View the post "WITHOUT ELOSS Island. Illegal construction is a threat to the national park"

Last week, the Kommersant newspaper published an interview with representatives of the Rosavtodor management represented by Yuri Zhirkov, head of the federal highway department. central Russia”, which talked about the plan for reconstructing roads in the Moscow region. From the information provided to journalists, it became clear that there is a serious traffic crisis in the Moscow region, since all Federal highways overloaded 3-4 times higher than the calculated norm. In the coming years, if nothing is done, traffic on the roads of the Moscow region may be completely paralyzed. In this regard, Rosavtodor plans to invest about 70 billion rubles in the construction of new and reconstruction of old roads in the Moscow region in 2014-2016.

In particular, in his interview, Yuri Zhirkov mentioned 5 options for decongesting the Shchelkovskoye highway, and one of the options for decongestion, in our opinion, could be the construction of a road to bypass Korolev along the northern border national park"Elk Island" This road will not only serve as an additional entrance and exit from Korolev with an exit to Pionerskaya Street and Tsiolkovskogo Street, but also, according to the project, will be extended to Shchelkovo, which will relieve congestion on one of the busiest highways in the Moscow region - Shchelkovskoe Highway.

For clarity, we present a section of the map and a traffic diagram in the vicinity of the city of Korolev:

What is Shchelkovskoye Highway? Essentially this is the Moscow-Chernogolovka highway, on which there is a branch to the north, to Shchelkovo (Moskovskaya Street in the city of Shchelkovo) 13 km from the Moscow Ring Road. In terms of congestion, Shchelkovskoye Highway (A-103) is second only to the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway (M-10). Calculated throughput Shchelkovskoye Highway - 35,000 cars per day, and up to 140,000 cars pass along it, which causes traffic jams and congestion during rush hours. Due to congestion with cars average speed travel on the highway in the daytime is about 15-25 km/h, and during rush hours it drops to a walking speed of 7-8 km/h.

Yuri Zhirkov said that there are 5 options for decongesting the Shchelkovskoe highway.

Option 1. Expand the route and increase the number of lanes. The disadvantages of this option are that in some settlements the exclusion zone includes residential areas past which the highway passes, including one new area in Balashikha.

Option 2. Construction of a second highway south of the existing one. In this case, new the route will pass through Bear Lakes, which serve as a source of water supply for several settlements.

Option 3. Construction of a second parallel highway north of the existing highway. In this case, the new route will pass through the territory of the Elk Island National Park. In principle, this option is the most acceptable economic point vision. But there are some “buts” here. Losiny Ostrov National Park is under Federal subordination and issues of alienation of the territory of this nature reserve should be decided not in Krasnogorsk, but in the Kremlin. In principle, at the stage of preliminary approvals, the Ministry of Nature Russian Federation ready to sacrifice 100 hectares of the reserve for clearing for construction new route and even sent formal consent to the Government of the Moscow Region. This is where these “buts” appear. In return, the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources demands that the territories of the Chkalovsky and Moninsky forestries with a total area of ​​5,000 hectares be transferred to the Losiny Ostrov National Park. And if we take into account that the area of ​​the reserve itself is 10,000 hectares (or 11,000 depending on the source of information), then the exchange of territories is proposed at 1:50 (or even 1:100, if we take into account that different official sources indicate the area of ​​alienation required for construction and 47 and 50 and 100 hectares). The government of the Moscow region this moment expressed disagreement with this exchange and proposes a 1:1 exchange. It is unknown how long this bureaucratic tug-of-war may last, so it is better to take a closer look at options No. 4 and 5.

Unfortunately, in his interview with journalists, Yuri Zhirkov did not say anything about these options, but turning to the Rosavtodor website for information shed the light of truth on option No. 4.

Option 4. Reconstruction or construction of a new 6-lane highway Ivanteevka-Shchelkovo. As calculations by Rosavtodor have shown, the construction of such a highway will significantly reduce the load (down to acceptable) on the Moscow-Chernogolovka highway (A-103). On the new highway you can travel to Shchelkovo from Moscow by Yaroslavl highway, where by this time bottlenecks will be eliminated (the same village of Tarasovka) and further along the new Ivanteevka-Shchelkovo highway.

