Study Course in the Natural Reserve

During the last week of June, Silver Taiga team visited the Pechora-Ilychski Natural Reserve. This trip was part of the study course “Landscape-ecological Peculiarities of Pristine Taiga Forest” organized specifically for Silver Taiga staff. It was conducted by Yury Pautov, forest policy coordinator of Silver Taiga Foundation.

The course took place through taiga demonstrational routes developed and arranged by the Silver Taiga experts as a part of the project “Sustainable Boreal Forest Management” more than a decade ago.

The 4 demonstrational routes are devoted to the natural dynamic peculiarities of various types of taiga woodlands. The participants got acquainted with natural pyrogenic dynamics of pinewoods that link up with upper Pechora valley; with landscape pyrogenic dynamics of taiga forests between Shaytanovka and Sobinskaya cordons; with landscape-ecological peculiarities and consequences of a crown fire in the Shizhim cordon area.

Each of the 4 routes was interesting and informative in its own way. The contact with pristine taiga forest and the staff of the nature reserve, as well as the esthetic pleasure of magnificent views of Pechora headwaters, turned the study course into a wonderful journey in wilderness.

In addition, members of the expedition prepared some routes to the study course for experts from Sweden, whose trip has been planned for August-September 2010. They cleared up the necessary routes and renewed the signs at demonstrational points. Hundreds of Russian and foreign experts had the opportunity of real contact with pristine taiga forest and exploration of natural taiga dynamics in the years of active realization of “Sustainable Management of Boreal Forests” project. Nowadays, when the demands of the sustainable forest management are becoming more pressing, there is a good reason to restore the project by starting the study course.