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Murmansk establishes new national park

Khibiny Mountains will get status as national park. Photo: Thomas Nilsen

The establishment of a national park is a first step of a comprehensive protection plan for the Khibiny mountains, a regional official says.

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According to Aleksey Smirnov, the territories of a socalled nature park will be defined in the course of 2012. Later, the area will be turned into a national park, the representative of the regional Duma Committee on Industrial Development and Environment says.

The status as national park will facilitate the efficient protection of the Khibiny eco-system, Smirnov maintains.

As previously reported, the Khibiny mountains are part of the federal protection plans of the Ministry of Natural Resources until year 2020

Read also: Protecting the Khibiny mountains

The establishment of the Khibiny natural park is consequently also a key component in the Murmansk regional nature protection plan, which was adopted in December 2011. The park is to be fully established by 2015, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reports.

The Khibiny mountains are under increasing pressure both from expanding industrial activities and tourism. While big industrial companies with great appetite look at the hugely rich metal and mineral reserves of the area, the tourism industry attract increasing number of tourists.