The Significance of the 1979 Bern Convention in the Legal Regulation of Biodiversity Conservation in the Baikal Natural Territory

The main provisions of the Convention on the Protection of Wild Fauna and Flora and Natural Habitats in Europe of 1979 are analyzed as having the potential to strengthen the legal protection regimes of the Baikal ecosystem and its individual components (Berne Convention) in the context of hunting regulation. The article provides information about the history of the development, participants, bodies of the Convention and the procedure for their activities, as well as a brief description of the European Charter of Hunting and Biodiversity adopted under the auspices of the Berne Convention. As part of the coverage of the content of the Berne Convention, attention is paid to the conservation of habitats of wildlife, the protection of endangered and vulnerable species. A brief description of the content of the annexes of the Convention containing lists of strictly protected species of flora and fauna, as well as prohibited methods of slaughter, trapping and other forms of extraction and exploitation of animals and plants is given. A critical look is given at the formal approach taking place in the modern period when issuing a state-issued hunting ticket and an opinion is expressed on the desirability of legally consolidating mechanisms for verifying knowledge from the field of the hunting community of applicants for its receipt. As an example of the issues considered at the meeting of the Standing Committee of the Convention, the recommendations adopted at the meeting of the Committee in 2018 on the use of top dressing as a tool for managing the number of populations of large predators and their prey are given. The expediency of implementing the provisions of the above-mentioned documents into national legislation is emphasized, while attention is focused on the possibility of consolidating the analyzed international legal norms in the Russian legal system even before their ratification by Russia.