Chronicle of news for the month.
Generous, warm, golden October dominates the protected forests of the Moscow region. “Golden Autumn” this year is really golden. Under the fall of leaves in our reserve, herbs and shrubs are blooming again, giving their beauty to the last autumn warmth. And a handsome capercaillie, captured by the camera of a successful photographer in the protected area of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve, demonstrated the autumn current right in front of the lens.
The main holiday of the month for all our colleagues is the Day of Wildlife Workers, which is celebrated on October 14. The decision to establish it in 1999 was made by the directors of state nature reserves and national parks during an all-Russian seminar-meeting held in Vladivostok. October 14 became the unofficial Day of workers of the reserve management. It may be an unofficial holiday, but hundreds of our colleagues from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka sincerely congratulate each other and wish good health, peace of mind and satisfaction from a job well done for the benefit of pristine nature.
At the very beginning of October, a meeting of welcome guests took place – colleagues from protected areas that are members of the Association of Nature Reserves and National Parks of North-West Russia. In 2020, this professional union of conservation workers turns 25. The jubilee meeting of colleagues from the Association was organized by the Ugra National Park and the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve, which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary.
Svetlana Rodionova, director of the Prioksko-Terrasny nature reserve: “We are happy to welcome our friends and colleagues today. Working in the Association of Reserves and National Parks of North-West Russia is very important for us – after all, this is experience and knowledge, these are friendly relations and opportunities for development!”
The tasks of the Association are the preservation of natural and cultural heritage, environmental education, support of scientific activities, assistance to the development of ecotourism, social and economic development of the PA system. Each of these tasks requires a constant exchange of experience, maintaining the sphere of professional communication, and protecting common interests. And all this has been successful: over the past 25 years, the Association has managed to create a kind of professional club for communication of specialists from all areas of PA activity. The experience of each reserve, each national park in the Association becomes common property. Viktor Grishenkov, Director of the Ugra National Park, was elected the new President of the Association of Reserves and National Parks of the North-West of Russia.
A continuation of this meeting was a trip of Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve employees to the Ugra National Park to exchange experience. The task was important, to study the experience of our neighbors in the organization of tourism, environmental education and security activities. Our territories have been maintaining friendly and working ties for a long time. For example, in August last year, eight bison from the Central Bison Nursery joined the free population in the Kaluga Region. From us two-year-olds, born in 2017, went to their new place of residence – Muvelik, Muria, Mukatsia, Muzyk, Muveres, Mulinda, Muslim and Munforestdaymond. The trip to the Ugra National Park was very productive and useful, everything you saw and heard will be very useful in your work!
In the life of our bison and the Central Bison Nursery, an important event took place in October – the Oksky and Prioksko-Terrasny reserves exchanged bison for breeding work. Two one-year-old females Mufa and Muelsa left our nursery for the Ryazan region, and the female Medoris and the promising male Memuvin, the son of the Swedish bull Avmumin, came from the Oksky Reserve to the Moscow region.
“We have four breeding groups with different genetic potential. This will be the fifth, a unique group, where the descendants of Swedish bison are gathered. Both of the animals that came to us on the exchange have Swedish roots. This is important for the preservation of genetic diversity, ” – said Irina Zemlyanko, deputy director of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve for the maintenance and breeding of bison.
This work is taking place within the framework of the national project “Ecology”. The next transportation of animals from two nurseries is scheduled for January 2021 to the territory of the Vologda region to replenish the existing free-style group.
Scientific work is one of the priorities of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve. To draw up a plan for the future development of research and educational work on the territory of the reserve, our colleagues came to us, heads of the national parks “Ugra” and “Orlovskoe Polesie” and a number of specialists in the field of study and conservation of nature, animal husbandry and veterinary medicine, forestry. This meeting made the most important decisions for our work. The direction of development of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve has been determined!
