerist attitude towards the land.

Questions of an integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources and information about the state of affairs are reflected in the annual "National State report on the condition and use of the land of the Russian Federation".

The need to preserve forests as a fundamental Russian landscape and as component parts of land use based on scientific knowledge, experience and comprehensive assessment of possible impacts on forest ecosystems has been established in the relevant legislative and regulatory instruments, guidelines, handbooks and recommendations on forestry in the Russian Federation.

The following are some of the elements of Russia's national priority in the fight against deforestation:
- Improvement of the machinery for taking decisions on forest use, including clear-felling, with a view to maintaining the biodiversity and sustainable development of forest ecosystems;
- Discouragement of environmentally unsound forestry practices and use of industrial forestry equipment which can destroy the environment and biodiversity, and their replacement with more environmentally sound approaches to forest use;
- Application of the established criteria and indicators of sustainable management of Russia's forests at the sub-national and national levels;
- Encouragement of the activities of all branches of the national economy to involve them in the introduction of new environmentally sound technology in the exploitation of forest resources.

Russia's participation in international agreements on forest resources

The vast extent of Russia's forest resources pre-ordains their global significance and the special role of its Federal Forestry Service (Rosleskhoz).

Rosleskhoz represents the Russian Federation at global meetings on forests. Following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, Rosleskhoz has taken part in the Helsinki process, the Montreal process, meetings of the intergovernmental working group on the world's forests convened by Canada and Malaysia in 1994, the dialogue on criteria and indicators of conservation and management of temperate and boreal forests, held at Olympia, United States, in 1994 and Santiago, Chile, in February 1995 (Santiago Declaration), and the ministerial conference on forests organized by FAO in Rome in March 1995.

At the international meeting on tropical timber in January 1994 the Russian Federation was one of the 24 countries which made statements about the achievement of the sustainable management of their forests by 2000. Russia has signed and ratified the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Concrete action to fulfil international obligations is being taken against the background of the reform of the country's economy. The radical economic changes in Russia have caused a crisis in the forestry sector. The sharp cut in budgetary allocations for forest management, including expenditure on protection and conservation and reforestation, as well as on scientific research, has already led to a worsening of the forestry situation and may possibly have further serious consequences for sustainable management of the forestry sector.

Despite all the difficulties of the transitional period, the Russian Government is adopting real measures for reform of the forestry sector and implementation of international agreements.

The continuing reforms have substantially transformed the attitude of society to forestry in Russia. The emphasis has shifted from the output of forestry products, including their processing, to a management methodology aimed at sustainable development. The basic function of the central forest management organ - Rosleskhoz - has become the establishment of the regulatory framework and the organizational and economic conditions for sustainable forest management. This means that the main task of Rosleskhoz is now the formulation and consistent implementation of effective forestry policy.

The "Bases of forestry legislation" and the "Law on environmental protection" have been in force in Russia since 1993. A new forestry law of direct application - the Forestry Code of the Russian Federation - is about to be enacted.

The establishment of the legal framework for State management of Russia's stock of forests is nearing completion. The production of this new forestry legislation has required the drafting of a considerable volume of new regulatory and standard-setting instruments.

In order to establish the Concept of the transition of the Russian Federation to sustainable development in the forestry sector, to fulfil Russia's international forestry obligations stemming from ratification of the two conventions mentioned above, and to implement the decisions of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development with a view to sustainable forest management (principles of forestry, Agenda 21), Rosleskhoz has drafted and confirmed the criteria and indicators of the sustainable management of the forests of the Russian Federation.

These "criteria and indicators" are a working document at the federal and regional levels. Their fundamental purpose is to establish the framework conditions for the functioning of State forest management agencies in such a way as to satisfy the requirements of present and future generations of Russians and to coordinate the efforts for the sustainable development of the forestry sector as a whole.

Rosleskhoz is creating a national system of certification of forest products as a tool for the practical improvement of the forest management and forest use systems, primarily at the local level.

Reforestation

The Government drafted and adopted a State programme of reforestation in Russia for 1993-1995 with a view to reducing the areas of unforested land, reproducing forestry resources, preventing the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and combating undesirable climate changes on the planet.

This programme is designed to give the maximum possible concrete effect to the organizational, technical and economic measures necessary for the attainment of the main goal - timely reforestation with economically valuable species.

The implementation of the programme in 1993-1995 succeeded in checking the decline in the volume of reforestation work, improving its quality, and increasing the responsibility of executive organs for reforestation. In comparison with 1992, in 1993-1994 the volume of reforestation work and the inclusion of saplings in the category of plantings with an economic value as timber were increased, and the loss of forest crops was reduced.

Now the priority for the development of the output of forest products is the transition to intensive industrial technology which will mechanize the work and ensure the high quality of the products.

Under this programme work has been stepped up on the identification and reproduction of a genetic stock of valuable species, and on the organization of new forestry seed selection and growing centres in areas of intensive production, and plans have been made for increasing the production of grown-on planting stock and for the construction of additional nurseries with watering systems and heating. Owing to the shortage of funding the planned projects have not been fully implemented. Nevertheless, a significant volume of work is being done every year, making it possible to support the introduction of forest management techniques in order to guarantee the uninterrupted use of forest resources and continuation of other forest activities.

For the period 1993-1995 the State reforestation programme envisaged for the whole of Russia reforestation measures covering an area of 4,950 thousand hectares, including 1,650 thousand hectares in 1994 and 1,700 thousand in 1995.

According to the inventory of the stock of forests as of 1 January 1993, there was a total of 115.5 million hectares of unforested land. Owing to the shortage of funding, the volume of reforestation work declined every year. In 1990 reforestation work was carried out on 1,765.4 thousand hectares, in 1991 on 1,562.3 thousand hectares and in 1992 on 1,402 thousand.

According to the evaluation of the implementation of the State programme, in 1993-1995 actual reforestation work was carried out on an area of 4,476.9 thousand hectares. Over the three-year period a total of 1,186 thousand hectares was planted or sown with forest crops, including 391 thousand hectares in 1994 and 366.9 thousand in 1995. For this period the planted area resulting from the encouragement of natural renewal totalled 3,290.9 thousand hectares or 73.5 per cent of the total volume of reforestation.

In 1994 the quota for the planting of cedar was met by 120 per cent, a figure significantly higher than in the previous year.

In comparison with 1994, 1995 saw some decline in the actual volume of reforestation work (by 107.6 thousand hectares), including the production of forest crops on 24.1 thousand hectares and the encouragement of natural renewal on 83.6 thousand. At the same time the loss of forest crops not transferred to forested land has continued to decline. In 1995 3.8 thousand fewer hectares were lost than in 1994, and there was some decline in the damage of crops by fires and a sharp increase, almost by a factor of two, in the volume of crops lost owing to unfavourable weather conditions.