Unfortunately, option No. 5 could not be found even on the Rasavtodor website, and yet it exists. Studying the traffic pattern, we discover that there is simply no other option other than organizing traffic along the northern border of the Losiny Ostrov National Park. As you know, even at the moment, about 8-10 thousand cars per day are transiting through Korolev, which are heading to Shchelkovo. Even such a dead road as Vatutina Street and further along “ wild road» does not stop motorists who do not want to get stuck in traffic jams on Yaroslavskoye or Shchelkovskoye highways. The construction of a new highway in the north of the reserve will solve all the problems of both Korolev and Shchelkovo.

This is where the fun begins. Oddly enough, the project for the construction of a new highway is already included in the General Development Plan for Korolev (see the road in the south, marked in pink):

Here is another version of the image of the construction of a 6-lane bypass road:

What is surprising about this? As you can see, the proposed option not only goes along the border of Losiny Island, but also captures part of the territory of the national park. That is, we, it seems, are again returning to the option of tug-of-war of the bureaucratic rope, as in option No. 3.

But here interesting discoveries await us. It turns out, if you believe official documents The government of the Moscow region, then part of the territory marked on the map as the territory of the Elk Island National Park, no longer belongs to it, and since 2011 has been included in the city of Korolev.

It turns out that on February 10, 2011, the Government of the Moscow Region adopted Law No. 16/2011-OZ “On Amendments to the Law of the Moscow Region “On the Status and Border of the Korolev Urban District” and the Law of the Moscow Region “On the Status and Border of the Yubileiny Urban District.”

Those wishing to familiarize themselves with the text of this document, signed by the former governor of the Moscow region Boris Gromov, can follow the following link. The law was voted by the Moscow Regional Duma on February 3, 2011, published on February 10, 2011.

This alienation of the territory of Losiny Island was adopted in connection with the need to build a southern bypass road past the city of Korolev, further along the sanitary zone of the Akulovsky Vodokanal, further in the direction of the city of Shchelkovo. Here is the diagram attached to the resolution of the Moscow Regional Duma to this law:

As can be seen from the text of the law, territories No. 5 and 10 are annexed to Korolev (see diagram - site No. 1, zone numbers 5 and 10), belonging to the Losiny Ostrov National Park. I would like to note that in the event of the construction of a new bypass road, block No. 5, where the specially protected facility is located, will be captured national reserve– the famous forest area “Korzhevskie Kultury”. It is noteworthy that in the project the road is not called a backup of Pionerskaya Street, but a “bypass”. That is, its main task is not to unload Pionerskaya Street, but to organize traffic movement past the city of Korolev. The question of “where” can be solved by a simple glance at the map - to Shchelkovo. Naturally, the research carried out gives grounds to believe that the construction of a road along the border of Losiny Island is option No. 5 for relieving congestion on the Shchelkovo highway, which the Rasavtodor representative kept silent about. Moreover, as you can see, the capacity of the new highway (6 lanes) many times exceeds the needs of the city of Korolev.

How legal is the resolution of the Moscow Regional Duma, which unilaterally transferred lands under Federal jurisdiction to the territory of the city of Korolev, is for lawyers to judge. The most important thing is that such a project for the construction of a bypass (by the way, a 6-lane road) exists for him on top level Documents have already been formally prepared and land has been allocated.

It seemed that everything was agreed upon in the offices of senior officials and the initiatives put forward by the public of the city of Korolev to build another entrance and exit from the city fit perfectly into the bureaucratic plans. However, representatives of numerous environmental organizations Moscow region, one of which is the well-known movement in defense of the Khimki forest.

The situation with the construction of a road along the border of Losiny Island could turn into a serious conflict, similar to the precedent with the Khimki forest, since the current situation with the construction of a road in Korolev and the construction of a bypass around Khimki are absolutely similar.

