The working group of the Model River Mezen Project has initiated the development of interregional program for the restoration and conservation of Atlantic salmon population in the basin of the Mezen River.
The promotion of the conservation and restoration of salmon is an important part of this project. During this project Silver Taiga organized several field trips to the upper reaches and tributaries of the Mezen River involving ichthyologists, the sightseeing expedition from the source to the mouth, and also made a seminar “The experience of recovery and management of salmon populations in the Baltic region.” Every year together with State Organization “Komirybvod” Silver Taiga monitors the spawning grounds and supports the conservation measures of fishing inspectors.
The researches have shown that the Mezen River hasn’t yet lost its environmental properties required for natural recovery of salmon populations, and it can be achieved by proper management of fishery resources. As the Mezen is a transboundary river and the salmon is a migratory species, any efforts to preserve the salmon taken only in the district or regional level, will not give the desired outcome.
So, more than a year ago Silver Taiga firstly attempted to unite interested parties from both regions – the Komi and Arkhangelsk – to solve this problem.
Unfortunately, few persons responded to this invitation. But the project was been supported by Vyacheslav Gaiser, Head of the Republic of Komi, thanks to it Silver Taiga together with Department of Agriculture and Food of the Komi Republic was able to organize interregional workshop “The condition of Atlantic salmon population in the basin of the Mezen River and possible ways to restore the resource.”
The representatives of the State Council of the Komi Republic, Department of Agriculture and Department of Environment of the Komi Republic, the Institute of Biology of Komi Scientific Center, Ural Division of RAS, Research PINRO, Interregional social movement “Komi Voityr”, communities of the local population “Udorachi”, State Organization “Komirybvod”, administrations of Udorsky and Leshukonsky metropolitan regions, Komi Department of State Control, supervision and protection of marine biological resources and Silver Taiga took part in the meeting on May 30, 2013.
The meeting had a good start for further action to develop and agree a holistic approach to solve the problem of Mezen salmon conservation. All participants agreed that it’s necessary to combine efforts to preserve and restore the resource and that it is possible to reach the target by creating interregional program for the conservation and reproduction of salmon.
In the meeting delegates determined what this interregional program should include. According to the participants it should include the cooperation of stakeholders of Komi and Arkhangelsk region in the basin of the Mezen River based on the Model River Mezen Project; optimization of fishery conservation measures in the basin the Mezen River considering the migration and spawning of Atlantic salmon; analysis of the capabilities of establishing fisheries protection conservation area. Also should analyze the fishing activities in the areas provided for use, and identify common approaches to their creation. Also we need an objective assessment of the extent of illegal fishing of Atlantic salmon throughout the river, from the mouth to the headwaters. It is also necessary to analyze and evaluate the possibility and advisability of organizing licensed fishing by the local population.
In addition, according to the participants of the meeting the program should have proposals to adapt the legal framework and fishing rules in the basin of the Mezen River considering the views of civil society organizations and citizens. It should also initiate specific fisheries projects in the basin of the Mezen River, including activities on artificial reproduction and stocking various types of living aquatic resources, and assess the existing ones. The program should also have measures for the organization and development of public oversight and guidance to users of fishing grounds to create a basin fisheries associations in order to conduct a coordinated sustainable management.
The participants decided that the program will be developed by interregional working group, and it would be a great idea to create a Coordinating Council at the level of the two governments of the region for administrative support.
Silver Taiga Foundation, on behalf of the meeting, has already sent an appropriate letter to Vyacheslav Gaiser, Head of the Komi Republic. The letter lists proposals for the establishment of the Coordinating Council, and it should include apart from the representatives of the Governments of the Komi Republic of and the Arkhangelsk region representatives of the administrations of Udorsky, Leshukonsky and Mezen municipal districts, as well as regional public organizations.
As the Komi Republic and Arkhangelsk region have an intergovernmental agreement, the Head of the Komi Republic is proposed to initiate the including of cross-regional meeting resolutions on the conservation of salmon as a separate item in the protocol which is signed by the parties as part of the intergovernmental agreement annually. The working group is going to develop a program on September, 2013.
