Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to introduce amendments to federal laws expanding the rights of the small-numbered indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East. 

According to the directive that was posted on the Kremlin's website, indigenous peoples will be allowed to visit national parks free of charge and receive, on a non-competitive basis, the right to use timberland and hunting grounds for commercial hunting, the procurement of timber, turpentine, edible natural resources, non-timber resources, and the harvesting of medicinal plants, for both personal and commercial use.