Let us recall that the Government of the Moscow Region, with the support of the Administration of the city of Khimki, decided to relieve congestion on the busiest highway in the Moscow region - the Moscow-St. Petersburg road (M-10), the main part of the flow of which went through Khimki. To build a bypass road, a clearing was cut through the Khimki forest. However, the protests that arose suspended the construction of this road for a long time, and only the intervention of the Russian Government in the person of Dmitry Medvedev made it possible to resume construction of the route.

In the case of the Khimki Forest, we were talking about a forest of regional importance (an area of ​​1000 hectares). In the case of the construction of a bypass near Korolev, we are faced with a state property - the Elk Island National Park, the protected status and importance of which is an order of magnitude higher than that of the Khimki Forest. Already, many environmentalists are sounding the alarm, not even agreeing with the option of multiple compensation for the alienation of 100 hectares of the park, since this violates the solidity of the ecological system of the green island. Behind last years Human buildings have come very close to Losiny Ostrov, which is already violating the regime of the reserve. If we move in such small steps, gradually biting off a piece of our heritage for urgent needs, then we can end up with nothing.

Therefore, I would like to remind the residents of Korolev that before the construction of the road, its project will be discussed at public hearings and only the townspeople have the power to decide what is more important - the road or the national reserve.

For clarity, we attach a series of photographs of the Losiny Ostrov Nature Reserve to show what we could lose.

Elk Island is slowly being built up.

The town made an indelible impression on the Russian landscape artist Alexey Savrasov, who painted a painting called “Losiny Island in Sokolniki” in 1869.

Stanislav Konev told the correspondent that 140 years ago a military town was founded on Losiny Island, which was generally beneficial - the soldiers looked after the forest, removed diseased trees and did not allow them to be taken away for firewood. Since the 60s of the 20th century, the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense was located here - first of the USSR, and then of Russia. Warehouses with shells were also erected here, and there was a shooting range, which has partially been preserved as an exotic feature to this day.

« control stripconcrete structures,brought from construction sites", Konev said.

UNDER DEMOLITION - CHILDREN'S ROOM AND TWO SPORTS GROUND

located in the public domain.

Firstly, it is completely unclear how the sewerage system will be installed. We were told(at hearings)what will be built for thispumpwowstationYu. But it's quite obvious, Whatit does not process waste products, but only somewheretheirpumps.Where - inThere was no clear answer, but later I learned from the project that the sewage system will drain onto the neighboring street -Red pine.There is a collector in the forest - apparently they will dig it up andmake it widerbut for this you need to dig Elk Island, which we are againstatshare"- said Konev.

Whether this will be saved is unknown even from the project", Konev commented.

« It is curious that violation of Federal Law No. 33 entails criminal liability", Konev noted.

THE FIGHT FOR “ELK ISLAND” IS A MATTER OF HONOR

« The park is a protected zone in which any construction in the slightest is prohibited, not to mention such monstrous buildings - 99 meters. In this regard, the question arises - do you have a state environmental assessment of the project, approval from the environmental department, the directorate of Losiny Ostrov? The project will cause enormous damage to the park. How many trees will be cut down? And you don’t have to answer how much you will plant

I lived in this area for almost 20 years,Todaymy parents live here. The fight for Elk Island is a matter of honor

PARKING SPACE BY APARTMENT COST

Unanimous no. There were no abstentions or votes for skyscrapers", Konev commented.

TOThat-Thatsupports the construction site, hoping that they will get a parking space. But this is absurd. Such places cost as much as an apartment. Human naivety“,” Konev grinned.

The amount paid by provocateurs is unknown. It is worth noting that some residents of the district sign completely free of charge - the townspeople simply do not know about the problem, and they are given a paper to sign, providing false information"- said Mitrokhin.

PEOPLE ARE READY TO GO TO THE END

It is extremely interesting what will be in the protocol. There is a strong suspicion that there -"" Withabout constructionagree, Butplease reducenumber of storeys"". EEven at the stage of the preliminary presentation before the hearings, government officials said that they would put pressureexactlyonmindreductionnumber of storeysAnd, XotyaWe,localresidents,against the projectgenerally", Konev said.

nothing is reflected

Residents also intend to appeal to the Main Military Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation with a request to check the legality of the sale of land owned by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation to the GrandNext company. Considering the financial fraud that accompanied the management of the department under Serdyukov, it is possible that the sale price was significantly underestimated. According to Rosreestr, the site owned by the company is currently valued at approximately 800 billion rubles.