Valentina Semyashkina
Translated by Kseniya Matyusheva
Verkhnaya Vashka Massif: Compromise has been Reached
| «High Conservation Value Forests» project by silverEnvironmental NGOs and «Lesozavod №1» ltd. have signed an agreement for high conservation value forests (HCVF) conservation on the forest area leased by the company.
On November 12, 2013 a conference was held in the Ministry of Industry, Transport and Communication of the Komi Republic. The participants of the conference discussed the possibility of cuttings in Verkhnaya Vashka pristine forests massif located on the border of Komi and Arkhangelsk regions.
The conference was initiated by the management team of «Lesozavod №1» ltd.. The company is carrying out an investment project in the Komi Republic and its leasing area is fully located inside the most valuable part of the given pristine forests massif.
The representatives of Silver Taiga Foundation informed the management body of «Lesozavod №1» ltd. about the problem that they could face during their products realization in the international market as soon as the company had applied for the project in 2008. This is because Verkhnaya Vashka pristine forests massif belongs to high conservation value forests (HCVF). Such forests should be conserved as the last untouched wild nature massifs, which are of high national and international value. Moreover, the FSC-certified companies have hard limitation for cutting in these forest massifs as well as purchasing of wood out of the given massifs from outside suppliers is concerned.
«Lesozavod №1» started its work only in September this year. So it doesn’t have enough harvesting power. That is why the company has concluded harvesting and production-sharing contracts with other companies, in particular with forest branch of Ilim Group in Koryazhma. The last one is FSC-certified and is not entitled to harvest in Verkhnaya Vashka massif and to purchase wood out it. Mondi Syktyvkar has also refused from purchasing of paperwood out of the given massif. The management body of «Lesozavod №1» ltd. has addressed a request to Komi government to help in its critical situation.
Besides the representatives of the Ministry of Industry, Transport and Communication of the Komi Republic, there were the representatives of Ilim Group, Mondi Syktyvkar, the Komi State Forestry Agency, administration of Ust-Vym district of Komi («Lesozavod №1» is situated in this district of Komi), and Russian environmental organizations – WWF Russia, Greenpeace Russia, Arkhangelsk ecological initiative, Silver Taiga Foundation.
During the active discussion of the problem the representatives of the Komi State Forestry Agency suggested new leasing area to «Lesozavod №1» located outside Verkhnaya Vashka massif and also on the left bank of Vychegda river in Ust-Vym forestry unit close to the company location.
Unfortunately, the representatives of «Lesozavod №1» were not satisfied with the proposed area to lease. The environmental organizations agreed to compromise – give a part of the massif centre for cutting upon condition that an additional area in the other part of this valuable massif will be conserved.
Finally different variants of Verkhnaya Vashka massif centre territorial changes and possible cutting area for «Lesozavod №1» for the short and long term were proposed for consideration.
After stormy discussions and approval procedures environmental NGOs and «Lesozavod №1» have found a mutually acceptable variant. The “greens” gave nod to cutting of several quarters in north-east part of Verkhnaya Vashka massif in exchange for the company guarantee not to cut and not to build road infrastructure in its central and western parts (see Scheme 2).
It must be noted, that Verkhnaya Vashka pristine forests massif is located on the border of Komi and Arkhangelsk regions. Moreover, representatives of Arkhangelsk party have already agreed a regional nature reserve creation within the border territory (see Scheme 1). The representatives of Silver Taiga Foundation and the Komi scientific community have also proposed a regional nature reserve creation in the centre of the massif inside the Komi Republic. It means that the central and most valuable for biodiversity and wild nature conservation part of Verkhnaya Vashka massif could be a large interregional Special Protected Natural Area in perspective.
