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From the Model forest to the Model republic

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This was the motto of the conference organized by the Silver Taiga Foundation at the end of the anniversary year: in 2012 the Foundation celebrated its tenth anniversary and the Komi Model Forest reached the age of 15.

When introducing the results of the fifteen-year activities and perspectives of the Model forest to the participants Deputy Director of the Foundation Yury Pautov highlighted the fact that the Model forest is not an organization and even not a territory, it’s primarily the collaboration of all the participants of the forest relations including the representatives of the state, forest service, business, science, local self-government, regular residents of the forest villages and settlements… It’s the cooperation aimed at the development of the reasonable, sustainable management of our forests.

Herewith, Yury Pautov paid attention of the participants to the advantages gained from the principles and approaches the Model forest is based on. It is an acceleration of the practical solution of the burning problems existing in the forest industry – from idea to implementation. It is a fast adaptation to the new challenges. It is a possibility for practical demonstration and approbation of the results and a joint solution of the issues requiring an interaction between different structures and departments. Model forest is also giving a chance for natural resources management on the landscapes level, which is unfortunately missing in the official management practice. Besides, the possibility of involvement of the experience and specialists from other regions and countries plays a major role.

The presentation of the results obtained during the 15 years of the Komi Model Forest activities submitted to approval of the conference participants clearly showed that all these advantages were successfully used by the project participants, and currently the experience of the Model forest in Komi is not only disseminated in the republic but also is in-demand in other regions of Russia and abroad.

The Silver Taiga Foundation Director Przemyslaw Majewski described it to the conference participants by the example of the international project “Baltic landscapes”. According to him, other countries and regions have the same topical problems as we do. The experience shows that new challenges emerge and act everywhere faster than the modern management can handle. These are both the consequences of the globalization and the climate change, and the growing load on the resources… Such “old” issues as participation of the local population in the resources management, protection of soils and water bodies, etc. are relevant for many regions and countries the same as for us. And, as people have already seen in many countries, the Model forest platform gives a chance to solve these issues wholistically and more effectively.

The presentation of the Komi Republic state program “Forestry development”, delivered by the Head of the department of state forest register and forest use management of the Forest Committee of the Komi Republic Andrey Semenovich Navalikhin, has also aroused interest among the participants of the conference.

L.A. Guryeva, Deputy Director for educational and scientific work of the Syktyvkar Forest Institute, also addressed the meeting and presented the report “Forest education as a basis for sustainable development of the region”. D.Zh. Kutepov, Head of the Consulting center “Tefra” talked about the possibilities and restrictions of the transition to the intensive model of forestry in Komi. The presentation of the Foundation coordinator working with the local communities V.T. Semyashkina was devoted to the topic of sustainable development of local communities, problems of local nature use and directions for solving these problems undertaken within the frameworks of the Silver Taiga Foundation projects.

The initiatives of the Komi Model Forest have really been disseminated over these years even in other forest districts of Komi. The Silver Taiga Foundation in cooperation with its partners is trying to facilitate the solving of the nature use problems and searching for the ways to improve a socio-economic condition in these rural districts within the frameworks of other projects, in particular, “Forest village”, “High Conservation Value Forests”, and “Model river Mezen”. This was an importance of this tendency for dissemination of the positive results of the development projects, which was emphasized in the title of the anniversary conference – “Sustainable development of forest regions: from Model forest to Model republic”.

Evgeny Lopatin, an employee of the University of Eastern Finland, talked about the possibilities and practice of using a promising method of remote sensing for forest inventory and landscape planning.

At the end of the conference a short exchange of opinions on still unsolved problems hindering the sustainable development in our republic and obvious “bottlenecks” requiring special attention in the short term took place.

In addition to the presentations, questions-answers to the speakers and problems discussion, a lot of cordial words were addressed to the Silver Taiga Foundation team and its Director Przemyslaw Majewski during this anniversary conference. The Forest Committee of the KomiRepublic, OJSC “Mondi Syktyvkar”, Syktyvkar Forest Institute, Consulting center “Tefra”, and representatives of the population and NGOs of the Priluzje and Udora districts congratulated the hosts of the conference on their anniversary.

“Model forest”: regional experience at the European level

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The second annual conference within the frameworks of the “Baltic landscapes” project took place on November 5-8th in the Polish town Mikolajki.

It will be recalled that “Baltic landscapes” is an international project aimed at the development of the new approaches in the forest landscapes management. Only considering the forest landscape holistically it is possible to competently and timely respond to such challenges as globalization of markets, climate change, necessity to more intensely use resources, problems of the environmental conservation, etc. The main target of the project is to facilitate the development of sustainable forest landscapes management.  The project objectives are implemented via creation of a network consisting of seven Model Forests located in four countries – Belorussia, Finland, Poland, and Sweden. Other member countries of the project – Estonia, Latvia, and Norway – are planning to disseminate the results. The project is funded by the European Union through the interregional programme INTERREG.

