Local self-government bodies are not entitled to establish specially protected natural territories of local significance on lands of the forest fund owned by the federal state
Prosecutor challenged the decision of the local government body, by which a local-level protected natural area - resource reserve was established, citing that this body did not have the appropriate authority, as the aforementioned protected natural area was created on forest land within the forest fund lands owned by the federal state.
The Court requirement of the prosecutor was satisfied, relying on the following.
According to paragraph 8 of article 2 of the Law on Protected Natural Territories local self-government bodies create protected natural territories of local significance on land plots owned by the respective municipal formation.
In accordance with part 1 of article 8 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, forest areas within the composition of forest fund land are in federal ownership.
The court has established that the total area of the resource reserve amounts to 1402.4 ha. The area of forest fund lands within the boundaries of the specified protected natural territory (OOPT) is approximately 1334.614 ha. State cadastral registration has been carried out with respect to 53 land plots located within the resource reserve, covering a total area of 1197 ha, of which only two land plots with a total area of 53 ha are owned by the municipal formation. Consequently, forest fund lands
"fund» in the legal encyclopedia"), on which a local self-government body has organized a resource reserve, account for more than 94 percent of its territory.
Thus, the body of local self-government, in violation of paragraph 8 of article 2 of the Law on Protected Natural Areas (OOPT), established a protected natural area of local significance on land plots, including those in federal ownership.
Under these circumstances, the contested decision does not comply with the requirements of the cited federal legislation.
Source: Thematic Review of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 11/2026. On the consideration by courts of cases related to rights on land plots of certain categories of land removed from circulation and restricted in circulation, and the use of such plots