Russia introduces criminal liability for collecting rare plants and mushrooms

Deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted in the third reading a law on criminal liability for the collection of rare plants and mushrooms listed in the Red Book or protected by international treaties.

The maximum punishment under the new article of the Criminal Code (260.1) provides for six to nine years in prison with a fine of up to 3 million rubles. Criminal liability will come for the destruction, damage, extraction, collection and circulation of especially valuable plants with intent, and not through negligence, says on the website of the State Duma.

This bill was submitted to the Duma in November. One of its authors, the head of the Committee on State Building and Legislation, Pavel Krasheninnikov, stressed that “at present, the effectiveness of protecting especially valuable objects of the plant world is inadequate." In some regions, “especially in the Far East, Altai, Crimea”, the number of cases of destruction of rare species of Red Book plants has increased significantly in recent years, the deputy added.

In 2021, the orders of the Ministry of Natural Resources also began to operate, clarifying the rules for collecting mushrooms, berries and birch sap. They concern entrepreneurs and legal entities, and not those who go to the forest for mushrooms and berries for themselves, the Ministry of Natural Resources noted.