It should be noted that, in general terms, Russia's reforestation work has proceeded at a fairly high level over the recent period in both qualitative and quantitative terms.

In view of the need for urgent action to implement international agreements and ensure sustainable development, the Government instructed Rosleskhoz to draw up a federal programme on reforestation in Russia for 1996-2000, which will stipulate scientifically based volumes of reforestation work and the ways and means of carrying it out, and secure an improvement in the condition of the stock of forests and the country's environmental situation.

Protection of forests against fires, pests and diseases, and pollution

In order to improve the protection of forests against fires and in implementation of a Governmental Order, Rosleskhoz together with other relevant ministries and offices drew up a State programme on the protection of forests against fires for 1993-1997. It was adopted in 1993 and provides for:

- Strengthening of the existing aerial and land-based forest fire services;
- Establishment of new units for the operational detection and fighting of forest fires and provision of the material and technical resources for these units in accordance with scientifically based standards;
- Organization in densely forested regions of special mobile units to fight major forest fires and provision of extremely mobile fire-fighting equipment and the means of delivering it;
- Acceleration of the construction and commissioning of a fleet of aircraft to fight forest fires;
- Production and commissioning of satellite information systems to protect forests against fires and monitor the forest fire situation, and of a system for detection and operational notification of incipient forest fires and for operational communications;
- Establishment of integrated control centres for the management of the prevention and fighting of forest fires.
According to forest monitoring data, in 1993-1995, against a background of a higher number of recorded fires, the area of forest land crossed by fires declined by a factor of more than two from 748.5 thousand hectares in 1993 to 360.1 thousand in 1995. Brush fires were more widespread. Human activity remains the main cause of fires (about 88 per cent of all outbreaks).

Roslezkhoz is carrying a number of further measures in order to apply the principles embodied in the Concept of Russia's environmental security.

In order to comply with the principle of acceptable levels of impact on the environment, standards for the maximum permissible concentrations of pollutants in the atmosphere for the main coniferous species have been drawn up and recommended for approval in a number of regions of the country. There are also plans to step up the work on a schedule of pollutants, primarily ozone, and the establishment of critical levels (loads), taking into account the effect of the accumulation and fall-out of phytotoxic substances, in order to set standards for environmental impact as a whole and introduce procedures for applying these standards.

The development of a system of tree disease monitoring will be continued in order to identify and rehabilitate damaged areas and ensure systematic maintenance. Disease monitoring, which is an integral part of forest monitoring, provides an operational and constant check on tree diseases in forests affected by various factors and facilitates timely decisions on carrying out forest management work to rehabilitate the damaged areas.

The implementation of this programme requires the drafting of a number of standard-setting documents: methodology for the selection and location of facilities, criteria for the evaluation of the condition of forests, and improved methods of evaluation and forecasting of developments so that decisions can be taken for the necessary action. The special-purpose reforestation programme provides for the further development of biological methods of protecting forests against pests. To this end, work is being conducted under the auspices of the Scientific Research Institute on a number of topics with a view to the improvement of aerial fire fighting techniques and production of bacterial and viral preparations which will make it possible to reduce the use of chemical insecticides to protect forests.

The radioactive pollution of forest land has brought about significant changes and constraints in the social sphere, in the system of forest use, in reforestation and in forest protection.

For the total area of forest land affected by the Chernobyl accident, the direct losses alone from unrealised profits owing to the reduction of the volume of principal and intermittent use and to unused economically accessible resources for by-products total at least 7-10 billion roubles a year (at August 1993 prices).

The area of forests polluted by radionuclides, determined by a quarterly land-based radiation survey during 1991-1994, as a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station totals 1,230.2 thousand hectares, as a result of the many years of operation of the Mayak industrial combine - 647 thousand hectares, and as a result of the testing of nuclear weapons before the introduction of the ban on surface and air nuclear explosions - 271.5 thousand hectares.

In accordance with the concept of introducing forest management in polluted areas, the basic task is to enhance the ecological role of the forests as a biochemical barrier to the passage of radioactive materials out of the polluted areas.

The total area of destroyed forest totalled 171.2 thousand hectares in 1993 and 225.3 thousand in 1994. The increase in the area of destroyed forest was due primarily to fires. In 1995 the area of forest lost was 162.1 thousand hectares, 5.3 per cent less than in 1993 and 28 per cent less than in 1994.

The period 1993-1995 saw an increase in the area of forest in which action is being taken to protect the trees against pests and diseases, and the substantial growth in the volume of such measures is due to the need to suppress population explosions of the Siberian silk-spinning moth.

However, in 1993-1995 there was no increase and even a small decrease in the area covered by aerial fire-protection services - for familiar reasons.

Modernization of production technology

Owing to the crisis in the timber production and processing industry and the continuing economic recession, production equipment is not being renewed and new technology and equipment are not being introduced. Only five per cent of existing equipment is up to modern standards and more than half requires modification, while a part requires total replacement. As a result of the decline in the output of forestry industry products the take-up of production capacity has fallen to an extremely low level.

As a result of the introduction of machine methods in the forestry enterprises accounting for 65 per cent of the timber exports of the former USSR, the level of mechanization of basic timber operations in 1990 was:

1. Felling - 38.4 per cent of all work;
2. Chokerless skidding - 41.9 per cent;
3. Dressing of trunks - 58.8 per cent;
4. Stump removal - 42.6 per cent.
The level of mechanization of labour employed in timber enterprises increased over the past five years from 44 to 49.7 per cent, including an increase in basic logging work from 50.1 to 57.3 per cent.

However, at present the total timber technology in use does not meet the industry's existing requirements, which envisage limiting the specific pressure of machinery on the ground to 0.4-0.5 kg/cm and protection of 60 to 70 per cent of the new growth at felling sites.

Despite the existing objective difficulties, one of the priorities for forestry production remains the transition to advanced technology guaranteeing a high standard of mechanized operations while complying with the environmental requirements.

Free enterprise

The "Bases of forestry legislation" adopted in March 1993 replaced the former system of timber resource bases with a leasing system and transferred all roundwood production to a commercial footing. This led to a restructuring of the first link - forest cultivation (forestry as such) and the felling of forests (forestry industry) - in the chain of the utilization of forestry resources to deliver forest products. Forestry production, in the broad sense, includes the results of all possible means of utilization of forest resources and production of goods and services connected with forestry.

However, the numerous private logging and timber processing enterprises, supported by the local authorities, are endeavouring to speed up the turnover of scarce capital, i.e. to achieve greater independence from the central authorities and federal management.