WE CONNECT EVERYONE

From experience, this is the most effective way to combat lawlessness

How national park hectares of forest are being lost year after year

On August 21, Kommersant reported on the Ministry of Defense’s plans to allocate 159 hectares of land in the north-east of Moscow for development, of which 40 hectares are located on the territory of the Losiny Ostrov National Park. This case is not the first attempt to take away the territory of a specially protected natural area (SPNA): year after year, hectares of forests are taken away from the national park for residential complexes, shopping centers and multi-lane roads. Despite the obvious illegality of development in this place, in the end everyone who benefits from it gets theirs: construction is either officially allowed, or the developers manage to get away with minor fines and continue work. Open Russia remembers who has already managed to snatch a piece of Losiny Ostrov.

Forest inside the metropolis

The Losiny Ostrov specially protected natural area (SPNA) is located in the northeast of Moscow and the adjacent part of the Moscow region. According to the classification of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), it has category II and the status of a national park, which means it is protected by the federal authorities and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry natural resources and ecology. In addition to the park territory itself, Losiny Ostrov has a 150-meter wide protective zone along its entire perimeter - construction in this “protective zone” is also prohibited, but is regulated by the authorities of Moscow and the Moscow region.

With the exception of a couple of major highways crossing the park, and several settlements inside, Losiny Ostrov is a full-fledged forest within the metropolis: here you can easily meet elk, deer, wild boars and hares, enjoy fresh air and suddenly catch yourself thinking that you hear silence, and not the permanent city noise.

The official website of the park states that the total area of ​​Losiny Ostrov is 12 thousand hectares. But Moscow and the neighboring cities of the Moscow region - Mytishchi, Korolev, Shchelkovo and Balashikha - have significantly reduced this figure. The national park is being attacked from all directions, and often local activists and residents of nearby settlements are involved in protecting the park, and not the management of the reserve or federal authorities.

Spring Waters awaits special orders

The territory on Veshniye Vody Street, which Kommersant wrote about, is under the jurisdiction of JSC Garrison (formerly Oboronservis), subordinate to the Ministry of Defense. Previously located here military unit, and nearby is an arsenal. According to Kommersant experts, the starting price of land with an area of ​​159 hectares in this place can reach 30 billion rubles, and with high-rise construction it can cost up to 4.5 million square meters real estate.

About a third of the site owned by the Ministry of Defense is located within the boundaries of Losiny Ostrov - any development here is prohibited. An alternative for such a territory could be a recreational zone similar to VDNKh, an official at the mayor’s office tells Kommersant. According to the publication, the Ministry of Defense was going to put this land up for auction in the near future, but on the evening of August 21 it became known that First Deputy Defense Minister Ruslan Tsalikov instructed Garrison to suspend the sale of non-core property “until further notice.”

The news about the plans of the Ministry of Defense has already managed to frighten local residents. Yaroslavskoe Highway is the only highway in this area: if a new residential area appears here, existing roads will need to be expanded to provide access to new buildings. “For people living on Veshniye Vody Street, this will be a complete nightmare,” says Sergei Mitrokhin, head of the Moscow branch of the Yabloko party and longtime defender of Losiny Ostrov.

17 hectares of Rio in Mytishchi

At the beginning of 2018, a shopping center with an area of ​​175,000 square meters with a parking lot for 2,800 cars will open three kilometers from Moscow. The future shopping center "Rio" is located in the protected zone of "Losiny Ostrov", which is contrary to the law.

Sergei Mitrokhin actively spoke out against the illegal construction of the center in this place in 2017. He established that the construction of the facility is carried out by the company Georesurs LLC, 27% of which belongs to the son of the Prosecutor General of Russia Artem Chaika, 25% - Tashir Capital LLC and another 25% - Maryina Roshcha Plaza LLC, the beneficiaries of which are located in the offshore zone of the British Virgin Islands.

