The legal regime of wetlands

Introduction. Wetlands are of great environmental and economic value, which determines the search for a reasonable compromise on the organization of their rational use and protection. In this regard, the purpose of the studyis to analyze the current norms of international and Russian environmental law regulating the legal regime of wetlands in Russia. Methods. The methodological framework for the research is the dialectical method of scientific cognition, as well as the method of system analysis, logical, and comparative legal methods. Results. The analysis has shown the value of the eco-network approach to the rational use and protection of wetlands, laid down in the Ramsar Convention and partially reproduced in the Water Code of the Russian Federation and other legal acts. Meanwhile, some existing gaps have been identified in the legal regulation of the use and protection of swamp ecosystems, including issues of accounting and ownership of them, which require appropriate solutions. Conclusions. The full implementation of Russia’s obligations under the Ramsar Convention requires the development of programs for the use and protection of wetlands, the legislative consolidation of additional measures to account for wetlands that are not included in the Ramsar list, but require measures to preserve them. It is necessary to normalize the very concept of wetlands, as well as to expand the list of permits and prohibitions that apply to this natural complex. It is hardly advisable to include all wetlands in specially protected natural territories, therefore, further development of the regime of “semi-protected” natural territories for wetlands is necessary, in which the subjects of the Russian Federation should participate more widely.