Here there is a need for new forms of balanced development of the numerous private enterprises in the forestry industry, which are moreover extremely unevenly distributed over the territory of the European-Urals part of Russia.

The system of forest use is currently at the formative stage. It is based on the numerous (more than 2,000 in the European-Urals part of Russia) forestry organizations and enterprises and joint-stock companies. The overwhelming majority of them are private bodies.

December 1992 saw the creation of the Association of Forestry Enterprises of Russia, an organization with a membership of more than 800 companies, partnerships, firms and enterprises in the forestry industry, which represents forestry interests in the various federal legislative and executive bodies. The Russian State Forestry Corporation "Roslesprom" was established in January 1993.

Some of the forestry enterprises have joined the Roslesprom joint-stock corporation, some the Russian Forestry Industrialists joint-stock corporation, some the Karellesprom joint-stock company, and some the Komilesprom joint-stock company, etc.

At present Russia has 3,500 specialized State logging, saw mill and timber processing enterprises and about 33,000 different logging, processing and marketing firms.

All these organizations have been created on the basis of the organizational structure of the forestry industry complex of the former USSR.

Non-timber forestry resources and their processing

According to the forestry legislation of the Russian Federation, in addition to roundwood production the following forms of forest use are allowed in Russia's forests:
1. Resin production;
2. Production of secondary forestry products (stumps, bast, bark including birch bark, and fir, spruce and pine branches);
3. Subsidiary forest uses (haymaking, cattle grazing, bee keeping, sap collection, gathering of wild fruits, mushrooms, berries, nuts, medicinal plants and raw materials, and gathering of moss, litter, fallen leaves, reeds, etc.);
4. Use of forests for hunting and game management.
In 1994, in accordance with the requirements of the forestry legislation of the Russian Federation, the "Fundamental regulations on the conduct of subsidiary activities in the forests of the Russian Federation" were drafted and adopted; they deal with the legal, economic, environmental and social aspects of this question.

Secondary forest materials, subsidiary forestry activities and hunting are of special importance in the daily lives of the local population, which is heavily dependent on the forest. Secondary forest materials have traditionally included industrial materials, fodder and materials for decorative and applied art.

The industrial materials basically of tannins and natural dyes.

The commonest animal feed is the vitamin meal obtained from the branches of coniferous species and fed to cattle.

Decorative and applied art products - willow and birch baskets, wooden spoons, carved wooden animals, etc. - have been in strong demand, especially in recent years. Many of the products of our local craftsmen are destined for export.

Secondary forest materials are collected by the people both for their own use and for procurement organizations.

The supply of secondary forest materials is sufficient to meet the needs of the local population and their handicraft activities. The industrial shortage of such raw materials is due solely to a shortage of labour to collect them.

An analysis of the use of plants growing wild in the forest says much about the economic and social situation of the country but little about the capacity of its natural resources, which are clearly underused. A comparison of the average use of secondary forest materials over many years with the average harvest of food products from the forest which could be gathered for industrial uses shows that the average exploitation of this resource for the whole country is no more than 30-40 per cent.

Following the country's transition to a new economic course, there are plans for a more rational approach to the solution of the problem of the use of forest food products to meet the needs of the national economy, and for the issue of the desirability of the production of any specific type of product in any given region to be decided in the light of strict economic accounting.

These issues must be resolved on the basis of the value of the timber itself and taking into account the economic and environmental consequences of the decisions. A land-survey evaluation of forest land is currently being made, and the values are expressed in roubles per unit of forest area for each type of forest and in each specific region.

Recreation

The fundamental provisions of the forestry legislation of the Russian Federation provide for the designation of categories of forest for health and recuperation purposes. These include urban forests, health-resort forests, and forests in green belts around towns and other settlements and industrial enterprises.

For the purposes of organized leisure and tourism, in addition to the categories of forest mentioned above, in 1983 a start was made on the creation of national parks. In 1988 Russia had nine such parks with a total area of 1,300 thousand hectares. In 1994 there were 26 of them, with a total area of 6,410.2 thousand hectares, and in 1996 33 parks with a total area of 97,360.8 thousand hectares. Additional national parks will be established. The number of areas of the country's forests designated for recreational use will also be increased.

The increase in the number of private automobiles has brought with it an increase in the number of people spending their holidays and rest days in the countryside and the forest. It has become increasingly common for people to take activity holidays canoeing on mountain rivers and streams in the taiga, for every opportunity exists for this type of holiday. During the summer holidays the recreational demands on the forest sharply increase, resulting in some regions in the trampling of plantations, damage to the topsoil (due especially to the gathering of berries and mushrooms) and even its outright destruction.
Protection of the genetic stock, and specially protected areas

Russia's protected areas are divided into four categories: reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and natural monuments. The reserves are of greatest importance for protection of the biodiversity of the forest landscape. By 1994 Russia had 85 reserves, some of them established 75 years earlier. The number and huge extent of the reserves testify to an understanding of their significance for the conservation of nature in the wild.

The national nature parks which are being created have many different functions, one of which is the conservation of the biodiversity of the forest, including the diversity of ecosystems and species and genetic diversity.

Under the amended project to establish a coherent network of national parks by 2005, the plan is to create an additional 46 parks with a total area of 11 million hectares. Under the existing legislation national parks are foundations for the conservation of nature, including natural systems and sites of special ecological, historical and aesthetic value designated for use for nature-conservation, recreational, educational, scientific and cultural purposes.

Russia's national parks and reserves have a great diversity of animals and plants. They contain about 1.5 thousand species of taller plants, of which 120 are classified as rare and endangered plants, while 47 species are included in Russia's Red Book. The national parks contain a large number of exotics (more than 70 species) and 103 species of relict.

Conservation of biological diversity is one of the fundamental functions of the reserves and national parks. There are many species of rare fauna: animals (64 species), birds (210), fish (28), and amphibians and reptiles (20).

Seven species of bird are registered in Russia's Red Book.

As well as plants and animals the national parks also contain many valuable historical and cultural sites.

International Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Drought and/or Desertification

Particularly in Africa

Convention: not signed or ratified by Russia.

The latest report to the Secretariat of the Convention was prepared in 19--.

*A latest report has not been submitted to the Secretariat of the Convention.

Additional comments relevant to this chapter

In accordance with an instruction of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 17 October 1995, the Russian Federation is participating in preparatory meetings for the Convention and after its entry into force it will participate in conferences of the parties as an observer. At the same time the relevant ministries and offices and subjects of the Federation experiencing serious problems of drought and desertification are proceeding with their detailed study of the possibility of Russia's becoming a fully fledged party to the Convention.

At no time in its history has Russia had a special State policy for the socio-economic development of its mountain regions. By virtue of the geographical location of 70 per cent of its territory, Russia is a northern country and it has such policies only for the northern indigenous peoples and territories.