“Unfortunately, we got involved in this situation late - construction was already in full swing there. And now there is already construction there that cannot be stopped. This is a gigantic territory, there are several hectares there, which are closely adjacent to Losiny Ostrov,” says Mitrokhin.

The territory where the shopping center is being built is the security zone around the park itself. The ban on construction there was outlined in a joint decree of the Moscow government and the Moscow region administration dated 1992. However, the legal force of this document, according to Sergei Mitrokhin, is Lately is in doubt.

Sergei Mitrokhin during a public inspection of the national park
"Losiny Ostrov", March 2017. Photo:
Dmitry Lebedev / Kommersant

“This resolution is considered invalid because it is something exotic from the 90s, when two entities jointly adopt their law. From my point of view, this resolution has legal force; no one has canceled it. However, for Moscow and regional officials it is an empty piece of paper; they themselves told me about this behind the scenes. The authorities of Moscow and the Moscow region have not adopted any new additional normative act, confirming the existence of a protective zone around the reserve. I believe that all responsibility for the development and the threat to the environment lies with them and with the Ministry of Nature, which did not oblige the authorities of the two subjects to designate this territory. And since the area around “Losiny Ostrov” is a highly profitable territory, corruption interests are visible here. I suggest that the Ministry of Natural Resources is knowingly and willfully failing to fulfill its primary responsibility. This criminal negligence Minister [of Natural Resources and Ecology Sergei] Donskoy, who continues the tradition of his predecessors,” explains Sergei Mitrokhin.

Residents of Mytishchi also tried to stop the construction of the shopping center. Mytishchi resident Andrei Smirnov submitted an official request to the Ministry of Natural Resources - they told him that permission to build “Rio” was given because the site on which the shopping center is being built does not have any special natural value.

Elk City

The city and developers are approaching Losiny Ostrov not only from the park’s borders, but also from the inside - the GrandNext company is going to build a residential complex at ul. Losinoostrovskaya, possession 45 - in the very center of the Moscow part of Losiny Ostrov. On an area of ​​14.3 hectares, it is planned to build four residential buildings with a height of 99 meters (approximately 25 floors), a school, kindergarten, underground parking for 1,500 cars and above-ground parking for 150. According to company estimates, up to two thousand residents will live here. According to published

They are going to clear out another forest park. Hurry to see, Elk Island is threatened by another construction project. The Northwestern Corridor continues to disfigure our Moscow. The administration, as follows from Sergei’s post, deliberately made sure that fewer people gathered. Let's join the topic, thank you sergey_senator

Original taken from sergey_senator New construction is planned in Losiny Ostrov!

Good day, reader!
This is my first post here, and perhaps not the last.
I want to tell you about the new development plan along the border natural park Elk Island, as well as interesting details, which contains this project.
I'll start with some background.
An acquaintance from my Yaroslavl district called me and informed me about the public hearings in the evening of the same day, November 10.
As a result of searching, I found a link to holding public hearings on the website of the district government. It is impossible to understand what hearings will be held and for what object until you download the documents from the Yand-disk.

(entry dated October 24, 2016 is not informative.)
By 19:00, about 200 residents had gathered in the hall, and maybe more, since not everyone could fit. At the beginning, they reported that the hearings were announced in the newspaper Zvezdny Boulevard, as well as on the government’s website. However, do not forget that Losinoostrovskaya Street is located in the Eastern Administrative District on the other side of the Leningrad Region, I think this was done on purpose and in advance to mislead people.

The women on stage, representatives of the developer, presented their project as something already finally decided and solely as a benefit for the residents of the area. This lie did not find a response among people and caused fair comments that turned into a rumble.

One of the main emphasis was placed on the fact that the landscaping that follows construction will make accessible the area where there are now garages and a road to warehouses; there will be a boulevard where you can walk. In terms of accessibility, this territory is not limited in any way, and you can walk around the entire Losiny Island. Who, besides the residents of the new residential complex, needs landscaping there?

We have an area that was formed many years ago, bordering the HF and LO, in which there are small courtyards and the majority of residents store their iron horses in garages located along the HF with the permission of the Ministry of Defense.

