Komi Protected Areas Network Development Experience Demanded Internationally
Nikolay Shuktomov, Silver Taiga coordinator of the forestry streams, took part in a two-day workshop to discuss preservation of high conservation value forests (HCVF) and their spatial connectivity within the Barents Region. The workshop was held in St.Petersburg as part of the BPAN international project (Supporting the establishment of a representative and efficiently manageable network of protected areas (PA) in the Barents Region).
The BPAN project was initiated by the working group on environmental protection of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, it is the key biodiversity preservation project in Barents Region. The project involves governmental organisations, scientific institutions, environmental NGOs of Finland, Sweden, Norway and the North-West of Russia. It is aimed at establishment of a representative network of protected areas in the Barents Region. PAs are an important tool for biodiversity conservation and for adaption and mitigation of climate change. The representative network of PAs supports biodiversity of natural ecosystems and serves as the basis for various environmental functions performed by forests.
One of the main targets of the workshop was to provide findings under BPAN II phase project “Supporting regional efforts to secure critical conservation of forests with high conservation value as a key to achieve Convention on Biodiversity targets in the Barents Region”. The participants of the workshop were representatives of public organizations and governmental bodies from Moscow, Arkhangelsk region, Komi, Karelia, as well as Finnish Forestry Service and Environment Institute.
Svetlana Zalesskaya from the Komi Republic PA Center spoke about the condition of the PA network in Komi and its development perspectives. The experience of the PA network establishment in the Komi Republic sparks the interest on the interregional and international levels, so Svetlana’s report engaged the participants and raised a lot of questions.
The Silver Taiga Foundation has been supporting the development of PA network in the Komi Republic for many years through detection of HCVF, arranging trips for field examination and forest massif value assessment, preparation of environmental justification for PAs to be established based on it. The workshop participants recognized Silver Taiga’s extensive background related to PA network development on the basis of the basin principle and landscape approach.
Osa Reserve Plan
In January 2017, the Silver Taiga Foundation prepared the environmental justification for the new Osa Reserve in Udora district bordering Arkhangelsk region (Osa Reserve Plan) and submitted it to the Komi Republic PA Center. The new reserve integrates the existing PAs of Komi and Arkhangelsk region to preserve the Core of the Verkhnyaya Vashka intact forest landscape. Hopefully, the positive decision regarding establishment of the new PA in that area will contribute a lot to the BPAN international project in 2017, the Year of Ecology and Specially Protected Natural Areas