Some of the republics of the North Caucasus (Dagestan, North Osetiya-Alaniya) carry out their own programmes to support the development of mountain regions, which are generally poor and almost totally dependent on the federal and republic budgets.

The specific features of mountain territories are taken into account in some indicators in the State sectors of the economy.

With regard to the state of the environment and resources and the problems of socio-economic development Russia's mountain regions differ substantially from each other, depending on their geographical location and history of assimilation.

The North Caucasus has a "fuller spectrum of problems", typical of many mountain regions in the world. The war in Chechnya and the territorial conflict between the Republics of North Osetiya-Alaniya and Ingushetiya are without doubt the dominating problem of the current socio-economic development of the North Caucasus. This is one of Russia's most acute and complex political problems, deeply rooted in history, and so far found no solution has been found for it. However, the Government of the Russian Federation and the authorities of the Chechen Republic are even now working on plans for the postwar development of Chechnya.

For the uninhabited mountains of the high plains (Khibiny range, Novaya Zemlya) and the thinly settled Urals social problems do not have any priority. The main priorities are the problems of environmental protection and rational use of natural resources:
- Pollution of the atmosphere and surface waters by emissions from industrial enterprises (central Urals, Khibiny);
- Monitoring of the radioactive pollution of groundwater and the countryside as a result of underground nuclear tests (at the Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site and also in the Perm region in the southern Urals, where nuclear tests were carried out from 1969 to 1987);
- The felling of mountain forests is leading to changes in their structure and species diversity (northern Urals), which is reducing the average annual drainage by up to 10 per cent. As a result of atmospheric pollution by mining and iron and steel industries areas of phytopathogenic damage are becoming established in the mountain ecosystems of the Khibiny range;
- Emplacement of mining wastes (tips, tailing dumps, etc.);
- Recultivation of land and rehabilitation of the countryside;
- Improvement of the network of specially protected areas.

The years of reform in Russia have seen radical changes in the structure of agriculture. Virtually all agricultural enterprises have been reformed, about 300,000 peasant farms have been established, and the processing and marketing of agricultural products have undergone significant changes as a result of widespread privatization.

However, unfavourable developments in general economic conditions at certain stages and the serious financial difficulties, together with the problems of the transitional period in agriculture itself, could not fail to have an impact on the sector. This impact has manifested itself in particular in a decline in State allocations, the emergence of price disparities for the means of production and for farm output, and a significant decrease in the supply of the means of production.

In addition to all this there is the openness of the external market, which has created serious competition for the Russian producer. Today Russia imports more than a quarter of its consumer meat products and a seventh of its dairy products.

At the same time Russia generally manages to avoid importing grain and a number of other basic agricultural products.

Generally speaking, the situation of Russia's agriculture and food supply market must be described as problematic. A whole range of measures is required, together with a consistent macroeconomic, agrarian and foreign trade policy for the development of domestic production as a key factor in the sustainable development of agriculture.

This was the reason for the drafting the "Programme of stabilization and development of agro-industrial production for 1996-2000", which has been confirmed by the President of the Russian Federation. This programme gives priority to the creation of the economic preconditions and infrastructure for increased production and market activity on the part of agricultural producers.

What is envisaged is a system of measures of State regulation and solid support for the country's agro-industrial complex.

The implementation of this programme is designed to ensure the sustainable development of Russia's agriculture and secure a substantial improvement in the supply of consumer foodstuffs.

Convention on Biological Diversity

Convention: Signed in 1992; Ratified in 1995.

Latest report submitted in 19--.
By Order No. 669 of 1 July 1995 the Government entrusted the organization of the fulfilment of the obligations of the Russian Federation under this Convention to the former Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, now the State Environmental Protection Committee. In order to coordinate the fulfilment of these obligations, an inter-departmental commission on problems of biological diversity has been created by a Governmental Order.

At its meetings this commission has considered a number of questions connected with the drafting of a national strategy on biodiversity, the inclusion of specific measures for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in sectoral plans, and the establishment of a data base.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora

Convention signed in 1974.
Latest report submitted in 1995.

In 1994 the Government of the Russian Federation adopted a special Order stating that the functions of administrative organ for CITES would be performed by the former Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, now the State Environmental Protection Committee, and specifying the priority measures for fulfilment of obligations under the Convention, taking into account the new situation resulting from the break-up of the USSR.

With a view to the introduction of measures to strengthen control of the procurement, trading and passage across customs frontiers of CITES specimens, a plan has been approved for collaboration between the federal executive organs (environmental protection, law enforcement, quarantine and postal communications).

Similar plans have been drawn up in 28 subjects of the Russian Federation. In 1995 Russia reviewed the reservations concerning the CITES annexes, which had been entered earlier by the USSR. Action is being taken to improve the effectiveness of the standard-setting legal framework with respect to species of animals and plants registered in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. With the financial support of Switzerland, Germany, IUCN and a number of other organizations, two teaching seminars have been held for the CIS countries, a handbook on the animals included in the CITES annex has been published in Russian, and a popular coloured booklet entitled "Import and export of endangered species of fauna and flora" has been produced and published. Effective cooperation is being established with the customs authorities. Between November 1994 and March 1995, 300 parrots and 28 monkeys were confiscated at Sheremetev-2 international airport alone.

Additional comments relevant to this chapter

The national legislation is being improved. In recent years bills have been submitted on "The animal world", "Regulation of genetic engineering", and "The continental shelf of the Russian Federation". In 1995 the President confirmed a special-purpose federal programme of support for State nature reserves and national parks for the period up to 2000. This programme provides for the creation of 36 new reserves and 28 national parks. In 1995-1996 the Government strengthened the measures for conservation and sustainable use of sites where especially rare and threatened animals are found. Russia is carrying out a special State programme on biological diversity. A project on the conservation of biological diversity is being carried out with the support of the World Bank and the Global Environment Facility.

The problem of the environmentally sound use of biotechnology is becoming all the more urgent for Russia in view of the fairly intensive development of biotechnology in the country's scientific institutions, the extension of the range of recombined products used for various purposes, and the need to ensure the safety of transboundary technology transfers and of genetically modified organisms and/or their products.

In this connection the creation of a legal and regulatory framework for biodiversity has become an urgent national priority.

In June 1996 Russia adopted a law on "State regulation of genetic engineering activities", which had been drafted by the State Committee on Science and Technology, the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of the Environment. Experts from OECD, UNIDO and UNESCO took part in the preliminary amendment of the law.