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Any sandpiper is great in his own swamp

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That’s how the teacher of Geography from the rural school of the village Lugovoy of the Pechora district Elena Albertovna Romanyuk called her author’s educational program. The program, developed within the framework of the “Forest village” project, is devoted to familiarization of the high-school children with the basics of economic literacy. A seminar-presentation of this program was carried out at the beginning of November in the Udora district.

It was attended by the teachers of Geography from several schools of the district, as well as teachers of supplementary education. The seminar was opened by Tatiana Nikolaevna Bykova, Head of the Curriculum Office of the Department of Education of the municipal entity of the municipal district “Udorsky”.

Prior to the presentation of her educational program, E. A. Romanyuk, who had arrived specially for holding a seminar, talked about the fact that under present circumstances it is small business which can become a survival, transformation and further development model for the rural settlements left “on the sidelines” during the last decades. However, experience shows that very few villagers are ready to start an independent business, become entrepreneurs. They have to be trained, they have to be taught.

In addition to the economic competence formation among the rural children, the program of E.A. Romanyuk is aimed at the dynamic personality formation in the modern rural society, socialization of the pupils, fostering a love for the small motherland. One of the practical tasks of this program is to make rural pupils interested in the entrepreneurial activity based on their introduction to the fundamentals of economics and business, their familiarization with the practical possibilities for entrepreneurial activity in this specific village, in their own district.

Judging by the reaction of the seminar participants to the initiative of the teacher from Pechora, there is a hope that Udora rural teachers will turn their attention to this program, adapt it to the local conditions and try to implement it in their villages – within the frameworks of the class hours or as extracurricular activities. The materials for the lessons prepared and submitted by the author of the program including theoretical knowledge and practical creative works, business games, and excursions will be of great help for this activity. Besides, in the future an exchange of experience in adaptation and implementation of this educational relevant for the village program in the Udora will be organized within the frameworks of the “Model river Mezen” project.

Translated by Irina Sokolova

Regional risk assessment for non-certified wood will be developed in Komi

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The first meeting-seminar for the representatives of the parties interested in the development of the regional risk assessment for controlled wood at the republican level was held on October 25th in Syktyvkar on the initiative of the Russian national office of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Silver Taiga Foundation.

The term “controlled wood” was introduced in 2004 to definite the criteria of compliance of the non-certified wood purchased by FSC certified companies with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) principles. In the Komi Republic having a rapidly developing FSC certification process there are a lot of certified companies which need a good tool for risk assessment for the part of wood purchased from non-certified suppliers. This wood should pass the test for exclusion of illegal wood or wood harvested with violation of traditional and civil rights of the local population or cut in the high conservation value forest. Such controlling tool – national risk assessment for the controlled wood – is developed at the federal level. However, due to the fact that regions have some specific features, it’s required to assess the risks at the level of regions themselves – those, where it’s especially important, with their further integration into the national risk assessment.

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From the results of 2012 expeditions to the implementation of 2013 plans

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The results of the summer and autumn expeditions along the Mezen and its tributaries organized within the frameworks of the “Model river Mezen” project were presented at another meeting of the project Working group conducted on October 18th.

The results and conclusions of the summer overview expedition conducted in 2012 down the Mezen – from the mouth of the river Pyis to the Mezen bay – were introduced to the Working group members by Yury Pautov, leader of this expedition. It’s already the third overview expedition carried out within the frameworks of the project and jointly organized by the project partners – Silver Taiga Foundation, Federal State Institution “Komirybvod”, Institute of Biology of the Komi Scientific Center, Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and local community “Udorachi”. During this expedition the residual part of the Mezen including some of its tributaries was passed through and now the project participants can build a complete picture of the current condition of the river, its resources, and life on its banks. Based on this picture, the monitoring data, and the results of the meetings with the local population, project plans both for the nearest years and long-term perspective will be adjusted.

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«AgroUdora» on the Yirva: activities, problems, perspectives

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The representatives of the Working group of the “Model river Mezen” project made a trip to the Yirva river in order to meet with the members of the Glotovo branch of the “AgroUdora” cooperative. During the trip and the meetings with the fishermen in the villages Kuchmozerye, Borovo, and Krivushevo the employees of the Silver Taiga Foundation Yury Pautov and Valentina Semyashkina together with the board member of the cooperative Aleksey Vurdov discussed the burning problems related to the activity of the cooperative, as well as its perspectives and participation in the “Model river Mezen” project implementation.

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Model Forest in the Komi Republic – Reloading

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A delegation from Komi visited Canada from September 27th to October 2d in order to get acquainted with the activities of the Canadian Model Forest Network.

