January 30, 2017
Legislation Initiative on Permafrost Protection
The Parliament of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is continuing to explore a legislative initiative on protection of permafrost proposed by a group of activists, including scientists and practicing engineers. The Parliamentary Committee on Land, Natural Resources and Ecology established a working group consisting of members of the parliament, representatives of relevant state agencies, and natural and social scientists to draft a bill. The working group met on January 27, 2017 to discuss comments received on the proposed draft. The initiative was prompted in part by concerns over the Federal Far Eastern Hectare Law entitling every Russian citizen to a hectare of land in the far east of the country for free. Permafrost scientists and engineers who called for action think that massive deforestation will endanger the environment in permafrost areas already undergoing profound changes due to climate warming and industrial development. Provisions of the bill call for the establishment of permafrost monitoring at critical projects the list of which to be determined by regional bodies of the federal governmental agencies on environmental protection, hydrometeorology and related fields. The working group will meet next week to study the drafted bill clause by clause. Photo: Dr. Alexander Fedorov of MPI (far right) at a meeting of the working group.