This federal law is based on:
- The general principles of biological safety set out in OECD and UNEP documents (international principles of safety techniques in biotechnology) and in the voluntary codes of UNIDO, FAO, etc.;
- The concept of risk assessment and management focused on the "biotechnology product" and the corresponding authorization and notification system for genetic engineering activities;
- A system of technical protocols: the security rules governing work with organisms modified by genetic engineering (micro-organisms, transgenetic plants and animals) and their handling or release into the environment.

Machinery for implementation of this federal law is currently being established, including:
- The creation of a biological security infrastructure, primarily for genetic engineering and biotechnology;
- The establishment of a national commission on biological security and working commissions on biological security in organizations engaging in genetic engineering;
- Drafting of sector-specific technical safety rules and protocols;
- Creation of an authorization and notification system for genetic engineering and biotechnology on the basis of a system of risk assessment and management;
- Development of a system of notification and standardization to set standards of liability and compensation;
- Creation of an information network with centralized and decentralized data banks.

Further work on Russia's legal and regulatory framework for biotechnology will seek to harmonize it with the existing regulations (at the national and world levels) and with international agreements.

1. Protection of oceans, all kinds of seas, including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and coastal areas.

These questions are very important to the Russian Federation because it possesses very large coastal areas. Russia's maritime part (shelf) alone constitutes one-third of the whole of its territory. The total length of the shores of the world's oceans is 777,000 kilometres, and Russia has 60,000 kilometres of shoreline. Russia's seas have a severe climate, and maritime activities require well organized and sophisticated hydrometeorlogical services.

Under its marine research programme, new methods of marine forecasting have been devised and are being brought into operational use; the foundations have been laid for a modern national system for processing marine data, including the use of super-computers; and marine information systems are being developed in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Regular Antarctic research activities are continuing, together with work at an extensive network of Antarctic stations located on the ice continent.

A water quality monitoring programme has been in operation for some time now in the territorial waters of the former USSR. In spite of the economic difficulties, this programme will be continued in the territorial waters of the Russian Federation (at a level determined by available resources). A decision has been taken to establish a national reporting centre under the MARPOLMON programme.

Russia has a standing programme of data collection, analysis, evaluation and application with a view to rational resource use, including evaluation of the environmental impact of activities affecting coastal and marine regions. Data bases are being created for evaluation and rational use of coastal regions and all seas and their resources, and measures are being carried out to support the regular monitoring of the state of the environment of coastal and marine regions.

Efforts are being made to combat the effects of the rise in the level of the Caspian Sea. A system is being developed for forecasting the level of the Caspian over various time spans, and it will be capable of predicting erratic changes. For example, the latest forecast of a change in the average level of the Caspian Sea for one year ahead, produced at Russia's hydrometeorlogical centre in 1996, predicts a slight drop.

In developing the system of forecasting and other services considerable attention is given to improving the components on the forecasting and detection of dangerous natural phenomena, such as high water levels, storm waves and tidal waves, and to an early-warning and response system for such phenomena.

In connection with its marine activities and use of marine resources Russia is extensively engaged in international work under the auspices of the United Nations and other international governmental and non-governmental organizations, and in bilateral and multilateral cooperation. In this connection the Russian Federation:

- Participates in scientific research on and observation of the marine environment;

- Conducts an active exchange of data and information resulting from scientific research and systematic observation through a network of world, regional and national centres.

At present the Russian Federation has several data banks of direct relevance to the international programmes of WMO, including the World Weather Watch (WWW), and of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC), as well as to other global observation systems, and takes an active part in international cooperation in the exchange of data and information and their storage and in the creation of archives through world and regional data centres.

In cooperation with IOC, WHO, UNEP, ICSU and other international organizations, the Russian Federation is taking an active part in planning and preparing to implement the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS).

Together with countries bordering on the Sea of Japan (China, Republic of Korea, Japan) Russia is participating in the NEARGOOS project under the GOOS programme. Similar activities are being developed with the Black Sea countries. Russia has in operation an extensive system for the training of experts in marine hydrometeorology and oceanography and it is working under the programme of training, education and mutual assistance (TEMA).

The Russian Federation is helping to strengthen international cooperation for the protection and rational use of seas and oceans. It is active in the following programmes:
- The marine aspects of WWW;
- The marine programmes of IOC, WMO, UNEP, ICSU, IMO, ICES and other international organizations;
- The marine components of global systems for monitoring climate and droughts and of the Global Ocean Observing System;
- Marine pollution monitoring programmes.
Great importance is attached to expanding regional cooperation in the Black and Azov Seas and in the Caspian, Baltic, Japan and Bering Seas.
Other matters of fundamental importance for the Russian Federation are the forthcoming use of the northern sea route by international shipping and international cooperation in the Russian sector of the Arctic.
The Russian Federation has concluded the latest cycle of research under the federal programme "Comprehensive research in oceans and seas and in the Arctic and Antarctic", which included the following components:
- The physical fields of Russia's seas and the oceans, their interaction with the atmosphere, and the forecasting of short-range changes in the ocean climate;
- The chemical regime of Russia's seas and the oceans, mineral and raw material resources, hydrochemical bases of bioproductivity, and anthropogenic changes in the state of the waters;
- Ecosystem dynamics, and biological structure and resources of Russia's seas and the oceans;
- The geosphere of oceans and seas; composition, structure, development, forecasting and evaluation of mineral resources;
- Arctic. Natural environment and its sustainability, mineral and biological resources, hydrometeorlogical forecasting, and climate;
- Antarctic. Natural environment and global change trends;
- Technical ways and means of measurement, collection and processing of environmental data; computer technology;
- Russia's seas. Natural resources and environmental situation; drafting of recommendations on rational use of natural resources;
- Economic, political and legal problems of scientific research on and use of the space and resources of the world's oceans (especially Russia's sea space), the Arctic and Antarctic, and measures to maintain their environmental security.

The results obtained will be used to develop activities for the protection of oceans and different kinds of seas, and for the conservation, rational use and development of marine bioresources.

The further expansion of these activities requires a scientifically balanced approach. Accordingly, the special-purpose federal programme "World Ocean" which is under preparation envisages coordination of regional programmes for monitoring phenomena occurring in coastal areas and coastal waters and connected with climate change, as well as monitoring of the parameters of research of key significance for the rational use of marine and coastal areas in all regions. Individual sections of this federal programme are concerned with improvement of the forecasting of the marine environment to ensure the safety and efficient conduct of marine activities, as well as with questions of the rational use

of marine resources and protection of the marine environment.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: signed in 1982.

In July 1996 the Government of the Russian Federation approved the Convention and submitted it to the President for transmission to the State Duma for ratification.

2. Protection, rational use and development of living resources

The world fishing industry is constantly developing in both positive and negative directions. On the one hand, there are the increased catches in certain parts of the world's oceans, vigorous development of fish farming, expansion of world trade in fish products, and improvement of consumer supplies of fish and seafoods in many countries. On the other hand, the development of sea fishing is accompanied by over-exploitation of many of the most valuable stocks and over-capitalization in the industry due partly to uncontrolled access to bioresources and partly to the State protection of the industry in many countries.