These reasons turned to be convincing both for officials and for business. Finally, on November, 22 the management team of «Lesozavod №1» ltd., Silver Taiga Foundation and WWF Arkhangelsk signed an Agreement for high conservation value forests (HCVF) conservation on the part of Verkhnaya Vashka massif territory leased by the company. According to the Agreement the company should not cut and build any roads within the zone of strict conservation during the whole leasing period until 2059. The buffer zone has also been agreed. And the company can cut there only by agreement of biodiversity conservation measures with the environmental organizations on regional and federal levels. The rest leasing area can be under logging. This compromise decision will contribute to conserve HCVF of Verkhnaya Vashka pristine forests area as much as possible. Moreover, it will give an opportunity to «Lesozavod №1» to develop its activity.
Yury Pautov,
Valentina Semyashkina
Translated by Anastasia Popova
Salmon Breeding Area is under the Monitoring
| «Model river «Mezen» project by silverThe annual exploration expedition was held in the end of October. Among the participants of the expedition were: the representatives of Silver Foundation; Federal State Institution “Komirybvod”; Udora regional committee for environmental conservation; department for state control, monitoring and aquatic bioresources protection; indigenous people community “Udorachi” and a volunteer.
This expedition was already the third one under the project. It was focused on monitoring of Atlantic salmon breeding area population as the Atlantic salmon is the most sensitive species. The expedition participants investigated the upper reaches of the river Mezen and its tributaries: Verkhnaya and Nizhnaya Puzla, Pyssa and Elva. The main objectives of the expedition were to count the number of salmon spawning nests and to evaluate conditions for salmon reproduction on these breeding tributaries. At the same time, the expedition participants monitored and analyzed poaching situation. According to ichthyologists, the overfishing is in particular the main reason of fish resources decrease in the recent decade.
There were much less salmon spawning nests this time on Pyssa and Elva compared to the last year. According to the local people observation, salmon comes to these rivers a little later and this year spawning period has prolonged because of the weather conditions. However, the situation didn’t differ much in the upper reaches of the river Mezen and in Verkhnaya and Nizhnaya Puzla compared to the last year. Nevertheless, it is too early to make some conclusions. Minimum five years of monitoring are needed to define at least a short-term dynamics.
Unfortunately, according to the expedition participants, the signs of poaching on spawning tributaries are getting more and more year by year. Moreover, there have never been fixed any illegal fences for fish on Verkhnaya Puzla before. But now there are such fences there – in the entry and upper.
According to Silver Taiga ecologist Nikolai Shuktomov, this expedition differed from the previous ones of 2011 and 2012 by participation in it of an independent supervision body specialist – the representative of Priluzje department for state control, monitoring and aquatic bioresources protection. There was also Silver Taiga volunteer among the expedition participants. It was his first significant field expedition.
According to the expedition arrangers, it is important to enlarge the variety of the participants and participating organizations as it helps the society to realize the emergency of salmon resources.
What is the annual monitoring necessary for? It is known, that almost no monitoring of salmon has been done on the river Mezen and its tributaries for a long time. The academics of the Polar Institute of Scientific Fishery and Oceanography (Murmansk) have researched the Atlantic salmon on the sea only. Meanwhile, to define the main reasons of salmon population degradation in Mezen river and to develop the salmon rehabilitation program together with the Arkhangelsk region, such investigations are extremely needed.
Participants of the salmon nests monitoring expedition: Andrei Druzhkov, Nikolai Shuktomov, Vladimir Lipin. October 2013
The expedition participants’ workdays (Alexei Politov). October 2013
Fence in the entry of Vizinga tributary of the river Nizhnaya Puzla. October 2013
Valentina Semyashkina
Translated by Anastasia Popova
How to Manage the River Sustainably?
| «Model river «Mezen» project by silverThe workshop on methods of aquatic bioresources control and its practical use was held on October, 31st in Glotovo village (Udora district of Komi). Members of the local branch of «AgroUdora» cooperative participated in the workshop.
As is known, the population of Glotovo village and near-by villages is combined into a cooperative and pursues a fishery according to quotas on the floods of Irva river – Irva lakes. The five lakes have a status of a fishing ground and they are under lease of the cooperative. But it doesn’t mean at all that they are managed sustainably.
