Forest and plant life: legal problems of distinction

Introduction: the article discusses issues related to the legal definition of concepts of forest and other vegetation, green spaces, as well as vegetation and plant life in general. Purpose: to perform a legal analysis of the transformation of approaches to understanding the term ‘forest’ in Soviet and modern Russian legislation. The analysis involves comparison of domestic experience with the experience of legal regulation in foreign countries and also takes into account views of Russian and foreign scientists on the relation between the legal concept of forest and vegetation outside forests. Methods: comparative legal, comparative historical, description and interpretation, theoretical methods of formal and dialectical logic, special scientific methods: formal dogmatic approach and interpretation of legal norms. Conclusions: the authors have studied legal issues concerning the status of green spaces in cities and other settlements, which is currently regulated in Russia at the regional level, in the same way as in some European countries (with the case of Austria used as an illustration in this article). Results: using specific examples, the authors have shown the process of formation of legislation on the use and protection of plant life objects, including cultivated and wild plants. Taking into account the experience of the neighboring countries and also the developments of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the authors made some proposals concerning the legal enshrinement of main mandatory provisions that could form the basis for further development of legislation in this sphere.