Russia's Zapovednik System Reaches Out

Neglected by the Government, Russia's Nature Reserves Are Turning to the Grassroots for Support

article & photo by Natalia Danilina

On January 11, 1997, an unusual meeting took place in Moscow's Pushkinskaya Square. As music sounded, a huge balloon emblazoned with a bear and the words, "80th Anniversary of Russian Zapovedniks," lifted high into the air. Silk banners flapped in the wind as curious bystanders gathered.

Muscovites are generally unmoved by such gatherings. Accustomed to the protests and demonstrations commonplace in post-Soviet life, they usually hurry by with indifference or irritation. But the bright colors, music and balloons drew a large crowd to celebrate the anniversary of Russia's zapovednik [nature reserve] system, which began with the establishment of the Barguzinsky Zapovednik on Lake Baikal in 1917.

Russia's system of nature reserves is one of the most extensive in the world. It consists of 2.1 percent of the country's territory, and ranges from a forest park in the middle of Moscow to the Sikhote-Alin Zapovednik in the Far East, where the Siberian tiger roams. In the Central Chernozyomny Zapovednik, one can find flowering steppe that has never been touched by a plow. And in the Russian Arctic, zapovedniks are hatching grounds for hundreds of species of birds.

During its 80-year history, the zapovednik system has endured many difficulties. In the '50s and early '60s, the reserves were deemed "useless" by Soviet authorities and many were simply dissolved. But the reserve system was not completely destroyed, and a network of dedicated nature lovers and scientists began to revive it. In the 1980s, a system of national parks began to supplement the system of reserves, which are usually off-limits to the public for recreational uses. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, the reserve system has fallen into a shambles, with barely enough money to pay staff salaries, let alone fund new scientific research projects.

During the last five years, the budget for the zapovednik system has been cut back more than 10 times, and now accounts for only 30 percent of the actual funding needed to operate it at a minimum level. The system continues to grow, however. In 1996 the Bastak Zapovednik in the Jewish Autonomous Region in the Far East was created, along with Ugra, a new national park in the Kaluga region. Research, nature conservation and environmental education activities continue, thanks largely to staff members holding the system together by a shoestring.

Now more than ever before, the zapovednik system must reach out to the public for support. To help fill this gap, in April 1996 the World Wide Fund for Nature, working in cooperation with several Russian NGOs, established the Zapovednik Environmental Education Center to act as a public relations arm for the entire zapovednik system. While the Center works on a national level to promote public awareness about the park system, part of its mission is also to work with local zapovednik staff members, training them in public outreach techniques and working with the local media.

The Center, with a full-time staff of four, has already taken on a number of projects at both the national and local level. One of its first projects was to publish material about the park system for potential visitors. So far, the Center has published a color map and guide to the entire park system, the first of its kind, and a booklet commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Teberdinsky Zapovednik.

While the Duma was holding hearings on problems in the park system, the Center organized exhibitions of photographs and children's drawings of zapovedniks which were displayed in the Duma building. Influencing policy-makers at the Duma level will be an important, but daunting task of the Center.

Another important component of the Center's work is its training program for zapovednik staff. Many of them are skilled scientists but have little experience in environmental education or working with local media. The Center so far has organized two training seminars, each lasting two weeks, on topics ranging from "Methods in Environmental Education" to "International NGOs and Nature Conservation." Over 30 specialists have been trained so far.

The Center is also conducting an ongoing public relations campaign through the national media. So far, it has helped produce TV programs about the March for Parks event [see box] and worked with Komsomolskaya Pravda to sponsor a competition for the best article about zapovedniks and national parks to appear in regional or local newspapers.

In many countries, national parks are objects of national pride. People love them and consider it an honor to support them. The Russian nature reserve system is one of the best in the world, representing almost the entire range of geographic diversity found in the country, as well as preserving vast tracts of virgin forest and steppe that are the last such "untouched" areas in the world. Yet most Russians know nothing about this system or view its problems as unimportant in the face of more pressing economic hardships. The Zapovednik Environmental Education Center hopes to change this situation, so that all Russians know and are proud of the system that protects their natural heritage.

Natalia Danilina is director of the Zapovednik Environmental Education Center.

Biodiversity Conservation Center, P.O. Box 449, Moscow 119270, Russia; phone/fax: (095) 428-1888; e-mail: biodivers@glas.apc.org