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Table of content:
OAK STORIES
Oaks and acorns of Great Novgorod city
Local people of ancient Russian town Novgorod made a very special action
this fall. They collected over 200 kg of acorns and planted them in
countryside. Their goal was to restore famous Novgorod oakeries of the
region. Novgorod is the northern part of the area of oak distribution. There
used to be most fertile soils in such oakeries and that's why they were
"cleaned up" for agricultural purposes. Furniture that used to be produced
there has being made of oak. So called "ship oakeries" were famous for being
a basic material for the first Russian fleet introduced by Russian Tzar
Peter the Great. Only the best trees were used for ship construction so
those that still grow now are wick. The initiative of oakeries restoration
is the action everybody wants to participate in the region. Even those
people who disagree on other issues are ready to cooperate for oakeries
restoration.
Local NGOs going to come up with an idea of the state regional program on
oaks.
For further information about the initiative: efi@novgorod.net, "Ecologia" club, Novgorod
For further information about the oak program of the SEU Forest campaign: forestnews@online.ru, seupress@online.ru
"Truss" for a "long-liver" oak
One enterprise in Belgorod region (South of Russia) just got a contract to
produce a special a unique metal truss for an oak of over 400 years old. It
is the most ancient tree in the region. This tree is almost the same age
with the city Oskol where it is growing. This metal carcass is supposed to
help the oak to stand any weather and to live longer.
Green belt of Suzdal
Oaks wills some day cover surroundings of the ancient beautiful Russian town Suzdal.
It became a part of SEU Forest Campaign Oak Program. This area has being
developed for agricultural needs in Soviet period. All the oaks were cut in
favor of planting of some technical crops and cattle grazing that led to
soil erosion. All the fields are abandoned now and getting covered by wild
bushes. SEU Forest campaign in cooperation with SEU Suzdal branch is
planning to launch project of landscape restoration, main focus on the
reintroducing of oaks into the ecosystem. Agricultural development of the
area heavily affected on the nature. The part of Nerl' river, cleanest one
in Central Russia gets very dirty near Suzdal'.
Local NGOs are willing to plant oaks on the area even bigger than it used to be before logging. Planting of trees has already started. This initiative got a lot of public support. Representatives of local administration planted
the trees together with children. SEU Forest Campaign gave 5 kg of acorns
collected this year to Suzdal colleagues.
A lot of research activities still needed to design a whole project of
regional ecosystems restoration, it will be done next year. Local
authorities have already announced their support to the project.
For further information on "Oaks of the Europe" program:
http://oaks.forest.ru/ (Sorry, in Russian only)
STUDENT NATURE GUARDS JUBILEE
Conference dedicated to the 40 years anniversary was held in November in Moscow region.
This year the Nature Protection Squad or Druzhina Okhrani Prirodi (DOP)
celebrates its fortieth anniversary. For those who have been working in
conservation for some time, I hardly need to explain what this organisation
does or the significance it bears to the conservation movement in Russia and
CIS countries as a whole. Suffice to say that ex-DOP members were the ones
who founded the Socio-Ecological Union and that most conservation
organisations have more than a sprinkling of DOP veterans on their staff and
nearly all are at least in some way or another, connected with this
movement. However, describing DOP's role in the development of Russia's
ecological movement is not the purpose of this article. Rather, it is my
intention to try and throw some light on the DOP of today and how by
constant re-invention of itself it has discovered the secret of eternal
youth....
DOP has remained essentially a youth group uniting undergraduates,
research students and sometimes school children in the higher grades, as
well as teachers of ecology and the environment. DOP campaigns against
poaching, runs projects to protect nature reserves, conducts research on
biodiversity, runs ecological education projects, holds events and actions
etc. It actively recruits new members every year (for the most part first
year undergraduates) to replace those who have completed their university
education and move on (although some do stay after graduating).
For further information about DOP mouvement: http://www.ecoline.ru/dop (In Russian)
FAR EAST: NON-TIMBER SMUGGLING
In the middle of October Far East customers in cooperation with state
environment inspection detained group of people who tried to bring over 20
kg of Jeng-Seng through a Chinese border. Such a big portion of illegal
non-timber import is an outstanding event. It pushed customers to estimate
the results of the year because it looks like biological resource smuggling
is increasing in the region. In 28 cases there were the efforts to "export"
animal parts and plants that are included in Russian Red Book. Since the
beginning of this year customers detained 2 sets of bones and skin of Amur
tiger, 909,5 kg of Japanese crab, 8 pheasant bodies, 15 kg of bear meat, 416
kg of salmon, 31 pieces of bear's gall, 101 bear's paws; 5,3 kg frog's fat,
800 kg of whale's fat, 298 deer's horns, 24 deer's penises, 26 Far East
turtles and 40 eggs of them, 18 deer tails, 2 crocodile's stuffed animals, a
lynx's skin, 1196 squirrel skins, 88 sable skins, 2705 mink skins, 2 beaver
skins, 31,6 kg wild Jeng -Seng roots and some other rare trophies.
Smugglers also tried to take out abroad some parrots, aquarium fish, horns
of ungulates, tropical flowers, some sea fauna that might be used for
medical purposes. The diversity of "goods" that might be illegally
transported from Siberia to other countries is increasing every day. The
main object for selling abroad this year is fur, Jen-Seng, Far East turtle
and secretions of bear and kabarga deer, and dry mollusks.
By the NGO "Secret land", Vladivostok, Far East
THE FUTURE OF USSURY TAIGA HAS BEING DETERMINED IN PARIS
A part of Ussury taiga in Bikin River basin might be recognised as UNESCO
World Inheritage very soon. This question has being discussed now by the
experts. This area is the one of the last untouched natural plots of the
Russian Far East. Of course man has explored it but it has never been
"attacked" by the industry.
This area has a status of "the territory of traditional nature use". But it doesn't prevent the forest there from logging.
By the NGO "Secret land", Vladivostok, Far East
A PERMIT FOR FOREST TRANSPORTATION
Referent-Service reported that authorities of one of Irkutsk regional
communities introduced a new regulation for forest transportation. Now
everyone who deals with woods transportation in Taishetskiy district must
get a special permit for this. Otherwise all timber will be taken and
vehicles will be detained till circumstances are brought to light.
A comment of editors: Such regulations are introduced in Russia in order
to prevent illegal cuttings, but it doesn't work. The problem of illegal
wood harvesting might be solved only through introducing of the effective
regulatory system that would provide procedures for the whole process of
wood processing.
The Survey of Illegal Forest Felling Activities in Russia (forms and methods of illegal cuttings) available on Russian NGOs Forest Club Internet
site: http://www.forest.ru/eng/publications/illegal/.
TOURISM AND POACHING GETTING THE SAME THING IN ALTAY
Famous Teletskiy lake in Altay mountains that is in UNESCO Natural In list
is almost occupied by poachers now. They shot bears from boats, take fish
and put traps for deer. Local type of deer is very popular among poachers
especially in winter, excrements of this animal is used in Eastern type of
medicine. Another big problems in this area is uncontrolled tourism, "wild"
tourists come to nature reserves without any permits (there are two nature
reserves here) and behave themselves in a very environment unfriendly way,
they leave piles of garbage right on the place and set fires. Rangers of
nature reserves don't see any difference between poachers and tourism now.
Both damage the environment and "provide" them with additional work.
For the last six months rangers of two nature reserves have already detained: 2 guns, 21 nets, 40 traps, 100 special traps for deer.
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