THE STEERING COMMITTEE PUT A HIGH VALUE ON HCVF PROJECT RESULTS

The Steering Committee of the High Conservation Value Forest project implemented by the Silver Taiga Foundation since 2008 held its annual meeting on 01 February 2019. The Committee consists of the representatives of Ministry of Nature of Komi, Ministry of Industry of Komi, such Russian environmental NGOs as Greenpeace, WWF and FSC. The target of the Steering Committee annual meeting is to assess the last-year project progress and agree on the plans for the upcoming year. During the long and interesting discussion the Steering Committee approved Silver Taiga annual reports for 2018, plan and budget for 2019.

The Committee put a high value not only on the amount of work done by the Foundation during 2018 but also on the investigations’ quality. According to the members of the Committee Silver Taiga should disseminate the gained experience not only in Komi but also in other regions using federal mass media.

The Steering Committee propose the Foundation to present HCVF Project results during the National Forest Forum planned for July 2019 in Syktyvkar. Moreover, it would be a good idea to involve forestry students to the voluntary activity of the Foundation as far as possible as there is a shortage of a qualified forestry staff in Komi.

Quite a number of questions were focused on the creation of Koigorodok Natrional Park, Osa and Karpogory Reserves and restrictions on Udora Reserve visiting.