Legal Protection of Fauna

2.3.1. Legal Protection of Fauna

Of special importance for the conservation of biological diversity are the provisions of laws and other regulatory acts on the protection and use of fauna. The Preamble of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Protection and Use of Fauna” of 19 September 1996 stipulates that “fauna of the Republic of Belarus is an indispensable component of the environment and of the Earth’s biodiversity; it is a renewable, protected natural resource in need of sustainable use”. Article 1 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On Fauna” defines the notion “biological diversity of fauna” as the diversity “of components of fauna within one species, across species and in ecological systems”. The Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Protection and Use of Fauna” does not offer such a definition, but it contains certain provisions concerning the legal status and treatment of habitats of biodiversity components.

Article 1 of the Belorussian Law defines the categories “fauna” and “components of fauna” that have different meanings. These norms seem to need amending. Article 9 of the Law reads that “local Councils within their competence shall address the issues of using fauna components under their jurisdiction”. It remains unclear in what way local Councils can use animals in private or collective property (as the category “fauna components” would include animals withdrawn from their natural habitats). Article 7 (Section II “Public Administration in the Sphere of Fauna Protection and Use”) establishes five basic principles of public administration in the sphere of protection and sustainable use of fauna (e.g. ensuring that fauna is used in a fashion excluding violent treatment of animals, humane attitude to fauna, etc). It is obvious, though, that the principles cited above are not, in essence, principles of public administration. Furthermore, Section III entitled “Protection of Fauna” regulates, inter alia, rights and responsibilities of the officials of specially authorized state bodies of fauna protection and use (see Articles 32-35). Whereas there is no doubt that the social and economic security of the latter is essential, Section III still does not seem an appropriate place for incorporating such provisions. Relations regulated in the respective articles are not relations of fauna protection and use, and the use of weapons against people has nothing to do with hunting. According to Article 36 of the Law under consideration, “fauna users can be individuals and legal entities of all forms of ownership, including foreign ones, foreign states and international organizations”. It seems necessary to delete foreign states from the above list of fauna users. The Law also sets up minimum terms of leasing hunting and fishing areas at 10 and 15 years, correspondingly, which norm contradicts the provisions of Article 59, as the right to use fauna is subject to termination or limitation even in the case when the need for such use ceases to exist or the right to use is surrendered. Equally arguable are the provisions of Article 63, Section V, under which the system of payments for the use of fauna comprises fines and court claims for the violation of legislation on fauna protection and use and for excessive withdrawal of fauna components from their habitats. The distinction should be drawn between the notions of “payments” and “sanctions for non-compliance”, to which fines should be referred.

Thus, numerous norms and provisions of the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Protection and Use of Fauna” need revising and amending, which will be beneficial for the conservation and protection of biodiversity components.

The Federal Law of the Russian Federation “On Fauna” determines property rights in respect of fauna components (Article 4). The Law provides for the keeping of state inventory of fauna components and their use, as well as for the introduction of the state cadastre of fauna components and state monitoring thereof (Article 15). The protection and use of fauna components is carried out based on the established limits, standards, norms and rules (Article 17). The legal protection of fauna components includes: development and implementation of state programs of protecting and using fauna components (Article 18); organization and management of fauna protection (Article 19); establishment of restrictions and prohibitions for the use of fauna components (Article 21); conservation of habitats of fauna components (Article 22); protection of rare, threatened and endangered fauna components (Article 24). In order to use fauna components, legal entities need long-term licenses (issued on a competitive basis, whenever demand is high), while individuals need a single registered license. The licenses indicate the terms of use (Article 33), namely: kinds of use, list of fauna components in use, boundaries of the territory of use, and the timeframes of use. Besides, the Law lists the kinds of use of fauna components (Article 34). Economic regulation (Article 50) envisions the following: establishing and regulating economic relations, stock-taking and economic assessment of fauna resources; forming a system of payments for the use of fauna, a system of fines and claims; safeguarding economic interests of the state; protecting economic interests of fauna users. Further improvement of legislation on fauna will involve the passage of the Law of the Russian Federation “On Fishing and Protection of Aquatic Biological Resources” and of a series of federal laws on conservation and use of sturgeon (Acipenseridae) and salmon (Salmonidae) species, as well as of other valuable aquatic biological resources.

The application in the riparian countries of a model law “On Fauna” approved on 8 June 1997 by the International Assembly of the CIS member-states will be conducive to the harmonization of the Dnipro Basin countries’ legislation on fauna.

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