« CURRENT EVENTS »

NATIONAL PARK DIRECTORS MEET AT ALL-RUSSIAN WORKSHOP

On March 20-23, 2001, national park directors met at an all-Russian workshop devoted to the Achievements of and Prospects for Russian National Parks Today. The workshop, organized by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources’ (MNR) Department for Environmental Protection and Ecological Safety and the Kuronian Spit National Park within the framework of the GEF Project Biodiversity Conservation in Russia, was held in Lesnoy, a settlement in the Kaliningrad region.

The workshop’s 76 participants included 34 national park directors from Russia, also the directors of Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Bratislavskie Lakes national parks (Belarus), Kurshu Neria (Lithuania) and Rishinsky Relict National Park (Republic of Abkhazia), Kaliningrad Regional Committee of Natural Resources, and the North-West Regional Department of Natural Resources; section heads and experts from the MNR Department for Environmental Protection and Ecological Safety; managers and specialists from the GEF Project Biodiversity Conservation in Russia; representatives from the WWF Russian Office, the Biodiversity Conservation Center, the Zapovedniki Eco-Training Center, and the Dersu Uzala Ecotourism Development Fund; members of other conservation and research organizations; and journalists.

The workshop arrived at the following Resolution:

The workshop’s participant agreed:

1.1. Investigate ways to improve the salary-and-wage system for national parks. Specifically:

• include national parks in the system of attached-to-the-position salaries and qualification charges confirmed by the Ministry of Labor for state nature reserves;
• draft and send proposals to the appropriate governmental bodies to cardinally reassess the salary-and-wage system for national park inspectors (including chief state inspectors and their deputies) and to withdraw them from the Uniform Schedule of Charges;
• provide recommendations as to how to unify the national park structure and put together staff schedules.

1.2. Work to increase investment in national parks and to attract outside funds from foreign donors.

1.3. Draft normative and methodological documents regulating activities affecting the protection and use of natural resources and cultural heritage sites (e.g. forestry, inspection and monitoring, eco-education, tourism, research, etc.).

1.4. Draft one interdepartmental agreement with the Ministry of Culture on collaboration in the sphere of protection, restoration and the use of historical and cultural heritage sites located in national parks; and another interdepartmental agreement with the Ministry of Education on cooperation in the sphere of environmental education and training on the basis of protected natural areas.

1.5. Solve the problem of airborne national forest protection in 2001.

1.6. Study the possibility of organizing a coordination center for eco-tourism in national parks and nature reserves.

1.7. Hold a tutorial workshop with Vodlozersky National Park on how to organize tourism in national parks.

1.8. Introduce a unified service certificate form for NP personnel.

1.9. Promote vocational training of NP personnel with courses and workshops.

1.10. Study the possibility of using compatible GIS (geo-information systems) software for national parks.

1.11. Start developing a unified brand style for national parks and nature reserves (symbols, chevrons, badges, booklets, information boards, etc).

1.12. Investigate the possibility of simplifying the certification system for tourist services offered by national parks.

1.13. Seek UNESCO's biosphere status for a number of Russian national parks.

1.14. Ensure the development and formal endorsement of Recommendations on how to organize research work in national parks as well as Methods Guidelines on research and ecological monitoring in national parks.

1.15. Publicize the experience of several parks in solving certain bylaw and operational problems.

1.16. Generalize the experience of national parks concerning entrance fee collection so as to develop common legal approaches.

1.17. Study the possibility of using laboratory facilities in regional MNR departments for analyses of water, soil and biota samples within the framework of the NP survey and ecological monitoring.

1.18. Study the possibility of publishing the workshop materials.

1.19. Hold an all-Russian workshop in March 2002 for directors of state nature reserves and national parks to discuss environmental education and public awareness issues.

1.20. Encourage publication of methods materials on eco-tourism development with non-governmental organizations.

1.21. Promote visits by top managers and specialists to foreign and Russian national parks and nature reserves to study nature protection, environmental education, tourism and recreation.

2.1. Coordinate drafts of the Statement on the use of park lands without excluding their economic use; and work with land services to impose restrictions related to the national park regime.

2.2. Speed up the legal implementation of relevant state acts on the right of land use.

2.3. Require national parks that conduct hunting activities to obtain long-term licenses from those regional departments responsible for protection, control and the regulation of game use.

2.4. Hold more workshops on methods in association with nature reserves and national parks, especially for inspectors.

2.5. Form operational groups to act as regular protection service units in all national parks; pay particular attention to the technical equipment and material encouragement of these groups.

2.6. Generalize the participation of national parks and national park specialists in the work of State Ecological Inspection.

2.7. Suspend economic activities detrimental to the environment; eliminate environmental delinquencies; penalize violators; claim damages resulting from violations of regulations for nature use (protected water areas, animal protection requirements, agricultural burnings, construction and natural resources extraction).

2.8. Survey historical and cultural objects located in national parks and ensure that they have the proper status.

2.9. Improve interaction and cooperation with regional MNR departments in the field of protection, including control, inspection, and environmental education.

2.10. Develop environmental education, especially programs for schoolchildren.

2.11. Increase the number of national park protection service personnel through environmental education.

2.12. Inform governmental and regional authorities and municipalities of the results of the work done by national parks, of the parks’ future opportunities and prospects.

2.13. Generalize habitat enhancement measures to protect rare and endangered species and restore populations.

2.14. Implement special programs and measures to significantly increase animal and bird populations in the parks for purposes of showing them to visitors in their natural habitat.

3.1. Improve the draft document of the Management Strategy for Russian National Parks in association with NP directors.

3.2. Improve collaboration between national parks and state nature reserves in Russia and Belarus. Specialists from national parks and nature reserves in Belarus should participate in Russia-based conferences, workshops, meetings and other conservation, research and eco-educational events.

3.3. Improve collaboration between the Kuronian Spit National Park and Lithuania’s Kurshu Neria National Park to protect the natural and cultural heritage of the Kuronian Spit.

3.4. Approve the initiative of the Biodiversity Conservation Center to develop a system of vocational training for national park staff and help the BCC implement this initiative.

3.5. Support the development of the Friends of Protection Islands Movement initiated by Zapovedniki EcoCenter.

3.6. Support the efforts of the Dersu Uzala Fund to develop eco-tourism in protected natural areas.

3.7. Express sincere gratitude to the Kuronian Spit National Park personnel for an excellently organized workshop.

 

| contents | top | >>