The main task of the delegation consisting of the Head of the Komi Republic, Head of the Forest Committee Vasily Osipov, Minister of Industrial Development and Transport Andrey Samodelkin, and Deputy Director of the Silver Taiga Foundation Yury Pautov was to study the Canadian Model Forests experience in order to use it for development of the Komi Model Forest in the Komi Republic. Acquaintance with the Canadian system of heavy forest fires management systems and protection of the infrastructure facilities and settlements against them was also exceptionally interesting. It is well-known that in Canada just as in Russia forest fires are a serious threat both for population and business.

The Komi delegation have met with the representatives of the Canadian Federal Forest Service and management of the Forest Service of Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces, they visited “Jasper”, the largest national park of Canada, located on the boarder of Alberta and British Columbia in the most picturesque Rocky mountains, as well as Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan province. Besides, meetings with the representatives of the Secretariat of International Model Forest Network and “Foothills” (Alberta) and “Prince Albert” (Saskatchewan) Model Forest were organized.

It should be noted that the initiative to create Model Forest belongs exactly to Canada – the first of them appeared in this country at the beginning of the 90’s of the last century, and during 15 years this initiative was financially supported from the federal budget of Canada. In different years about 15 Model Forests were functioning in Canada. Their main target was implementation of the methods of sustainable forest management and use and their adaptation to natural and climatic, landscape, and socioeconomic conditions of different provinces of Canada. At the same time, Canadian Model Forest was a platform for reaching a compromise between different stakeholders – business, forest service, environmental NGOs, Indian tribes – during the solving of burning controversial issues related to the methods of forest management, logging, and organization of the environmental management on the forest land in general.

When starting its activity in 1997 Komi Model Forest in the Komi Republic set a target to create a practical example of sustainable forest management in the Komi Republic with conservation of biodiversity and natural values of forest, taking into account of the interests of the local population, economic (rental) assessment of wood resources, interaction of all stakeholders during the forest management, and development of the international forest certification in the republic as the priority activities. Since 2008 and until the present moment Komi Model Forest is the only Russian member of the International Model Forest Network. For nearly ten years its activity has been funded by different international donors, but in recent years financing was stopped. However, the development of the Model Forest in Komi is still important and expedient, which is admitted by many participants of the forest relations.

As a result of five days of fruitful discussions, interesting excursions, and exchange of opinions, the participants of the delegation from the Komi Republic saw firsthand that Model Forest is an efficient tool for coordination of the interests of different parties, implementation of innovations in forestry and conservation planning, forests fire and pests protection. The members of the delegation were especially impressed by the methods and techniques of firefighting organization of the territory and preventive burning for protection of the settlements and infrastructure in Jasper National Park. The Model Forest activity in the field of conservation of the rights, interests, cultural traditions of the Canadian indigenous population – Indians, methods for coordination of the loggers and Indian communities’ interests were also quite impressive.

However, the main result of the trip is an affirmative answer to the question whether it makes sense to support the development of the Model Forest in the Komi Republic at the regional level. According to the unanimous opinion of the participants of the delegation from Komi, the experience of the Canadian Model Forest can be successfully adapted and applied in the Komi Model Forest, primarily, in the vigorous activity on innovations implementation, coordination of the interests of the state bodies, business, and local population during the forest management and use, training and professional development of the forest industry specialists. The next step will be elaboration of a regional development program for the Komi Model Forest for the next few years.

A meeting with the representatives of the Canadian Federal Forest Service in Edmonton

A meeting with the representatives of the Canadian Federal Forest Service in Edmonton

Such “tennis balls” filled with an incendiary mixture are dropped from a helicopter by the Canadian firemen for initiation of the backfire during the fighting of the vast forest fires.

On the field airdrome in Jasper National Park (Alberta province)

On the field airdrome in Jasper National Park (Alberta province)

A meeting with the representatives of the International Model Forest Network and Prince Albert Model Forest management in the office of the Forest Service of Saskatchewan province.

A meeting with the representatives of the International Model Forest Network and Prince Albert Model Forest management in the office of the Forest Service of Saskatchewan province.

At the field excursion in Prince Albert National Park (Saskatchewan province).

At the field excursion in Prince Albert National Park (Saskatchewan province).

In search of the salmon “nests”

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Another research expedition within the frameworks of the “Model river Mezen” project with participation of the Silver Taiga Foundation employees, specialists of the Federal State Institution “Komirybvod” and the Udora district Committee for Environmental Conservation, as well as the representatives of the local community “Udorachi” was carried out.