Now it is proposed to demolish these garages, thereby filling the town to the limit with cars, and then add about 2,500 new residents to the dead-end road, who will drive through the area to the Yaroslavl highway. Yaroslavka, as a result of the latest reconstruction, is in the center from 7 o'clock in the morning, which means these comrades will get stuck in a traffic jam right next to their new house and smoke for an hour to the highway.

I believe that the project affects the entire area, both before and after Veshni Vody Street. People walk in the forest not only from the military camp, but from the entire Yaroslavl district and neighboring areas. The construction and the residential complex itself will forever disfigure the appearance of the national park!

It is also silent that:
1. To widen the road, the already small courtyards of houses 2k4,5,6 on Veshnih Vody Street will be cut, and house 2k3 will have to be demolished altogether.
2. To lay communications, work will be carried out on Losiny Island itself.
3. Part of the construction is located in a water protection zone.
4. The road widening also affects the water protection zone near the pond.
5. Changing the boundaries of Losiny Ostrov Park:

6. There can be no benefits from construction for local residents and the area as a whole.

(!) And now the most interesting part. They are silent about this, but maybe they made a mistake here. The project diagrams indicate the boundaries of the Ochakovo-Mytishchi highway; most likely this is a continuation of the chord.

The North-Western Expressway is approaching Losiny Island - in the area of ​​the Severyaninsky Bridge and Krasnaya Sosna Street, garages are being demolished, in the style typical of the Moscow authorities. Now, including under the guise of construction of a residential complex, the boundaries of the park will gradually be moved and at one point the road will go through it. Then they will say that everything was according to the law.

Let's start with the good. It turns out that even in such a gigantic metropolis as Moscow, there is still Wild Nature. That's right, with capital letters. And not because she is our mother and all that... Everything is much more prosaic and serious: we live in climatic zone forests, and while the capital is surrounded by forests, we have something to breathe. Neither parks, nor squares, nor other green spaces, no matter how many there are, will be able to fulfill the role of this natural air conditioner for a city of 15 million.

“Losiny Ostrov” is the green belt of the capital.

Now comes the bad news. The Moscow region's forests—and therefore all of us—are in great danger. Forests can disappear in just a matter of years. And the reason for this will not be the bark beetle, drought or lack of proper care. The unlimited urbanization of the territory, the greed of developers and the stupid urban planning policy of the authorities of the Moscow region can lead to the fact that in 10-15 years it will become impossible to live in the capital.

Shield like a Trojan horse

This summer, the Duma adopted amendments to the law “On Environmental Protection” regarding the creation of green shields around megacities. The initiative was taken by the Popular Front, which was warmly supported by ecologists and environmentalists. The initial idea was correct: it is necessary to assign a special protective status to the forested areas around major cities countries. By protecting them from cutting down and development, we protect ourselves from environmental problems in future.

But in the process of numerous editions, the text of this legislative initiative has undergone changes. For a person ignorant of environmental legislation, they seem to be insignificant - for example, around Moscow there was a “forest park protective belt”, but there will be a “forest park green belt”. But experts believe that now, under the new law, our suburban and urban forests will lose much more than they gain.

“Currently, any capital construction is prohibited in the forested park area, except hydraulic structures, explains the famous Moscow ecologist Galina Morozova. - And in the forests of forested green belts it will be possible to build everything except housing and industrial facilities. And if our specially protected natural areas, urban forests or specially protected green areas (there are such in Moscow!), not to mention forest park areas near Moscow will be included in the forest park green belt of Moscow, then in its forests they will be able to build roads, all kinds of pipelines, kindergartens, schools, tourism industry facilities and other."

“We believe that the ears of the capital’s developers are sticking out behind these amendments,” says Anton Khlynov, a member of the Moscow region branch of the ONF. — The President, who signed the amendments to the law on the “green shield”, was misled. But we will strive to correct the situation and will not rest until the forests are returned to their protective status.”