In order for Russia's problems to be understood, especially in the light of the decisions of UNCED, it is necessary to give a brief description of the situation in the country's fishing industry.

Russia's fishing industry has entered a period of acute crisis, with a decline in catches and output of food products and, most of important of all, a decrease in the availability of fish products in Russia, something which is unjustified given the shortage of foodstuffs in general and of animal protein in particular.

Together with the domestic economic difficulties of Russia's fishing industry, serious new problems have arisen in the international situation. This is primarily a matter of water- resource and fisheries relations with the former republics of the Soviet Union which are now sovereign States - Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Khazakstan and Turkmenistan. Russia has to solve these extremely complicated and entirely new problems of an international legal and economic nature for the regions of the Caspian, Black and Baltic Seas.

Some of the difficulties which Russia's fishing industry is experiencing are specific to our country, but there are many global reasons for the worsening of the situation:

- Decline of basic stocks for valuable traditional products of the industry, together with a drop in catches per unit;
- Overall decline in the economic indicators of the activities of the fleet and shore enterprises;
- Intensification of uncontrolled international fishing on the high seas and, in particular, in the northern Pacific Ocean and Barents Sea;
- Use of unselective equipment and fishing techniques, etc.
Accordingly, Russia has a serious interest in broad international cooperation in the rational exploitation of the
bioresources of the world's oceans as a means of checking these negative trends.

See also the tables set out below.

According to the figures of the State Water Survey, in 1995 the total withdrawal of water from natural sources in the Russian Federation amounted to 96.8 km3, practically unchanged from the 1994 volume of 96.2 km3.

Owing to the poor quality of water from these sources and a number of other reasons, the country's existing system of drinking water supply is in a critical situation. More than 40 per cent of the pipelines carrying water from surface sources and supplying 68 per cent of urban and about 10 per cent of rural consumers do not have the necessary purification equipment and cannot guarantee totally decontaminated and purified water; many withdrawal facilities (one in four) are not surrounded by protection zones, and where such zones do exist, they mostly violate the existing regulations.

The pollution of natural sources and the drinking water supply owing to inadequate filtration and purification equipment means that the drinking water delivered to the consumer is of poor quality and constitutes a serious threat to human health in many regions of Russia, contributing to a high level of intestinal infections and hepatitis and to an increased risk of carcinogenic and mutagenic factors affecting the human organism.

According to official figures, half the inhabitants of the Russian Federation have to use drinking water which does not meet a number of hygiene standards, almost a third of the country's population uses local sources of supply without appropriate treatment, and a number of regions suffer from a shortage of drinking water and from associated hygiene and sanitation problems.

The acute problem of the quality of the drinking water supply is being vigorously addressed in many regions.

Work to improve the technical and technological standards of the water industry is proceeding in several areas:
- Development of energy- and resource-saving technology to prevent the pollution of natural water sources and rehabilitate their ecosystems;
- Development of new installations, equipment, instruments and computer systems to ensure a safe, reliable and controlled water supply;
- Improvement of methods of monitoring natural water sources;
- Creation of the scientific framework and provision of the technological and technical means for protecting water facilities against pollution from surface run-off;
- Creation of an economic machinery for the water industry adapted to market conditions and facilitating adequate financing of water management activities.
Russia's fundamental water management policy consists of the rehabilitation and maintenance of natural water sources in a stable state in order to guarantee a sustainable supply. This is the aim of the special-purpose federal programmes "Rebirth of the Volga", "The Caspian", "Drinking water supply for Russia's people", "Flood-prevention measures", "Fundamental improvement of water management and the environmental situation in the River Tom basin", "Improvement of the quality of Moscow's drinking water supply", etc.

In order to attain the established goals, the following policies are to be carried out for the benefit of the basic users:
- Industry: improvement of the local purification of waste waters and introduction of closed water supply systems in order to reduce the volume of pollution, especially by heavy-metal penetration of purification installations and water sources;
- Consumers: measures to ensure the commissioning of every planned purification plant, construction of installations for the repurification of waste waters and limitation of the penetration of waste waters from industrial enterprises;
- Agriculture: in view of the pollution of water facilities by dispersed drainage from farm land and livestock complexes, implementation of a set of agro-technology measures to reduce the flow of pollutants;
- Water transport: measures to clear submerged timber and fully eliminate the unrafted floating of logs on rivers.

Activities connected with the environmental monitoring of the handling of waste products encompass everything connected with the generation, collection, storage, processing, transport and disposal of industrial and consumer wastes.

Inventories have been made or are being made of sites for the storage or disposal of industrial and consumer wastes in the Republic of Mordovia and in the Kaliningrad, Kostroma, Ivanovsk, Volgograd, Novosibirsk and Astrakhan regions and the Altai area, as well as in a number of other parts of Russia. These inventories will facilitate the systematic treatment of information on sites for storage or disposal of wastes, determination of the types of wastes accumulated at these sites, including by category of risk, and evaluation of the conditions and situation at the sites and the degree of their impact on the environment.

The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal

Basel Convention : Signed in 1989; Ratified in 1994.
The latest information was provided to the Basel Convention Secretariat in 1996.

Additional comments relevant to this chapter

The situation in Russia with regard to the generation, use, treatment, storage and disposal of wastes is leading to dangerous pollution of the environment, irrational use of natural resources and considerable economic damage, and represents a real threat to human health.

The accumulation of toxic wastes at dumps and tips is causing particular alarm (see statistical data).

The drafting of an effective State policy for waste management has not been completed. The transition to a market economy has not led to any increase in the reprocessing of wastes.

The Government of the Russian Federation has confirmed a special-purpose federal programme ("Wastes") and has produced a draft federal law on industrial and consumer wastes.

A number of federal and regional programmes provide for the implementation of pilot projects to solve the problem of wastes in the Russian Federation.

The Government of the Russian Federation has confirmed a special-purpose federal programme ("Wastes") and produced a draft federal law on industrial and consumer wastes.

A number of federal and regional programmes provide for the implementation of pilot projects to solve the problem of wastes in the Russian Federation.

One aim is to establish a standardized regional system for the management of the handling of industrial and consumer wastes and the improvement, development and application of regulatory and methodological instruments in this area in 1995-1996. The Ministry of the Environment is carrying out an experiment in the handling of hazardous industrial and consumer wastes. The Republics of Bashkortostan, Komi and North Osetiya are taking part in this experiment, together with the Bryansk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Ivanovsk, Kalush, Kirov, Moscow, Rostov, Smolensk, Tomsk, Chelyabinsk, Yaroslavl and Astrakhan regions. One aspect of the experiment is the development of a system of regulatory instruments on the handling of wastes.

