The State Duma has prepared a bill for its second reading that allows for clear-cutting of forests around Lake Baikal, a UNESCO World Heritage site and the largest (and deepest) freshwater reservoir on our planet. Thousands of hectares of forest, currently protected by federal laws, could be felled this year.

The initiative, reported by environmental groups in Telegram channels and covered by the independent outlet Novaya Gazeta, is shamelessly sold to the public as “a response to numerous pleas from citizens” to help expand the cemeteries in their villages.

This justification is actually a trick as most villages around Lake Baikal are very small – a result of low birthrates and population aging – while the target for chopping down trees is set at 11,000 hectares, roughly the size of the island of Jersey, a British dependency near France.

For example, the village of Shida has 28 residents, and the local cemetery is planned to expand by 2 hectares, which would be enough for some 5,000 new graveyards. Slyudyanka, with 19,000 residents, is set to have 62,000 new graveyards. And Shumikha, where no one lives, the cemetery would enlarge to accommodate around 1,000 new graveyards.