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Three days of discussions and experience exchange have turned to be useful for each of the forest stakeholders
| «Komi Model Forest» project by silverLocal activists from forest districts of the Komi Republic (Priluzje, Udora and Kortkeros) together with the representatives of Silver Taiga Foundation took part in the training seminar organized by the Russian National FSC office in Ustja district of the Arkhangelsk region.
The first day of the seminar was devoted to the introduction of sustainable forest management principals, FSC activities and its office in Russia, Russian national forest management standard according to FSC, each of the forest stakeholders’ rights and possibilities. Round-table discussion “Forest sector of the north-west of Russia and participation of the population in forest management” was also held during the first day. The issue was mainly presented by the example of Ustja district. Nevertheless, all participants of the seminar took an active part in the discussion. There were representatives of the local communities, non-governmental organizations, timber companies, scientific institutions from Arkhangelsk, Leningrad, Vologda, Kostroma, Karelia and Komi regions.
It should be specially mentioned that the representatives of the local self-government such as the head of Ustja district and his deputy for social issues, heads of almost every village municipality were interested in the discussion.
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To the Model Forest for getting the experience in partnership building
| «Komi Model Forest» project by silverDuring the period of August through to September, another Polish delegation visited the Komi Model Forest. It was the second visit of specialists from Poland during this time. While the first delegation was represented by the state forest service (forestry specialists from two regions: Poznan and Olsztyn), the second team (who have finished their tour today) included academicians from the Poznan University of Natural Sciences.
Both groups came to Komi within the frameworks of the international project “Baltic Landscapes” developing innovative approaches to sustainable landscapes management via establishment of the Model Forests network. In their work the project partners – representatives of seven member-countries – are guided by the Model Forest concept focused on interaction of all stakeholders at municipal, regional, and local levels for provision of landscapes management with account of up-to-date requirements and interests of each party. Both for the Polish foresters and academicians of the Poznan university, one of the key participants of the “Baltic Landscapes” project, experience in partnership building for natural resources management accumulated in our republic during the years of the “Komi Model Forest” project implementation turned out to be extremely interesting.
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Students visited Komi villages
| «Model river «Mezen» project by silverStudents from Politovo Udora region, took part in an environmental areastudy expedition “Long Live Salmon”. Together with Dina Chuprova, the initiator of this event, just for a few summer days the students could work not only in their village, but in other places – Muchkas, Patrakovo, Latyug and Bolshaya Pyssa.
The main goal of the group was to know how fisheries resources of the Mezen River had been used throughout its history. So, students had meetings and conversations with the old-timers and fishermen, the inhabitants of these villages. First of all, they paid attention to the most valuable species of fish, Atlantic salmon, the population of which unfortunately is reduced in the Mezen River now. When interviewing fishermen, the guys tried to learn about their traditions and unwritten rules formed by different generations and strictly followed by locals to ensure the sparing use of the river resources.
In conversations with old-timers the students were particularly interested in changes that had occurred over the past decade with the Mezen River and its tributaries, with the places of traditional fishing, with the attitude of people to nature. The guys also learnt a lot about the features of Atlantic salmon, which migrates from the sea into fresh water to spawn, got to know the origin of local place names, many of which are associated with fishing. Students took interesting photos capturing traditional fishing spots, antique fishing equipment and tackle, and their interlocutors.
All documents, including local fishermen’s stories, myths and legends about Mezen Salmon are being analyzed by now. According to the results of the summer job organized in the framework of Model River Mezen Project, Yana Pahneva, Maria Trofimova and Alex Mikhailov are preparing an information board and a PowerPoint presentation.
Valentina Semyashkina
Translated by Ksenia Matyusheva
Udora region met Green Team
| «Model river «Mezen» project by silverThe environmental propaganda team called Green Team, which is organized by the staff of the Koslan Central Library within the Model River Mezen Project, visited seven locations in Udora region in August for two weeks.
The creative team showed theatrical performance “Together for a Clean House” in villages Chernutyevo, Butkan, Ertom, Solnechnyi, Blagoevo and Usogorsk. It was met by adults and children with great interest. For example, in the village of Bolshaya Pyssa about sixty people came to the meeting that is unusual for the summer time, because everyone gathers crop in the fields.
