Legal Regulation of the Use and Protection of Wildlife

General Provisions

The legal regulation of the use and protection of wildlife in the Russian Federation is aimed at conserving biological diversity, maintaining the sustainable state of animals and their habitats, as well as ensuring the rational and lawful use of natural resources.

Conservation of Wildlife includes measures aimed at preserving species, their habitats, and population reproduction, as well as the development and implementation of state programs providing specific measures for animal protection.

Programs may have federal, regional, and local levels and must not cause harm to other wildlife objects or the environment.

Use of Animal World Objects is understood as obtaining material or spiritual benefits from animals, including their study, hunting, use of by-products of life activities and participation in scientific, recreational, or cultural activities.

Legislation distinguishes sustainable use, which does not lead to depletion of biological diversity and preserves the reproductive capacity of animals, from ordinary use.

There are various types of animal use: hunting, fishing, collection of objects not related to hunting or aquatic resources, use of animals as natural sanitizers, pollinators and soil formers, as well as scientific and educational use without removal

from the habitat

Use may be carried out either with the removal of animals from their habitat or without it.

The granting of wildlife for use is regulated by federal and regional legislation and entails priority for Russian citizens and legal entities.

The right of use may terminate by expiration of the term, voluntarily, upon violation of legislation or usage conditions, necessity of animal protection, as well as by state needs.

The termination of the right to use is carried out in accordance with the procedures established by law, including judicial proceedings.

Thus, the legal regulation of the use and protection of wildlife ensures a balance between nature conservation and lawful human activities, establishes mechanisms for sustainable resource use, and guarantees the protection of animals and their habitats.

Protection of wildlife

Objects of environmental protection include animals and other organisms and their genetic fund (paragraph 1 of article 4 of the Federal Law "On Environmental Protection"). At the same time, the protection of wildlife refers to activity, aimed at preserving biodiversity and ensuring the sustainable existence of wildlife, as well as creating conditions for the sustainable use and reproduction of wildlife objects (paragraph

tenth paragraph of Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Wildlife"). Whereas conservation of aquatic biological resources refers to maintaining aquatic biological resources or their restoration to levels at which maximum sustainable exploitation (catching) of aquatic biological resources and their biological diversity can be ensured, through measures based on scientific data for research,

protection, reproduction, rational use of aquatic biological resources and conservation of their habitat (Paragraph 7 of Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Fisheries and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources")

Under the protection of the animal habitat is understood activity, aimed at preserving or restoring conditions for sustainable existence and reproduction of wildlife objects (paragraph eleven of Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Wildlife"). In order to implement the requirements of the Federal Law "On Wildlife", development and implementation of special state programs are carried out, providing for specific

measures aimed at protecting objects of the animal world and their habitat environment.

Federal programs for the protection of wildlife objects and their habitats are approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. Regional and local programs are developed and implemented in accordance with procedures established by normative legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation. Measures to protect individual wildlife objects should not cause harm to other wildlife objects or the environment (Article 18 of the Federal Law "On Wildlife").

Use of Wildlife

The use of wildlife objects refers to the study, harvesting of wildlife objects, or obtaining benefits from these objects in any other manner for the satisfaction of human material or spiritual needs, with their removal from their habitat or without such removal (paragraph 7 of Article 1 of the Federal Law "On Wildlife"). At the same time, alongside the use of wildlife objects, legislation also provides for sustainable use of wildlife objects,

which constitutes use of wildlife objects, which does not lead in the long-term perspective to depletion of biodiversity of the animal world and during which the ability of the animal world to reproduce and sustainable existence is maintained (paragraph 8 of article 1 of the Federal Law "On Wildlife"). Whereas use of wildlife is considered as legally conditioned activities of citizens, individual

entrepreneurs and legal entities regarding the use of objects of the animal world (paragraph 12 article 1 of the Federal Law "On the Animal World"). Harvesting (catching) aquatic biological resources - this is the removal of aquatic biological resources from their habitat (paragraph 8, article 1 of the Federal Law "On Fishing and the Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources").

Types use of objects of the animal world

Legal entities and citizens may engage in the following types of use of wildlife: hunting; fishing, including harvesting aquatic invertebrates and marine mammals; harvesting wildlife objects not classified as hunting resources or aquatic biological resources; utilization of the beneficial properties of wildlife organisms - soil formers, natural environmental sanitizers, plant pollinators,

biofilters and others; study, research and other use of animal life for scientific, educational, cultural, recreational, aesthetic purposes without removing them from their habitat; extraction of beneficial properties of the biological activity of animal world objects - soil formers, natural sanitizers of the environment, plant pollinators, biofilters and others; obtaining products of the biological activity of animal world objects. By laws and other normative legal acts

Acts of the Russian Federation, laws, and other normative legal acts of the subjects of the Russian Federation may be provided for other types of use of wildlife.

Ways of Using Objects of the Animal World

Use of wildlife is carried out through the removal of wildlife objects from their habitat or without such removal (methods of using wildlife objects). List of wildlife objects whose removal from their habitat without permission is prohibited is determined by specialized state authorities of the Russian Federation responsible for conservation, control and regulation of the use of wildlife objects and their habitats ([article](/enc/32056/ "Definition of the term

"«Article» in the legal encyclopedia) 34 of the Federal Law «On Animal World»)."

Provision of Wildlife for Use

The provision of wildlife on territories of the Russian Federation for use by Russian and foreign legal entities, citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens, and stateless persons is carried out in accordance with the procedures established by this Federal Law, the federal law on hunting and the conservation of hunting resources, as well as the civil, land, water, and forestry legislation of the Russian Federation.

Priority in the provision of wildlife for use on a specific territory or aquatic area is given to Russian legal entities and citizens of the Russian Federation: those who have previously carried out, in accordance with established procedures, certain types of wildlife use on this territory or aquatic area; landowners and landholders who possess the necessary equipment and specialists.

The provision of wildlife on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation and the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation is governed by federal laws and other normative legal acts of the Russian Federation (Article 36 of the Federal Law "On Wildlife").

Grounds and procedures for terminating the right of use of wildlife

The right to use wildlife ceases entirely or partially in the following cases: refusal to use; expiration of the established usage period; violation of the legislation of the Russian Federation on environmental protection and conditions specified in the documents upon which the use of wildlife is based; occurrence of necessity for removal from use of wildlife objects for their conservation purposes; use of territory, water area for state needs excluding the use of wildlife; liquidation of an enterprise, institution, or organization using wildlife. Compulsory termination

The rights to use wildlife are exercised through judicial proceedings (Article 47 of the Federal Law "On Wildlife").