As well as creating a standardized system of waste management at the regional level, the intention is to prepare proposals for the establishment of the computerized information and data base necessary for the taking of decisions on improvement of the environmental situation with respect to the handling of wastes, develop a standardized organizational structure, and expand cooperation in waste management at the federal and regional levels.

Over recent years the Ministry of the Environment and other relevant ministries and offices have been continuing their work on the amendment and completion of the State register of places and sites of generation, movement, reprocessing, use, storage and disposal of radioactive materials and wastes which are sources of ionizing radiation.

The summary data on the volume of radioactive wastes and spent nuclear fuel located at enterprises of the various offices is given in tables 1, 2 and 3.

Enterprises of Minatom (the atomic energy ministry), where most of Russia's radiochemical production is concentrated (Mayak industrial combine, Siberian chemical combine, mining-chemical combine) remain potential sources of radioactive pollution of adjoining land. In the course of their activities they have accumulated a large volume of liquid and solid wastes, with a total radioactivity of 1.5 billion Ci.

One source of particular concern is the concentration of medium- and low-level liquid wastes in open radioactive waste storage reservoirs at these enterprises.

Lake Karachai, which until recently was a disposal site for medium-level wastes, has a radioactivity of about 120 million Ci, mainly from strontium-90 and cesium-137. Following the termination of the release into the lake of wastes from the radiochemical industry, the cascade of the industrial reservoirs created in the flood plains of the upper reaches of the River Techa had an accumulation of 350 million cubic metres of polluted water, mainly low-level wastes with a total activity of about 200,000 Ci.

The presence of surface storage reservoirs for liquid wastes results in the penetration of radioactive substances into the groundwater. A lens of polluted groundwater has formed under Lake Karachai with a volume of about four million cubic metres and an area of 10 square kilometres. The rate of movement of the polluted groundwater is up to 80 metres a year. It is possible that these waters will penetrate into other water-bearing structures and deliver radionuclides into the hydrographic system.

At present the country's 29 nuclear power stations are storing 140,000 cubic metres of liquid wastes with a total radioactivity of 29,000 Ci, eight thousand cubic metres of solidified wastes with an activity of 2,000 Ci, and 120,000 cubic metres of solid wastes (equipment, construction debris).

At present none of Russia's nuclear power stations has a full complement of equipment for the preparation of solid and liquid radioactive wastes for disposal, and at some stations the liquid wastes are reprocessed at bitumenization plants (Leningrad and Kalinin stations) or evaporation plants (Balakov, Kalinin and Novoronezh stations).

Radioactive wastes are also generated by the operation of nuclear research reactors and the use of radionuclides in medicine, industry, agriculture and scientific research. The producers of wastes in this category are Russia's numerous scientific research organizations, industrial enterprises, medical and teaching institutions, which operate more than 400,000 different sources of ionizing radiation and which are mostly located in regions of high population density. For the disposal of such wastes Russia has 16 radioactive waste disposal facilities (excluding the Grosny special combine, which is located in an area of military conflict).

At present these sites are holding an accumulation of about 200,000 cubic metres of wastes with a total radioactivity of about two million Ci.

With the exception of the Moscow facility, which has a developed infrastructure including a scientific research and experimental complex working on the development and introduction of new technologies for the reprocessing of radioactive wastes and on environmental techniques and systems, the equipment and technology in use at these sites is not up to modern standards, and their storage capacity is either exhausted or extremely limited. A number of the facilities require new sites for the disposal of wastes. Questions of the funding of these facilities and their activities have not yet been resolved.

The radioactive waste disposal facilities are also responsible for the reception and isolation of wastes resulting not from the nuclear fuel cycle but from accidents in operations involving sources of ionizing radiation or radioactive materials. Their technical management is the responsibility of the Moscow scientific production combine "Radon". The system for control of the whole process of radio-isotope production in the country is not perfect, so that not all spent sources of ionizing radiation reach the disposal facilities, and instances of their uncontrolled release into the environment occur.

Since 1963 84 low-yield underground nuclear explosions have been carried out in various regions of the country at the request of the Ministry of Geology of the USSR, the Ministry of Petroleum of the USSR and the Ministry of Gas of the USSR in order to create underground storage capacity, extinguish fires at gas wells, increase oil production, and conduct soundings of the earth's crust for the purpose of large-scale mineral prospecting. The majority of these sites have fulfilled their purpose and can now be regarded as closed, but some sites are still being operated or are only temporarily closed. The radioactivity of the materials generated by the explosions has been estimated at several million Ci. Most of these materials are found in cooled molten rock at depths from 600 to 2,800 metres. The land in these areas requires careful investigation and, if necessary, rehabilitation. This work is not being carried out either, owing to the lack of financing.

One of the most serious shortcomings remains the failure to solve problems connected with the operation of nuclear submarines, the management of radioactive wastes and spent nuclear fuel at Russia's naval stations, and the operation of the nuclear ice-breaking fleet.

At present 121 nuclear submarines (70 from the Northern Fleet and 51 from the Pacific Fleet) have been decommissioned, and the nuclear cores have been unloaded from 42 vessels (Northern Fleet -18, Pacific Fleet - 24). Temporary mothballing stations are being built for the decommissioned submarines. Eight have been scrapped after removal of their nuclear compartments, nine have been prepared for long-term mothballing afloat, and 13 are at naval bases and shipyards being scrapped or prepared for mothballing afloat. Ninety-one decommissioned nuclear submarines are permanently moored in an unsatisfactory technical condition; with an overall service life of 32-35 years, up to 40 per cent of them have undergone no maintenance or repairs for more than 10 years, and it is extremely difficult to keep them afloat. In most cases the spent fuel remains in the reactors for 15 or more years. Four of the decommissioned vessels have damaged reactors, and means of disposing of them have not yet been devised.

The storage facilities for the spent fuel of the joint-stock company "Murmansk Merchant Shipping" (Lotta, Lepse and Imandra merchant shipping bases) are completely full. The same is true of the shore-based and floating storage facilities for the spent nuclear fuel of the Russian Navy (four shore-based and nine floating facilities). All but three of the floating facilities were built in the 1960s; they are in theory and in practice obsolete and owing to their poor operational order they are unable fully to perform the functions required of them.

Murmansk Merchant Shipping has experimental industrial plant for the treatment of liquid radioactive wastes (Filter-4, Filter-5), which can reprocess not only the liquid wastes generated by the ice-breaking fleet but also the wastes produced by the Navy. In 1994 840 cubic metres of such wastes were reprocessed.