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Priluzye experience is demanded for the creation of Model Forests in Poland
| «Komi Model Forest» project by silverForesters from Poland visited Komi Model Forest and praised real benefits of project.
This trip brought together ten forestry experts from the two regions – Poznan and Olsztyn. The meeting was held as a part of the Baltic Landscapes Project. The main point of this project is to find innovative approaches to the management of forest landscapes through a network of Model Forests. Poland is one of the seven participating countries. The main objective of the visit was to understand what Model Forest is and how it works, to estimate the advantages and disadvantages of the project and to conclude the feasibility of Model Forests in Poland.
Alongside with visiting the Komi Model Forest demonstration routes, the program was rich in numerous meetings. The meeting with the management of the Regional Committee of Forests was one of the important. Vasily Osipov, Head of the Forest Committee, and Ruslan Ulyanov, his Deputy, told about the system of forest management organization and structure of forests in Russia after the introduction of the new Forest Code in 2006. Polish foresters got particularly interested in the innovative system for monitoring forest fires used in the Komi Republic.
Alexander Kindsfater, Director of the Priluzje forestry unit, told about the work of the Forest Service on the local level. By the way, Konstantin Serditov, the spokesman of Public Forest Council in Priluzsky district, attended this meeting. Forest Council has appeared through the Komi Model Forest Project and still has an important function, as a link between forestry and the local population.
Several meetings were devoted to the interaction of teachers and educational institutions with the Komi Model Forest Project. For example, a teacher from the High School of Chernysh village made a presentation of the educational program “Ecology of the village” developed under the project. According to Yuri Pautov, Director of Silver Taiga, teachers have showed most of the interest and activity for 15 years of the project.
The seminar was complemented by a cultural program. Polish foresters visited the ethnographic department of the Komi National Museum and a guided tour in the ancient village Yb. But most of all the participants were impressed about a meeting with the director of the Obyachevo High School, who has been working to find settlements of repressed Poles for many years.
At the end of the workshop the Polish foresters noted that the cooperation between the different parties of forest relations and involvement of different stakeholders to the solution of problems are the most important benefits of the project. “The tour in the Komi Republic was the most interesting, informative and useful for the understanding of the Model Forest as cooperation partners”, said Yaroslav Bator, the representative of the Oborniki Forestry unit from Poznan, who earlier had visited model forests in Sweden and Finland.
Soon, the leaders of the Poland Forest Service will make a final decision whether they will establish Model Forests or not. The Komi Model Forest is ready to meet the next guests. The representatives of the Poznan University of Life Sciences (Poland), forest students from Germany and freshmen from Syktyvkar Forest Institute can see demonstration routes on September, 2013.
Translated by Ksenia Matyusheva
Polish foresters & the management of Forest Committee of the Komi Republic
Polish foresters in Komi Model Forest
In spring in the village of Yb
Need for interregional Mezen Salmon conservation program
| «Model river «Mezen» project by silverThe working group of the Model River Mezen Project has initiated the development of interregional program for the restoration and conservation of Atlantic salmon population in the basin of the Mezen River.
The promotion of the conservation and restoration of salmon is an important part of this project. During this project Silver Taiga organized several field trips to the upper reaches and tributaries of the Mezen River involving ichthyologists, the sightseeing expedition from the source to the mouth, and also made a seminar “The experience of recovery and management of salmon populations in the Baltic region.” Every year together with State Organization “Komirybvod” Silver Taiga monitors the spawning grounds and supports the conservation measures of fishing inspectors.
The researches have shown that the Mezen River hasn’t yet lost its environmental properties required for natural recovery of salmon populations, and it can be achieved by proper management of fishery resources. As the Mezen is a transboundary river and the salmon is a migratory species, any efforts to preserve the salmon taken only in the district or regional level, will not give the desired outcome.
So, more than a year ago Silver Taiga firstly attempted to unite interested parties from both regions – the Komi and Arkhangelsk – to solve this problem.