Capture and legitimize

Another dubious legislative initiative recently put forward by the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, is a forest amnesty. In recent years, about 300 thousand unauthorized seizures of forest land plots have been recorded in the region. The head of the region motivates his position by the fact that entire residential microdistricts have already been built somewhere, and people should not be evicted from there. And if these “squatters” are not given legal status, then it is impossible to accept the general plans of municipalities. After all, it turns out that according to the documents there is a forest, but in fact there have been houses there for a long time or a shopping center has been operating there.

Boris Samoilov.

“This is a very dangerous precedent,” says Boris Samoilov, executive editor of the Moscow Red Book. - Firstly, lawlessness cannot be legitimized. Especially on such a huge scale. Just think about it: 300 thousand forest areas were seized and developed! So soon there will be nothing left of our forests. And secondly, the expansion of urbanization should not be encouraged, but, on the contrary, restrained in every possible way. Moscow and the region within the Central Ring Road are a huge agglomeration, a gigantic diffuse city. And if it continues to grow at this rate, destroying the forests around it, then very soon we will get a lot of environmental problems.”

The truth about bark beetles

The forests near Moscow are a huge wealth that we inherited. They occupy 42% of the territory metropolitan region, and this is the minimum for environmental safety.

We have other reasons for national pride. For example, Losiny Ostrov National Park. Not only is it the largest urban forest on the continent, but it is also rich in biodiversity that has long been absent in some European countries. The Dutch tried for several years to revive the raised bogs. They imported soil from the Vladimir region by carload - all in vain. And in Losiny Ostrov, surrounded by urban development, they exist. There is also on its territory broadleaf forest with 300-year-old forest patriarchs - this is the most old forest in Europe!

But we don’t know how to be proud and appreciate what we inherited from our ancestors. And it seems that very soon we may lose the forests near Moscow. The process, as they say, has already begun. Over the past five years, the bark beetle has destroyed almost 40 thousand hectares of spruce forests near Moscow. Are called different reasons: first abnormal heat and drought in 2010, then freezing rain, strong winds, and the care of the forests, they say, was not at the proper level.

But about true reasons keep silent. Both summer drought and strong winds are only a consequence of climate change, and this is happening due to the total development of the territory of the Moscow region.

According to Boris Samoilov, in the Moscow region they are increasing average annual temperatures, the climate became like in Tula region, which is located further south. And spruce is a taiga tree, its roots are located close to the surface of the earth and need wet soil. A healthy tree will protect itself from pests. But weakened by the heat, when not enough resin is released, it turned out to be an excellent food source for bark beetle larvae.

By the way, all the stories from the Moscow region authorities that the typograph epidemic became possible because there is a large percentage of old forests in the region is a myth. In the Siberian taiga there are such giant spruce trees that it is impossible to grasp them, and no bark beetle is afraid of them. Because there is a healthy ecology there, and they grow in their own climate zone.

So far, in “Losiny Ostrov” - and this is not the case anywhere else in Europe - there is still a section of real southern taiga. Question: for how long?

“The harmful impact of a huge city on the climate is already being felt,” says Samoilov. - Buildings, roads - all open areas heat up and then give off their heat. The temperature in the city is always higher than outside it. Moreover, we are talking not only about horizontal planes, the walls of houses also heat up, so multi-storey buildings from an environmental point of view are much more dangerous than low-rise ones. During the 2010 drought average temperature It was about 32 degrees, and for many people this was already a serious problem, but imagine what would happen if the average temperature rose a few more degrees! Christmas trees died in 2010, and in the future people may suffer.”

Moose and suckers

Although the president has not yet given permission to the Moscow region to hold a general forest amnesty, the region is already trying to legalize some captured forest lands. Thus, on October 31, public hearings are scheduled to take place on the issue of changing the boundaries of the Losiny Ostrov National Park.

At first glance, the agenda is positive: they want to include the Moninsky and Gorensky forests in the park, the first site is now on the balance sheet of the Ministry of Defense, the second belongs to the Noginsky forestry. But, as it turned out, it is too early to rejoice for the inhabitants of the national park. Such a “royal” gift in the form of two additional territories is nothing more than compensation for other cut-off lands that were previously within the boundaries of “Losiny Ostrov”.