The main task of the expedition was to monitor the reproduction of the Atlantic salmon (salmon) population, as the most vulnerable fish species, on the spawning grounds. The second task was to analyze the poaching situation, which was determined by the fact that overfishing had been the main reason of the drastic reduction of fish resources in the past decade.

At the beginning of October the weather on the Mezen is cool, with night frosts. The water temperature in the rivers is gradually decreasing from 6 to 2 ° С. Precisely this regime is required for salmon spawning, that’s why exactly during this season the expedition participants went to three different directions. The first group went to explore the upper reaches of the Mezen (from the mouth of the river Uv-Yu to the village Verkhnemezensk) and its tributaries the Upper and the Lower Puzla, the second group went to the river Pyssa, the third one – to the river Yolva. The groups had the task to boat up to the upper reaches of the river – to the place with numerous riffles, because on such areas – with a fast water flow and a pebbled bottom – the salmon is spawning.

For monitoring of the salmon spawning it’s required to evaluate a number of the so called pits and hills. A pit is a hole made by the salmon in order to lay eggs there. Having performed one or several egg layings to the pit, the salmon covers them with a pile of pebbles. It’s called a hill. Sometimes, due to some reasons it leaves a prepared pit and changes the place. Such “trial pits” are also interesting for monitoring.

According to the results of the research the spawning of the salmon has been successful this year. During the expedition more than 150 pits and hills were detected, which is much more than last year. According to the opinion of the specialists, it is related to the high water level, which helped the salmon to get to the upper reaches and to escape the nets and fences of the poachers.

The same as last year, traces of poaching could be seen everywhere. In spite of the fact that due to the high water level in the rivers there was not much direct evidence of fishing – nets, fences, poachers themselves, there were plenty of indirect traces – fire beds, fish traps left on the bank, and net poles.

Currently, the employees of the Foundation are processing the information collected during the expedition. The monitoring will be continued next year. Such researches are necessary for determination of the main reasons of the salmon stock degradation and development of a salmon restoration program on the Mezen jointly with the Arkhangelsk region.

FSC Friday in the Forest Institute

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An international campaign “FSC Friday” aimed at drawing of the attention of society and business to the necessity of development of the environmentally and socially responsible forest use took place on September, 28th in the Forest Institute. Specialists of the Silver Taiga Foundation came to the meeting with the fifth-year students, who with a keen interest got familiar with the tasks of the voluntary forest certification according to the FSC system and FSC certification practice in our republic.

Silver Taiga Foundation ecologist Elena Popova told students about the origin of this initiative, main principles of sustainable forestry, observance of which have to be guaranteed by the certification. By means of specific examples she paid attention of the future forest sector specialists to the fact that the quality of the forest use and compliance with the principles of sustainability – which means also an aspiration of the user for getting a certificate – to a considerable extent depends on the sensibility of the market. Interestingly, on request of their teacher Andrey Krivoshein students brought to the meeting some examples of products certified according to the FSC system – juice packs, books, creams, etc. with an FSC logotype. Students had questions related to the fact that logotypes of different products contained different number and letters. The fact is that behind every of such logotypes there is a certificate with a unique number, which can be checked in the database on the website info.fsc.org. And the most important thing is that certificates are issued by an independent third party – an auditor.

Foundation coordinator working with the local communities Valentina Semyashkina dwelt upon the social aspects of certification. She showed through the practical examples from our republic that it’s not only business which is interested in the FSC certification and to which such certificate gives the possibility to export products to the sensitive European market. It’s also beneficial for the local residents, rural population of the taiga districts, because certification can be also considered as a protection mechanism defending the interests of the local community, including indigenous population.

The fifth-year students took interest in the topic of the meeting and seemed to be satisfied with the answers to their questions.

Translated by Irina Sokolova

Local population hope to get support from the State Council of the Komi Republic

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A meeting of the Udora district community with the chairman of the Committee of the State Council of the Komi Republic on nature management and ecology A.P. Makarenko was held in Koslan. During this meeting a discussion on the topic raised in one of the editions of the thematic supplement “Model river Mezen” by a reader Mikhail Fedorovich Loginov (an article “Near the river – but without fish?” dd. May 29th, 2012) was continued.

M.F. Loginov offered, first of all, to stop or restrict sport and amateur fishing organized on the area leased by the Federal State Institution “Komirybvod” in the upper reaches of the Mezen (Mezensky №1 plot). Secondly, he suggested introduction of changes in the rules of amateur fishing with account of the interests of the indigenous population of the rural districts. These proposals – in more detail and with specific justification – were sent by the author to the State Council of the Komi Republic. Moreover, many representatives of the Udora community and some deputies of the municipal district Council signed the letter addressed to the legislative body.

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14 June 2017 – The Silver Taiga Foundation for Sustainable Development was entered to the register of “non-profit organizations exercising functions of a foreign agent” by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation


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