Silver Taiga’s lectures at Usogorsk secondary school spoke about the Mezen ichthyofauna.
As part of the Model River Mezen project implemented by the Silver Taiga Foundation for Sustainable Development, Nikolay Shilov, the project coordinator, conducted some classes devoted to the Mezen ichthyofauna diversity.
Lectures 35 minutes each seemed very short, as they were perceived at one sitting. Udora schoolchildren were truly interested in what Nikolay Shilov was telling them about the Mezen’s fish population during four classes for different groups. Meanwhile, it turned out that half of the participants in some groups were experienced fishers, and even some girls which may be surprising. Young fishermen enjoyed comparing their personal experience with the ichthyology expert’s lecture, they gesticulated a lot and tried to show the size of their biggest catch.
It is obvious that the ichthyofaunal of such a powerful river is rich and diverse. The kids got agitated when the story mentioned big inhabitants of the Mezen that are well known to them, such as salmon, grayling or burbot, but they were quiet when smaller fish often caught with a rod and paid so little attention to was discussed. At the lesson they saw the bigger size fish models, so they did not recognize the “old friend” at once. However, they appeared to know a lot about the bullhead recorded in the Red Book of the Russian Federation, which is the merit of local teachers of natural sciences. Silver Taiga’s expert immediately caught the attention of the audience and “hooked” them by starting the lesson with a question about the length of the Mezen river. The attendees found it difficult to answer, as they couldn’t say it right at once. Each of the kids is familiar with a particular section of the river only, and has never wondered how far the river they see as an element of the landscape extends beyond the horizon. The schoolchildren were surprised to learn that the length of the river they live by is almost a thousand kilometers.
The stone eel was given a special focus by Nikolay Shilov. Actually, it is not a fish, but it is remarkable by residing right in Udora rivers, so it became a so-called brand of the district. The children learnt how the Far East humpback salmon and famous Volga starlet had appeared to be in the Mezen. The humpback salmon was brought there on purpose in 1958 to accelerate the rate of return for fishery farms. As for the starlet, it is still a mystery how it managed to get in the Mezen.
The ichthyology expert continued his lecture about the humpback salmon and spoke about the scientists’ disputes related to whether this species habitation near salmon is harmful. According to his personal view, the humpback salmon has no effect on the salmon population, and it is just a myth that the Far East migrant ruins nests of the Atlantic salmon.
The “biography” of the burbot, the only representative of codfishes in the Mezen, was of great interest for the schoolchildren. Initially, it was a sea-fish, but owing to climate change it remained in freshwater habitat. When Nikolay Shilov spoke about the perch, he mentioned such topics as pollution and river shallowing. Perch likes plant-filled water bodies, and its population has been increasing too much recently, as river beds are not cleaned or deepened.
When the lessons were over, the schoolkids approached the lecturer with requests about a possibility to get to the summer ichthyology school facilitated by the Silver Taiga Foundation every year.


Coordination Council’s Journey Amidst High Waters of the Mezen and Irva
| News by Just AuthorCoordination Council assessed the Silver Taiga Foundation’s efforts through immersion into the project activity.
A regular face-to-face meeting of the Coordination Council of the Silver Taiga Foundation was held on 6-7 June 2017. Przemyslaw Majewski, Coordination Council Chairman, Mikhail Karpachevsky, Marcelo Levi, Natalia Sedusova, Council members, and the Foundation director Yury Pautov discussed the current status of the Foundation, reviewed its financial reports, the information about the changed staff, and the issues related to the High Conservation Value Forests and Model River Mezen projects. A special focus was given to 2017 plans implementation and mid-term perspectives of the Foundation.
The meeting ended with a three-day field trip for the Coordination Council members to Udora district. The experts inspected the Model River Mezen project having seen some of its sites. They visited a guest house in the Nizhny Vyliyb village, and on the following day they took boats along the Mezen and Irva rivers to Krivushevo, where the AgroUdora cooperative has its main fishery plot. Owing to the fishermen’s efforts this god-forsaken village has preserved some houses for the cooperative staff and tourists. The members of the Coordination Council met the fishermen, discussed the current situation and the cooperative perspectives. The fishers shared their plans to maintain the fish population at the fishery plot, spoke about challenges they face as they conduct their economic activity. For instance, the cooperative suffers too much attention from regulatory authorities, and is not always well understood by the Komi Republic Department of State Control, Supervision and Protection of Fishery Resources, North-West Territorial Administration, Federal Fishery Agency. The participants of the meeting discussed possible solutions for the debatable issues.
At the end of the field trip, on 9 June, the guests had a tour of “historical places” of the village of Krivushevo. The visiting team had a look at abandoned fields overgrown with trees, an old windmill, and still preserved horse track connecting Krivushevo with the Glotovo village. On the way back, the visitors fully concentrated on contemplating the beauty of the northern nature. The trip was held at the period of high water in the Mezen and Irva, those were the first warm days in Komi, so the visitors were lucky to see some rare bird species, like the Red Book oyster catchers, swans and ducks, migrating. An elk appearing unexpectedly on the bank of the river caused true admiration of the experts as they were rafting.
According to the Coordination Council members, such open informal communication closing the agenda was useful and informative; it allowed obtaining a full view of the project and getting unforgettable impressions of the trip to the remote rural area.
Yury Pautov – Honoured Environmentalist of the Komi Republic
| News by Just AuthorYury Pautov, director of the Silver Taiga Foundation for Sustainable Development, was awarded the title of the Honoured Environmentalist of the Komi Republic by order of the Governor of the Republic.
As is stated in the Order, the title is awarded for merits related to ecology, environmental protection and long years of committed service.
