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THE ASSOCIATION OF YENISEI RESERVES AND NATIONAL PARKS
HOLDS SEMINAR TO DISCUSS RESULTS OF JOINT EFFORTS
ON ITS NATURAL PROTECTED TERRITORIES

October 30 to November 6, 2000: The Association of Yenisei Reserves and National Parks held a seminar to discuss the results of joint efforts on its natural protected territories. The seminar was held in Shushenskoye Village (Krasnoyarsk Krai) and hosted by the Sayano-Shushen Biosphere Reserve, the Khakas Reserve and Shushen Bor National Park. In was supported by the Global Ecological Facility Project Russian Biodiversity Conservation and by the World Wild Fund Project Ensuring Long-Term Preservation of the Altai and Sayan Ecological Region.

Participants included heads and members of Association organizations, of its Learned Council, of reserves; heads and staff of regional state nature preservation bodies; researchers from several scientific institutes and high schools; as well as GEF and WWF representatives.

Due to the length of the Seminar’s resolution, we are unable to publish it in full here. What follows are those points which, in the opinion of the Editor, may be of interest to colleagues who are not members of the Association.

1. The seminar participants recommended that a permanent action group of Natural Protected Territories of the Association of Yenisei Reserves and National Parks be set up for purposes of protecting rare species (snow leopard, argali, musk deer, rare bird species). The experience of Far Eastern reserves should be considered and special attention paid to spot-checks.

The Regulations on the Action Group of Natural Protected Territories of the Association of Yenisei Reserves and National Parks should be established by November 30, 2000. The intra-reserve decrees on assigning inspectors for the Action Group should be written. The Action Group’s agenda for 2001 should be prepared.

A program of yearly training seminars for Guard Services of Natural Protected Territories of the Association should be drafted. An application for a grant to create and support an Action Group, as well as to conduct yearly training seminars for Guard Services of Natural Protected Territories of the Association, should be written.

The Department of Environmental Protection and Ecological Safety of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources should be asked to support the creation of the Action Group of Natural Protected Territories of the Association.

2. The consolidation of the scientific potential of the Association’s natural protected territories depends largely on the formation of workgroups to handle specific programs within the Association. The application of the creative potentials of the association’s natural protected territories to regional conservation, research and environmental education programs should produce good results.

It is vital that a scientific center be established within the Association for purposes of forming joint action groups to pursue the main goals of reserves, national parks, and other natural protected territories in the region:

• monitoring and preservation of rare animals species and their communities in southern Siberia on the basis of research and conservation efforts within the natural protected territories;
• developing joint projects on environmental education and ecological tourism;
• assuring continued support of the Nature Annals with the aim of providing ecological monitoring within the region;
• developing regional aspects of the concept of reserves;
• analyzing the current state of the natural protected territories’ network, evaluating its importance for the preservation of the landscape and biological diversity, nature conservation, scientific research and environmental education;
• analyzing regional peculiarities of interactions between the reserves and the local population and suggestions for their optimization; actions aimed at increasing the importance of the natural protected territories in the sustainable development of the region, preservation of the traditional forms of land use;
• optimizing the internal functional structure of the Association’s natural protected territories.

A database on availability of specialists for natural protected territories shall be created. A training program for the staff of the Association’s natural protected territories shall be set up.

Supporting the Nature Annals and inventories of flora and fauna is a priority of the scientific work of the Association’s natural protected territories. A special forest survey shall be conducted within the Association’s natural protected territories in accordance with the program considering the requirements of the reserve regime.

The development of a joint information system (e-library) on biodiversity of the flora and fauna in the Altai-Sayan eco-region within the framework of the Association is desirable. This information system would aim to: increase the joint efforts of the reserves within the Altai-Sayan Eco-region; to speed up the exchange of information; to adjust the various scientific information on the state of biodiversity to solving nature conservation problems; and to promote knowledge of ecology and nature conservation in the region and adjacent territories.

3. The first stage of the project Monitoring of Rare Plants and Animals Species of the Region on the Basis of the Association’s Research and Conservation Work planned for 2000 produced a number of programs on several plant and animal species developed in several of the Association’s natural protected territories.

The seminar agreed on how to structure the programs.

The second stage calls for the publication in 2000 of the Association’s scientific works in a book to be entitled Rare Animals of the Altai-Sayan Eco-region.

