«NEWS FOR THE SCIENTIFIC DEPARTMENTS OF NATURE RESERVES»

KALUGA NATURE STUDY SOCIETY RE-OPENS

Public organizations are indispensable for any economic system. No matter how developed, a government cannot provide adequate support in all areas of a country’s cultural and scientific life.

Many people are involved in studying nature in Russia — researchers, teachers, students, schoolchildren, and amateurs. They all occupy their own niche. Their activities should be supported, promoted and provided with a scientific basis for the results to be valid and become the property of the society. Coordination assistance could be provided at the regional level by NGOs. These NGOs could publish scientific reports, provide literature, evaluate and promote research methods, supervise research work at schools and universities, and raise money. In Kaluga these functions are fulfilled by the Kaluga Nature Study Society.

The Society was originally founded in 1910 when different local lore associations were active in Central Russia and three NGOs were functioning simultaneously in Kaluga. Honorary members of the Society included K.E. Tsiolkovsky, K.A. Timiryazev, D.I. Litvinov, and M.A. Menzbir. Before it was abolished in 1922, the Society published three books of News (Izvestia), including articles on cosmogony (K.E. Tsiolkovsky), flora (N.L. Dmitiryev), fauna (A I. Kirichenko, A.I. Chernyshov, P.P. Sanitsky), and geology (D.P. Bogdanov). The News’s print run was not large (from 300 to 600 copies) and soon became a bibliographic rarity.

The Kaluga Society was re-opened on May 17, 1999, by 7 specialists in the natural sciences.

The Society now has 50 standing members from Kaluga, the Kaluga Region and Moscow. It functions according to the Charter registered in the Kaluga Region’s legal department.

The Society’s main function is to coordinate the activities of naturalists, organize scientific conferences, participate in conservation work, and give public ecological examinations.

The Society has already organized the following departments: botany, terrestrial invertebrates, vertebrates, ecology and bio-indication, and PNA clubs. A number of other departments are planned: geography, hydrobiology, agriculture and general biology problems.

To join the Society one must be recommended by two current members. The Society Board supervises the work of the departments. The Board consists of a Chair, Deputy Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. Annual dues are collected from all members.

General meetings take the shape of scientific conferences, which usually begin with progress reports by the Board and departments.

The Society helped start a library devoted to natural history, scientific and local lore, and indicator determinants, as well as guides and textbooks. There is also a collection of scientific research journals and copies of rare editions.

The Society works with state scientific, educational and administrative bodies. The Society does not have its own premises; it is currently located in the Kaluga Region Student Center of Ecology and Biology.

Financing from the Kaluga Region’s Department of Education and Science allowed the Society to hold an International Scientific Conference on The Oka River in the Third Millennium; the Conference reports were published along with a fourth book of News (May 2001). The Kaluga Society has a joint agreement with Moscow University’s Faculty of Physics, Kaluga Teaching University and The Society for the Study of Electromagnetic Emissions Impact on Living Organisms.

What’s ahead? The Society plans to issue a fifth book of News and to hold another conference.

In conclusion, I would like to quote the first chairman of the Society’s Board D.P. Bogdanov, who wrote in the foreword to the first book of News in 1912: “Our work will be fruitful given the sympathy and active participation of a wide circle of naturalists and admirers. Regardless of one’s field of knowledge, powers of observation and activity can create success and realize plans.” These words are as pertinent today as they were 89 years ago. The Society’s new life depends on us.

We invite all those who are interested to work with us. Please write: nature@kaluga.ru

The Founders of the Kaluga Nature Study Society:

A.A.Scmytov, Kaluga Regional Student Center of Ecology and Biology,
I.V. Shmytova, Kaluga State Museum of Local Lore,
V.E. Kuzmichev, Kaluga Teaching University,
Chairman of the Society’s Board

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