International Legal Protection of Landscapes of the Central Ecological Zone of the Baikal Natural Territory

Abstract

The article discusses the content of international legal instruments on landscape protection, such as the European Landscape Convention, 2000. It also analyzes the legal incorporation of the concept and legal regime of landscapes into the legislation of the Russian Federation. The study examines foreign legislation, especially, law of some European countries and gives examples of legal mechanisms for landscape protection that are enshrined in the legislation of such states. Also, the article describes some of the legal and institutional mechanisms that exist in European associations, in particular in the Council of Europe, and aimed at coordinating cooperation among States in the area of landscape protection in the use of natural resources. Also as a result of a retrospective analysis of domestic legislation, legal mechanisms that have contributed to integrated landscape conservation, such as Territorial Integrated Nature Conservation Schemes, have been identified and described. The article contains some proposals for improving and supplementing domestic legislation with legal norms on landscape conservation, the adoption of which, in the authors› view, could improve the legal mechanism for landscape conservation and protection in Russia, in particular within the Central Ecological Zone of the Baikal Natural Territory. The authors conclude that there is no systematic legal mechanism in the Russian Federation for the protection of natural landscapes, in particular the landscapes of the Central Ecological Zone of the Baikal Natural Territory. There is also a need to develop a legal framework for the protection of natural landscapes, including on the basis of positive foreign experience.