Plans to cut down thousands of trees on the Lago-Naki plateau have outraged environmentalists.

The Supreme Court of Adygea has begun hearing a lawsuit filed by the Social and Ecological Union, demanding the cancellation of the transfer of forest lands on the Lago-Naki plateau for the construction of a resort. Nearly 10,000 trees are planned to be cut down there, and the planned work will destroy the landscape, environmentalists noted.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in August 2024, activists reported that trees were being cut down and a water pipeline was being built on the Lago-Naki plateau, where authorities plan to build a resort. Environmentalists confirmed that the construction is damaging the environment.

The All-Russian public organization "Socio-Ecological Union" (SEU) has filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of Adygea against the republic's Committee for Architecture and Urban Development, a source close to SEU told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on condition of anonymity.

According to the source, the essence of the lawsuit is challenging the legality of the committee's approval of the detailed planning project for the resort – the so-called Upper Village, which is adjacent to the Caucasus Nature Reserve. As part of the project, the land on which the resort is planned to be located was removed from forest fund lands and transferred from federal ownership to the ownership of the Dakhovskoye rural settlement. Moreover, as the lawsuit alleges, forestry legislation was violated, according to which forests with protected status must be used only for their intended purpose, and recreational activities not related to capital construction are permitted there.

These forests, according to the source, should also have been included in the protected zone of the Caucasus Nature Reserve, where, according to the law, capital construction, including hotels, roads, and parking lots, is also prohibited.

The first court hearing took place on January 13, and only one event occurred – the inclusion of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment as an interested party. The hearing was then adjourned until February 3, the source said.

This will completely destroy, alter the landscape, and ruin this fragile territory.

He believes the construction plans are illegal. "All this planning for this resort, in principle, from start to finish, violates federal law, both forestry and protected natural areas. And the potential environmental damage, the physical damage in general, will be enormous. At a minimum, about 10,000 trees will be cut down on the site where the hotels are planned. Plus, there's a karst massif there. There's practically no level surface anywhere. "That is, some kind of blasting operations will apparently be carried out there. Apparently, this area will be leveled. That is, it will completely destroy, change the landscape, and ruin this fragile territory," he noted.

To put it in more understandable terms, that's the size of 17 football fields.

Bohdan Zakopaiko, administrator of the "Long Live Lago-Naki!" community, confirmed the number of trees planned to be cut down, slightly specifying it – 9,950. "This is according to the design documentation. "If we translate it into more understandable dimensions, it's the size of 17 football fields," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The site chosen for the resort is a "concentration of federally protected plant species," said Evgeny Vitishko, head of the Krasnodar regional branch of the Green League. "No damage assessment has been conducted yet, but if this continues, there are many organizations here that can conduct a public environmental assessment," he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

He noted that no work is currently being carried out at the site of the planned resort because the Adygea prosecutor's office is disputing the positive conclusion of the Main Directorate of State Expertise on the resort project. These figures were confirmed to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Valery Brinikh, head of the Adygea branch of the All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation.

Regarding the possibility of relocating the resort, environmentalists expressed doubt that such a move was planned. "An alternative was not considered at all, since the original goal was to create a resort here. That's why a resolution was passed to establish a landfill," said Valery Brinikh.

It's better to develop existing resorts.

Yevgeny Vitishko noted that the economic feasibility of creating the resort is already unclear, and if it is relocated elsewhere, the project "will ultimately become unprofitable." "I believe it's better to develop the existing resorts, of which there are already plenty in the Krasnodar Territory [the territory of which surrounds Adygea - Ed. "Caucasian Knot"]. Creating a new resort, given that Krasnaya Polyana, for example, isn't really profitable, is just someone's whim," Vitishko emphasized.

Valery Brinikh added that the court dismissed his lawsuit filed in 2025 demanding the illegality of the Russian government's order to create a biosphere reserve in the Caucasus Nature Reserve, where ski slopes and lifts for the Lago-Naki resort were to be built. "The appeal, which took place in December 2025, also dismissed the lawsuit. "We are currently awaiting a cassation appeal," he noted.

As a reminder, in July 2021, environmental activists protested the construction of a mountain resort in the Lagonaki Plateau. Adygea authorities are refusing to engage in dialogue with opponents of the resort's construction, and federal authorities have not responded to scientists' appeals due to the threat to the unique natural site, they stated. On June 1, 2024, the Russian Cabinet of Ministers announced that Adygea would receive over 500 million rubles to complete construction of a highway to the Lagonaki Plateau.