According to Galina Morozova, who, together with Boris Samoilov, designed the boundaries of the national park, several rural settlements located in the Shchelkovsky district, the urban districts of Balashikha, Korolev and Mytishchi were specifically included in its composition. This was done specifically in order to create a buffer zone around the protected forests, which would bear the main recreational load. After all, “Losiny Ostrov” is surrounded by urban development on almost all sides; several thousand people visit it every day, and there are already millions of vacationers a year. In addition, when the historical villages of Abramtsevo, Oboldino and others were included within the boundaries of the national park, they thought that this would protect the surrounding landscape from urbanization. But in reality it turned out quite the opposite.

Forest plots are like honey for the developer. Everyone, as one, advertises in their prospectuses the excellent ecology in the area of ​​their new buildings, but they themselves completely destroy all living things.

“The first land seizures on the territory of Losiny Ostrov began back in the dashing 90s,” says Anton Khlynov, a member of the ONF near Moscow. “Then the Balashikha brothers managed to build several houses along the Akulovsky water canal. The public was noisy law enforcement agencies They started a case just for the sake of appearances, but then everything went quiet.”

And impunity pushes people to repeat the crime. And soon construction, without an environmental assessment, without approval from the management of the national park, began in full swing on the adjacent lands. In the end, the authorities of Balashikha became indignant several years ago: why on earth was the village of Abramtsevo included within the boundaries of “Losiny Ostrov” - people live there, not moose. By the way, the residents themselves, as a rule, are very happy that their settlements are included within the boundaries of the park - for them this is a guarantee that the village will not turn into a city.

An even more interesting thing happened with 30 hectares of national park land in the Mytishchi district. They decided to build a large shopping center there, estimating the damage to nature at only 10 million rubles. Even if we assume that this is waste land, and not at all reserved, as in reality, let us only take into account its location - and the site is located 2 km from the Moscow Ring Road - isn’t it too cheap for 30 hectares? It seems that even moose could calculate the price for such a tasty piece of land better! But the Ministry of Ecology of the Russian Federation is not full of suckers... So the conclusions about the corruption component suggest themselves.

In defense of butterflies

In the summer in Moscow there was a “ round table» on the problems of the new ring road in the Moscow region. Among the speakers was an ecologist who tried to explain to the audience that as a result of construction, a rare species of butterflies, listed in the Red Book, could die. They listened to her politely, but this warning did not evoke much sympathy from anyone. And in vain. Man has learned to disturb the biological balance, but restoring it is not always so easy and simple.

“In Europe there is no longer wild forests within the city limits, not like we have around Moscow and even within the boundaries of the metropolis itself,” says Boris Samoilov. — Many are touched that on the streets Western capitals you can see squirrels jumping in trees, hedgehogs and chipmunks running in city parks. And this, of course, is great; it’s nice and comfortable to live in such cities. But it is not wild nature. This is all artificially supported.”

Recently, the Moscow region has been following the example of Moscow, and that, in turn, from Western capitals - city and regional authorities are trying to improve their territories, but in the pursuit of spending funds, officials do not know how to stop.

“Why was there flooding in Moscow this summer? - explain environmentalists. — The permissible sealing area has already been exceeded in the capital natural surfaces. While improving river valleys within the capital, builders violated the hydrological regime of the rivers. The situation is the same in most cities near Moscow. Pour a glass of water onto the oilcloth and it will all roll onto the floor. And if there is a velvet tablecloth on the table, then all the water will be absorbed. So it is with the banks of rivers, which are devoid of natural vegetation, oxbow lakes, water meadows, and are encased in concrete and paving slabs.”

They say that in Europe, forest trees by themselves - through self-seeding - no longer renew themselves. Because for seed germination forest trees certain conditions are required. And there, even a dead tree will lie in the forest for at least twenty years without rotting - for this you need mushrooms, microorganisms that would feed on dead wood. To maintain life in these artificial forests, Europeans spend billions of euros a year. We don't have that kind of money. So, maybe we should still be more careful about the wealth we have inherited? As they say, take care of nature - our mother!