Nature reserves in Russia

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Natural reserves in Russia, or zapovedniks (Russian: заповедник, from the Russian заповедный, "sacred, prohibited from disturbance, reserved") are inviolate protected areas in Russia and many former Soviet states, most of which are inherited from the times of the Soviet Union. Most, although not all, are owned by the state. Zapovedniks are kept "forever wild," and no exploitation of natural resources or other environmentally damaging activities are permitted in them. Human use is generally limited to research. "Zapovednik" refers both to the area and the institution in charge of it. The closest English term is "nature reserve".

In Russia there are about 100 zapovedniks covering about 330,000 km² (~127,400 mile²), or about 1.4% of the country's total area. They include everything from a forested area in the middle of Moscow to large tracts of Siberia and the Arctic, and range in size from Galichaya Gora at 2.31 km² (570 acres) to Great Arctic at 4,692 km² (1,876.8 mile²).

Other types of protected areas exist in Russia as well: national parks, zakazniks (managed resource area) and biosphere reserves (natural reserves with permanent monitoring).

Contents

[edit] History

The first zapovednik, Barguzin Nature Reserve on Lake Baikal, was actually created under Tsar Nikolas II, in 1916. There was initially little organised long term research due to the paucity of funds.

When the Soviet Union was established shortly thereafter, the new government created a system of zapovedniks for scientific study and preservation of the nature.

During the 1950s, many zapovedniks were threatened. Nikita Khrushchev thought there were too many and wanted to open some up to development and exploitation. Some other Soviet officials also viewed them as limiting access to natural resources, and some zapovedniks were dissolved as a result.

Historian Douglas Weiner (1999) argues that a succession of scientists and naturalists concerned with the zapovedniks responded to such threats by leading the authorities to believe that they, too, were keen to re-orient the zapovedniks to meet the aims of the national crusade of industrial expansion. Yet in actuality, they remained a relatively autonomous set of individuals, nurturing local government ties and international scientific links, and dedicated to ecological research and nature conservation.

Other threats to zapovedniks have arisen since the times preceding the collapse of the Soviet Union. Funding shortages have led to inadequate care and insufficient protection from criminal use. It has also been challenging to make preserving these closed areas and the nature within them relevant to the livelihoods of people living in remote villages who were formerly barred from access or use.

In this vein, a revealing result was reported by the Russian newspaper Arguments and Facts on January 21, 2004. A poll by the Fraser Institute, concerned perceived problems with investments in Russian economy, found that only 14% of respondents considered wildlife protection an obstacle. By contrast, 85% of respondents expressed the same concern with respect to California.

[edit] Environments and species protected

[edit] Species

[edit] Plants

[edit] Animals

[edit] Environments

While all types of ecosystems found in Russia are represented in some way within the zapovednik system, they are not evenly distributed throughout the country. Fully 24 are in the country's Central Plain, while at present only two are in the sensitive Arctic regions. There are moves afoot to add more, however, and in 1996 they bore fruit with the addition of two new zapovedniks outside the Central Plain: Gydanski, in the northern part of the eponymous peninsula near the Kara Sea, and Bastak in the Jewish Autonomous Region.

[edit] Uses

Unlike wilderness areas in other countries, zapovedniks are set aside primarily for scientific and research purposes. Recreational use of any kind is tightly restricted in most zapovedniks.

Nevertheless, there are situations like the Teberdinsky Zapovednik in the mountains of the Caucasus. The Dombai recreation center, long a favorite Russian alpine skiing destination, is located near the center of the zapovednik, and the impact of tourism in the area as more Russians and foreigners come to visit has created pressure on the preserved ecosystems around it.

[edit] Management

The Russian Department of Nature Protection's Zapovedniki Department oversees most of the zapovedniks. A few, however, are administered by the Russian Academy of Sciences or nearby universities.

[edit] UNESCO protection

[edit] Biosphere reserves

Since 1978, more than thirty of Russia's nature reserves have been designated by UNESCO as biosphere reserves.[1]

[edit] World Heritage Sites

Some of the nature reserves in Russia are also protected by the UNESCO as natural World Heritage Sites:

Typically, a nature reserve occupies only a part of the much larger World Heritage site.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  • Weiner, D. (1999) A Little Corner of Freedom: Russian Nature Protection from Stalin to Gorbachev. University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-23213-5
  • Zapovedniks, under "Russian Protected Areas," at russianconservation.org, retrieved December 19, 2005.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ List of biosphere reserves / Europe

[edit] External links

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