Unfortunately, few persons responded to this invitation. But the project was been supported by Vyacheslav Gaiser, Head of the Republic of Komi, thanks to it Silver Taiga together with Department of Agriculture and Food of the Komi Republic was able to organize interregional workshop “The condition of Atlantic salmon population in the basin of the Mezen River and possible ways to restore the resource.”
The representatives of the State Council of the Komi Republic, Department of Agriculture and Department of Environment of the Komi Republic, the Institute of Biology of Komi Scientific Center, Ural Division of RAS, Research PINRO, Interregional social movement “Komi Voityr”, communities of the local population “Udorachi”, State Organization “Komirybvod”, administrations of Udorsky and Leshukonsky metropolitan regions, Komi Department of State Control, supervision and protection of marine biological resources and Silver Taiga took part in the meeting on May 30, 2013.
The meeting had a good start for further action to develop and agree a holistic approach to solve the problem of Mezen salmon conservation. All participants agreed that it’s necessary to combine efforts to preserve and restore the resource and that it is possible to reach the target by creating interregional program for the conservation and reproduction of salmon.
In the meeting delegates determined what this interregional program should include. According to the participants it should include the cooperation of stakeholders of Komi and Arkhangelsk region in the basin of the Mezen River based on the Model River Mezen Project; optimization of fishery conservation measures in the basin the Mezen River considering the migration and spawning of Atlantic salmon; analysis of the capabilities of establishing fisheries protection conservation area. Also should analyze the fishing activities in the areas provided for use, and identify common approaches to their creation. Also we need an objective assessment of the extent of illegal fishing of Atlantic salmon throughout the river, from the mouth to the headwaters. It is also necessary to analyze and evaluate the possibility and advisability of organizing licensed fishing by the local population.
In addition, according to the participants of the meeting the program should have proposals to adapt the legal framework and fishing rules in the basin of the Mezen River considering the views of civil society organizations and citizens. It should also initiate specific fisheries projects in the basin of the Mezen River, including activities on artificial reproduction and stocking various types of living aquatic resources, and assess the existing ones. The program should also have measures for the organization and development of public oversight and guidance to users of fishing grounds to create a basin fisheries associations in order to conduct a coordinated sustainable management.
The participants decided that the program will be developed by interregional working group, and it would be a great idea to create a Coordinating Council at the level of the two governments of the region for administrative support.
Silver Taiga Foundation, on behalf of the meeting, has already sent an appropriate letter to Vyacheslav Gaiser, Head of the Komi Republic. The letter lists proposals for the establishment of the Coordinating Council, and it should include apart from the representatives of the Governments of the Komi Republic of and the Arkhangelsk region representatives of the administrations of Udorsky, Leshukonsky and Mezen municipal districts, as well as regional public organizations.
As the Komi Republic and Arkhangelsk region have an intergovernmental agreement, the Head of the Komi Republic is proposed to initiate the including of cross-regional meeting resolutions on the conservation of salmon as a separate item in the protocol which is signed by the parties as part of the intergovernmental agreement annually. The working group is going to develop a program on September, 2013.
Model river Mezen project Working group discussed the difficulties of sustainable river management organization
| «Model river «Mezen» project by silverWhat is sustainable river management? How to establish such management? What hinders it? What problems do the users face? Discussion of these issues became the main topic of another meeting of the Model river Mezen project Working group, which took place on June 6.
Przemyslaw Majewski, recent Director of the Silver Taiga Foundation and a current member of the Foundation Coordination Council, devoted part of his speech to identification of sustainable fish resources management criteria and further on told about the Polish experience in this field. Polish practice of rivers and lakes resources management caught the interest of the Working group members, especially due to the fact that in Poland, same as in Russia, the main owner of the resource is the state and the usage of the resource is conducted on the leasing terms. Same as here, lease holding is executed on a competitive basis with such major criteria as competence of an applicant, availability of the necessary equipment and a management plan, which has to undergo a preliminary examination and receive an approval of its quality from the scientific institutions.
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