However, the most serious radioactive waste situation is found in the Pacific Fleet. Following the banning of the dumping of radioactive wastes at sea in 1993, the volume of wastes has steadily increased. Owing to its unsatisfactory condition, TNT-5 (a storage vessel) was transferred from Kamen Bay to Pavlovsk Bay and grounded in the shallows in order to avoid its capsizing or sinking at the jetty. This cannot be regarded as a solution of the problem, for owing to the absorption of radionuclides from wastes into the metal of its tanks the hull of TNT-5 itself constitutes solid radioactive waste.

At present in the Russian Federation State monitoring of the condition of the environment, use of natural resources, and atmospheric pollution, as well as environmental monitoring in general and the solution of other environmental protection problems are the responsibility of the State Environmental Protection Committee, the Federal Forestry Service, the Ministry of Natural Resources, and the federal hydrometeorology and cartography services; the relevant expenditures are identified in a separate section of the federal budget entitled "Protection of the environment and natural resources, hydrometeorology, cartography and geodesy".

These resources are intended for the conduct of State environmental monitoring activities, the organization and maintenance of reserves and national parks under the special-purpose federal programme of support for State nature reserves and national parks up to 2000, and the implementation of the special-purpose programmes on Russia's forests and protection of forests against fires.

Allocations are also made for coastal-protection and flood-prevention works, repair of dams, dredging of river deltas, cleaning of reservoirs, and maintenance of pumping stations and hydrological installations, and for other measures connected with the sustainment, protection and rehabilitation of natural water sources and for the maintenance by these means of a good-quality water supply for household and business consumers.

The federal budget makes allocations for the implementation of the special-purpose programme on the development of the hydrometeorlogical services of the national economy in 1994, 1995 and up to 2000, which covers the provision of hydrometeorlogical services for the national economy and the public, the defence of the Russian Federation, hydrometeorlogical monitoring and the provision of information to the national economy about the emergence of dangerous natural hydrometeorlogical phenomena.

The federal budget allocates resources for topographical-geodesic and cartographic work, remote sounding of the earth, the demarcation of the frontiers of the Russian Federation and the correct use of geographical names, and also for the implementation of the special-purpose federal programmes on development of seismological observations and forecasting of earthquakes for 1995-2000 and for the introduction of advanced technology in the cartographic and geodesic services of the Russian Federation.

At present expenditures under the federal budget are presented in accordance with the budget classification by ministries and offices, and expenditures on environmental protection measures are also indicated, as part of their total expenditures, for the ministries and offices whose activities may pollute the environment or involve use of natural resources.

In addition, the federal budget provides resources for the implementation of special-purpose federal programmes for improvement of the environment in specific regions and cities of the Russian Federation ("Programme for improvement of the environmental situation and protection of human health in the Tula region for 1993-1998", "Special-purpose federal programme of urgent measures to improve the state of the environment, the public health situation and human health in Bratsk, Irkutsk region", "Comprehensive federal programme on the protection of Lake Baikal and rational use of the natural resources of its basin", etc.).

Provision is made for use of the resources of the Federal Environment Fund, which have been incorporated in the federal budget since 1995, to finance additional measures for the construction and re-equipment of environmental protection facilities, the conduct of scientific research and design work connected with the environment, and the preservation of natural monuments.

It is proposed that a total of 1,973.6 billion roubles (taking into account reciprocal write-offs), or 90 per cent of the plan, will be earmarked from the federal budget.

The draft federal budget for 1997, which has been confirmed in second reading by the State Duma, contains expenditures totalling 2,710.5 billion roubles for protection of the environment and natural resources, hydrometeorology, cartography and geodesy.

The development of computer telecommunications in Russia using modern equipment and technology with a view to integration in the world information community began in the late 1980s.

In the past decade the world has in fact seen an information revolution as a result of the widespread introduction of data transfer systems, which has led to in entirely new and extremely efficient methods of organizing scientific and academic activities.

The creation of an efficient system for reciprocal access by the leading national scientific research and academic centres to the information technology resources built up in Russia and abroad (data banks and bases, information systems, super-computers) is a very important component of the measures taken to maintain the capacity of Russia's science and education system and to create favourable conditions for entry into the international scientific community.

This problem will be resolved as part of the inter-departmental programme on the creation of a national network of computer telecommunications for science and higher education, which is to be implemented in 1995-1998.

The national computer network is being built as a local distribution branched system which includes an inter-urban network linking the regional user networks and facilitating the exchange of information among Russian users as well as access to international communications networks.

At present Russia has two complementary data transfer systems using various technologies - X.25 and TSR/IR. Both these systems have their own areas of application, but for a number of reasons the most popular in the international scientific community is the Internet technology.

The programme is designed to establish in Russia on the basis of overseas experience the nucleus (cluster) of a future Russian network of the Internet type.

The national network of computer telecommunications for science and higher education is a logical virtual network composed in most cases of "real" standard computer networks.

The national computer network will be created with the help of broad international scientific and technological cooperation.

MEANS OF IMPLEMENTATION:

In accordance with Governmental Order No. 360 of 17 April 1995 on "State support for the development of science and scientific and technological activities", a decision of the Governmental Commission on Scientific and Technological Policy, and Presidential Decree No. 884 of 13 June 1996 on "Doctrine of development of Russian science", the priorities for the development of science and technology were drawn up and confirmed, together with a list of the critical technologies at the federal level, taking into account the problems of Russia's sustainable development.

STEPS TAKEN TO ENHANCE SCIENTIFIC UNDERSTANDING, IMPROVE LONG TERM SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENT, BUILDING OF CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY:

1 315.0

1993

848.9

1993

a) Reorientation of education towards sustainable development

In the context of the emerging Concept of Russia's sustainable development, the system for promoting public awareness of matters of sustainable development is undergoing change. Teaching programmes have been created, textbooks are being produced, and arrangements are being made for the training of teachers in this subject.

b) Increasing public awareness

Public information on matters of sustainable development is provided under the leadership and coordination of the State Environmental Protection Committee.

The problems of sustainable development are now regularly aired by the mass information media and are being extensively incorporated in further-education curricula.

c) Promoting training

The Ministry of General and Vocational Education has drawn up recommendations for the redesign of teaching courses relating to questions of environmental protection to take into account the problems of Russia's sustainable development.

Schools of general and further education are creating sustainable development centres to promote education and public awareness on a regional basis. This work is coordinated by an inter-departmental council on public environmental education, which has been approved by the President.

ROLE OF MAJOR GROUPS:

FINANCING AND COST EVALUATION OF THE LABOUR ACTIVITIES:

Funding for the work of re-educating the public in the problems of sustainable development is provided from the resources of the State budget and international programmes.

No information.