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Karelia to Double Fees for Visiting Valaam, White Bridges, and Vottovaara
A visit fee is charged to all tourists not included in the list of priority categories who wish to visit popular natural monuments.
Among them are the popular Yukankoski waterfalls (White Bridges) in the Pitkyaranta region, the Valaam Archipelago Nature Park in the Sortavala region, Kumi-Porog in the Kalevala region, Khitoostrov in the Loukh region and many other reserves. And a nature park.
The funds raised will be used to develop new ecological trails, create parking lots and recreation areas, and combat illegal dumping.
The fee for visiting natural monuments of Karelia was established in the republic in 2021, but initially it was charged only for visiting three regions: the Valaam Archipelago, the Botovara natural monument and the Murom Nature Reserve. Then the list was expanded several times.
Last year, the Karelian authorities exempted residents of Karelia from paying the cost of visiting the Ladoga Skeris National Park. The preferred categories also include people with disabilities, veterans, preschool and school-age children, large families raising minor children, and children left without parental care.
The entrance fee to this territory is 100-200 rubles for Russian citizens and 200-400 rubles for foreigners. The Leningrad Region authorities expected to replenish their budget by 3 million rubles due to this.
Ecotourism is booming in Russia. In the first five months of this year alone, nearly five million people visited Russian protected areas, and by the end of the year, the number of Russian ecotourists could more than double pre-pandemic levels.