On 5 June, at the official award ceremony devoted to the Environmentalist Day, Nikolay Gerasimov, Minister of Industry, Natural Resources, Energy and Transport, granted an honoured environmentalist badge to Yury. The minister also highlighted Mr.Pautov’s great contribution to forest conservation in the Republic, development of voluntary certification in Komi and promotion of northern forest sustainable development.
Yury Pautov believes that this honourable award first of all recognizes the efforts of the Silver Taiga Foundation team. For almost two decades it has been implementing projects aimed at sustainable development of forest landscapes and renewable natural resources, conservation of high-value intact forest massifs and support of rural communities in Komi Republic districts.
The Honoured Environmentalist of the Komi Republic title was also awarded to Tatyana Tyupenko, state service veteran of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, an active and committed Silver Taiga partner.
“Nature and Man” Program: Partners’ Meeting
| News by Just AuthorRepresentatives of the Silver Taiga Foundation Yury Pautov and Valentina Semyashkina took part in the regular meeting of the international Barents-Baltic “Nature and Man” Program held in Murmansk last week.
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Silver Taiga Has Contributed to Komi Taiga Regeneration
| News by Just AuthorThe contribution of Silver Taiga representatives is planting of about 200 pine seedlings. Read more
New FSC Certification Initiatives
| «High Conservation Value Forests» project by silverMay 15-17, Silver Taiga Foundation’s director Yury Pautov participated in the working meeting of European and “Boreal” members of the Forest Stewardship Council considering draft motions of FSC General Assembly, which is a global forum of the international voluntary certification system expected to be held in October 2017 in Vancouver (Canada). Read more
Talk about Hot Buttons in Forest Management
| News by silverThe talk between representatives of forest sector companies and rural residents took place at a regular regional Forest Dialogue meeting “FSC Certification: Local Communities and Logging Companies” in the Komi Republic Chamber of Commerce and Industry on May 11-12. The conference was facilitated by the Silver Taiga Foundation for Sustainable Development supported by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Mondi Group. Read more
Gaining Revenge
| News by silverYoung Udora intellectuals intend to challenge the Model River Mezen project experts with another intellectual game.
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About Stone Eel and Red Book’s Bullhead
| News by silverSilver Taiga’s lectures at Usogorsk secondary school spoke about the Mezen ichthyofauna.
As part of the Model River Mezen project implemented by the Silver Taiga Foundation for Sustainable Development, Nikolay Shilov, the project coordinator, conducted some classes devoted to the Mezen ichthyofauna diversity.
Lectures 35 minutes each seemed very short, as they were perceived at one sitting. Udora schoolchildren were truly interested in what Nikolay Shilov was telling them about the Mezen’s fish population during four classes for different groups. Meanwhile, it turned out that half of the participants in some groups were experienced fishers, and even some girls which may be surprising. Young fishermen enjoyed comparing their personal experience with the ichthyology expert’s lecture, they gesticulated a lot and tried to show the size of their biggest catch.
It is obvious that the ichthyofaunal of such a powerful river is rich and diverse. The kids got agitated when the story mentioned big inhabitants of the Mezen that are well known to them, such as salmon, grayling or burbot, but they were quiet when smaller fish often caught with a rod and paid so little attention to was discussed. At the lesson they saw the bigger size fish models, so they did not recognize the “old friend” at once. However, they appeared to know a lot about the bullhead recorded in the Red Book of the Russian Federation, which is the merit of local teachers of natural sciences. Silver Taiga’s expert immediately caught the attention of the audience and “hooked” them by starting the lesson with a question about the length of the Mezen river. The attendees found it difficult to answer, as they couldn’t say it right at once. Each of the kids is familiar with a particular section of the river only, and has never wondered how far the river they see as an element of the landscape extends beyond the horizon. The schoolchildren were surprised to learn that the length of the river they live by is almost a thousand kilometers.
The stone eel was given a special focus by Nikolay Shilov. Actually, it is not a fish, but it is remarkable by residing right in Udora rivers, so it became a so-called brand of the district. The children learnt how the Far East humpback salmon and famous Volga starlet had appeared to be in the Mezen. The humpback salmon was brought there on purpose in 1958 to accelerate the rate of return for fishery farms. As for the starlet, it is still a mystery how it managed to get in the Mezen.
The ichthyology expert continued his lecture about the humpback salmon and spoke about the scientists’ disputes related to whether this species habitation near salmon is harmful. According to his personal view, the humpback salmon has no effect on the salmon population, and it is just a myth that the Far East migrant ruins nests of the Atlantic salmon.
The “biography” of the burbot, the only representative of codfishes in the Mezen, was of great interest for the schoolchildren. Initially, it was a sea-fish, but owing to climate change it remained in freshwater habitat. When Nikolay Shilov spoke about the perch, he mentioned such topics as pollution and river shallowing. Perch likes plant-filled water bodies, and its population has been increasing too much recently, as river beds are not cleaned or deepened.
When the lessons were over, the schoolkids approached the lecturer with requests about a possibility to get to the summer ichthyology school facilitated by the Silver Taiga Foundation every year.
Activists of the District Propose Temporary Access Restriction to Udora Wildlife Reserve to Conserve Mezen Salmon
| «Model river «Mezen» project by silverThe Public Environmental Council at Udora District Administration is planning to address Head of the Komi Republic Sergey Gaplikov with a proposal to impose temporary restriction of access to the complex wildlife reserve.
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The Mezen is a Binding Thread
| News by silverThat was the name of the environmental and regional study round table meeting arranged at the central library of Mezen at one of the weekends in March. Read more