The Green Belt of the Leningrad Region: An Institutional Step Towards Sustainable Development of the Legend.
APEC Analytics.
Part 1.
In the Leningrad region, the boundaries of the green belt of the forest park around St. Petersburg were officially defined. This step is a logical continuation of the environmental policy, which Governor Alexander Drozdenko called one of the priorities. The decision consolidates approaches that have already been defined for the protection of suburban forests and natural areas and at the same time creates clear rules for the development of areas. This is fundamentally important for the Leningrad region: the region is experiencing high anthropogenic pressure associated with the growth of agglomeration, transportation and residential development. The approval of the borders constitutes a long-term reference point for spatial policy, where environmental restrictions become part of development management, rather than an obstacle to it.
Environmental Implications: A Framework for Sustainable Development. The Green Belt is an area with a limited environmental management regime. Its purpose is to protect suburban forests and natural areas from chaotic development, preserve the ecological framework of the agglomeration and create clear rules for the development of areas. The regime of restrictions on the use of these areas, in which forests, bodies of water and natural landscapes are combined, allows the maintenance of the natural balance, the recreation potential and the air quality. Securing the status of lands provides additional control over their condition and public assurances of safety. For the Leningrad region, this means reducing the risk of conflicts between entrepreneurs, local residents and environmental requirements. As a result, the ecological framework becomes a factor in the sustainability of the whole cluster, and not just individual forest areas.
Composition of the belt: scope and territorial coverage. The belt includes 150 thousand dunams of forests and specially protected natural areas.