"Newspaper. Ru "writes that Minister Sergei Donskoy at a meeting on the environmental development of the Baikal natural area said that the Ministry of Natural Resources proposed to reduce the territory of the Baikal water protection zone.

Donskoy said: "Already prepared a proposal to adjust the water protection zone and refine the boundaries, limiting its area from 57 thousand. Square kilometers to 5,9 thousand. square kilometers.

This is almost a tenfold decrease in the ".

He added that the project was being prepared jointly with scientists. The minister explained that in this way the water protection zone will be more tied to the landscape.

He explained: "It actually ensures the protection of Lake Baikal exclusively within the framework of those norms that are prescribed in the legislation".

The minister said that the new water protection zone at Baikal will be approved in the spring of 2018.