Maksim S. Yushchenko

We completed a historical and legal research of the target-program approach to environmental protection and nature management planning in relation to the Lake Baikal and the adjacent territory in the Russian Empire until 1917, in the Soviet period and until 2018. Since 1960 the planning activities in relation to the Lake Baikal and its basin were of the greatest importance; the history of adoption, as well as efficiency of the implementation of the relevant documents is discussed, and the related problems are analyzed. Also analyzed are specific features of how Baikal protection target programs have been implemented. In the course of the study, 5 stages of the development of program-target documents were identified (pre-revolutionary, which began in the 19th century; the period from 1920 to 1960; the period from 1960 until the end of the USSR; the period from 1990 to 2018; the modern period, since 2018). The article lists the special features inherent in each of the periods. The conclusion is made that many contemporary issues with the protection of the Lake Baikal are due to historical circumstances, including those formed during the Soviet period.