Field Work at the Vychegda Upper Reaches

A field trip to Ust-Kulom district under the Assessing Long-Term Logging Impact on Water Resources project took place from 18 to 26 July. The trip aimed at studying the condition of minor rivers pressed by long-term wood cutting at catchment basins.

The environmental experts from the Silver Taiga foundation focused on the basins of the Prupt and Voch rivers, tributaries of the Northern Keltma, which flows into the Vychegda. The area to be explored was selected as the river’s catchment basins included both old logging sites and the ones recently exposed to logging activities, so they helped to embrace the long-term impact on aquatic resources.

The previous field trip enabled identification of the so-called “focal points” – the sections of the rivers where water samples were taken to test turbidity, and benthos samples were collected for rapid assessment of aquatic environment based on the method proposed by our Polish colleagues during the experience exchange visit in May. Such techniques will later support assessing logging impact on rivers and their tributaries. For instance, increased turbidity and changed silt composition serve as main indicators of significant logging exposure at the catchment basin area.

As Alexander Borovlyov, the field trip facilitator, the trip was successful, the objectives set were 90% fulfilled. Luckily, no serious challenges were faced. The weather was just fine to allow all the activities to be implemented. Now it is the time to review the field data collected.