4. The Training Section on Application of the TURBOVEG Standard European Package of Geobotanic Databases both trained scientific research staff of the Association’s natural protected territories and systematically supported geo-botanical research.

It was recommended that TURBOVEG be adopted as the standard package of geo-botanical databases for the Association’s member reserves. It is vital that the primary documents describing the basic elements of biodiversity (geo-botanical and floristic descriptions, herbarium labels, descriptions of species habitats and ecosystems) be unified.

5. Environmental education aims both to form a positive image of the reserve in the mind of the local population and to increase eco-tourism.

The participants of the seminar recommended:

• developing a joint plan for ecological tours in the Association’s reserves and the national parks;
• developing ecological tourism in the Association’s reserves and the national parks;
• conducting a demonstration tour at the next Seminar;
• applying for a GEF grant to Develop Eco-tourism in the Association’s Reserves and National Parks and to Conduct Training Tours.

6. The importance of the joint project of the Sayano-Shushen and Khakas Reserves on Establishing the Yeniseyskiye Ostrova Natural Protected Territory on the Basis of the Sayano-Shushen and Khakas State Reserves was confirmed. This project has been supported by the Krasnoyarsk Krai and by the Khakas Republic but has not yet been completed.

7. The title of the IRBIS Information Bulletin should be confirmed as it meets all requirements.

With the aim of creating a network of bulletin correspondents, the directors of reserves and national park shall make certain staff members responsible for the regular submission of materials to the bulletin every month.

8. The Association’s Agenda for 2001 should include:

• Reserves and Ecological Aspects of Nature Exploitation, a scientific and applied conference to be held in the Katun State Biosphere Reserve on July 25–28, 2001;
• events connected with the anniversaries of the Sayano-Shushen (25^th), Khakas (10^th), and Katun (5^th) reserves.

9. The seminar wrote to the Head of the Department of Natural Resources of the Siberian Federal District and asked that he be aware of the Association of Yenisei Reserves and National Parks and its desire to cooperate on important issues of preservation of biological and landscape diversity in Siberia in the work of the Sub-Department of Natural Protected Territories of the Department of Natural Resources of the Siberian Federal District.

In addition, planned natural protected territories and the optimization of their networks in the Altai-Sayan Region were discussed within the framework of the seminar.

Natural protected territories are planned by local specialists and experts. This work is supervised by the Association and supported by the WWF.

Krasnoyarsk Krai

Biosphere proving grounds in the Sayano-Shushen Biosphere Reserve (219,000 hectares) and the Bolshaya Pashkina Refuge (30,000 hectares) are being planned. These projects have been approved by the heads of the regional administrations.

Kemerovo Region

Three regional refuges are under consideration.

Altai Krai

The cluster area of the Tighirek Reserve (119,000 hectares), and the Gornaya Kolyvan’ National Park (118,000 hectares) are under consideration.

Altai Republic

The Yungur cluster area of the Katun Reserve (180,000 hectares) is being planned. The pre-project coordination is done with the organizations and departments concerned.

Tuva Republic

The Ubsunurskaya Kotlovina Reserve project, nine clusters with a total area of 323,000 hectares, will be reconsidered. The territory has been described physically and geographically; its typicality has been evaluated; its borders defined and described; and an explication of lands prepared.

Khakas Republic

Two small natural parks are planned: Iyussky Park (27,000 hectares), and Ivanovskiye Ozera Park (36,000 hectares). Decisions concerning the organization of these natural protected territories have been received from the heads of the regional administrations.

Eastern Kazakhstan Region of the Kazakh Republic

The Katon-Karagay National Park is being planned (430,000 hectares). The planned territory is being coordinated with the authorities and given technical and economic support. The schedule of papers’ adoption by the republican authorities is being coordinated.

Thus, seven natural protected territories of different statuses (with a combined area of roughly 1,250,000 hectares) are currently being planned in the Altai-Sayan eco-region. In addition, five more natural protected territories (total area 300,000 hectares) are under consideration. The preliminary results of efforts to optimize the network of natural protected territories in the Altai-Sayan eco-region were discussed at the Seminar. The Association of Yenisei Reserves and National Parks is conducting and supervising these efforts. In all the abovementioned regions, groups of experts have been formed for this purpose. The preliminary results were discussed at the seminar, systematic approaches considered, the structure of the final report coordinated and adopted.

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