1. The summer season is over, the autumn season is beginning
On Saturday, August 31, the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve hosted an event dedicated to the end of the summer tourist season, where the results of work from May 1 to August 31 were summed up. During this time, 36,983 people visited the excursion along the ecological trail “Road to the Bison”, in 4 months our guides conducted 1,210 excursions to the Central Bison Nursery! All active tour guides, namely those who work with guests of the reserve, were invited to the event. During a friendly tea party, the heroes of the occasion were awarded with certificates and useful souvenirs. The guest of the event was the head of the State Budgetary Institution of the Vladimir Region “Unified Directorate of Specially Protected Natural Territories of the Vladimir Region” Olga Nikolaevna Kanishcheva. This regional specially protected natural area has recently acquired the opportunity to show visitors bison living in the Klyazminsko-Lukhsky Reserve, and the experience of excursion activities of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve turned out to be extremely popular for our northern colleagues.The summer season is closed, we are opening the autumn one. During it, the guides will have a lot of interesting work, and the guests of the reserve will have excursions, good photos, and positive impressions. The Department of Environmental Education and Educational Tourism of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve, whose employees also sometimes have the good fortune to conduct an excursion to the Central Bison Nursery, thanks each guide and wishes for further cooperation.
2. Silence! Camera! Action!
The Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve has become a filming location. On September 5 and 6, a whole city was set up at the Central Estate of the Reserve: mobile homes with full-fledged dressing rooms, minibuses with lighting, video and sound equipment, a canteen and a buffet – everything to ensure that the filming was carried out at a high level and with maximum comfort for each of the 70 participants in the process. Of course, because we are talking about a feature film! According to the script, young ecologists come on an excursion to the reserve. They are met in a bright all-terrain vehicle-jeep by environmental scientist Anna Yurievna (Russian theater and film actress, TV presenter and singer – Ekaterina Shpitsa). And immediately the adventures begin!!! The film about the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve and its living symbol – the bison, is one of 16 short feature films being filmed by the “Slon”Studio” together with the All-Russian public-state movement of children and youth “MOVEMENT OF THE FIRST”. The project is designed for a school audience and will be shown in all schools in our country during class hours as part of the lesson “Conversations about the Important” in 2025-2026.
3. Harvest Festival
“Chest of Goodness” is an annual autumn event of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve, which is gaining momentum. Anyone can take part. It is enough to bring treats for the bison to the Central Estate of the Reserve, where a huge oak chest is installed at the main barrier. In the fall, the “Chest of Goodness” is rarely empty. Visitors constantly leave bags of carrots or scatterings of juicy apples in it, and today, schoolchildren from the Municipal Budgetary General Education Institution “Turovskaya” Secondary General Education School brought gifts to the bison. Last weekend, gardeners and vegetable growers from the town of Pushchino collected a larger volume of feed for the animals of the Central Bison Nursery. And it happened on an enviable scale. The “Chest of Goodness” campaign took place on September 14 as part of the annual “Harvest Festival” fair on the main square of the “Vertical” Cultural Development Center! The Pushchino residents quickly filled a large container with sweet carrots, pumpkins, vegetables, squash, and apples. In return, they got to interact with life-size dolls. The “Bison” took pictures and danced with guests and participants all day long, creating a festive atmosphere. At the “Harvest Festival” fair, the Pushchino residents, rightfully proud of their agricultural and creative achievements, took part in competitions in several nominations: “What’s in the basket of autumn or out of boredom, a jack of all trades” – for the best composition from the harvest collected in the summer cottage, “Vegetable Garden Champion” – for the largest vegetable, “Lucky Bouquet” – for an unusual bouquet of fresh garden flowers, “Pastry Fantasies” – for a dish of vegetables or fruits, “Children in Vegetables” – children’s work on this topic, “Garden Scarecrow” on a garden scarecrow, made with your own hands from various materials. The winners were chosen by popular vote. We are pleased that we have such friends. The number of participants in the “Chest of Goodness” campaign is growing – real bison and buffalo will receive a tasty supplement to their diet for a long time this fall. If your garden plot has a large harvest and you also want to join the campaign, bring succulent feed for the bison and leave it in the “Chest of Goodness” located in the Central Estate of the Reserve.
4. Seminar-workshop
Specialists from the Department of Environmental Education and Educational Tourism of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve too part in a seminar-workshop entitled “Integration of Environmental Educational Programs into Events Aimed at Developing Educational Tourism”. This event is being held for the second time at the United Directorate of the “Sayano-Shushensky” Reserve and the “Shushensky Bor” National Park. In addition to specialists from the Moscow region, the event was attended by colleagues from the Daursky Reserve, the “Shorsky” and “Saylyugemsky” National Parks, and the “Ergaki” Nature Park. The goal of the seminar was to improve the skills of employees of the environmental education and tourism departments of specially protected natural areas of Russia. The program of the seminar turned out to be very intense and included theoretical and practical classes, as well as a large excursion part. The guests of the seminar got acquainted with the Sayano-Shushensky Reserve and the “Shushensky Bor” National Park. They exchanged experience and knowledge, learned about working methods, recently implemented projects and plans for the future. The participants visited an exclusive fairy-tale excursion called “Stories of Grandmother Yagunya”, took part in the master class “Amulet Doll”, and the environmental quest “Live Lessons in Berendey”, learned what a 19th-century peasant hut looked like, and visited the observation deck of the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Power Station. And at the end of the seminar, the organizers presented the participants with certificates and memorable gifts. The past seminar gave both the organizers and the participants many inspiring ideas for further work.
5. The bison are having repairs
Large-scale work has begun again at the Central Bison Nursery. For the fourth year in a row, routine repairs to the structural elements of the internal fencing of the pens have been carried out using charitable funds from the Khakassian Republican Branch of the All-Russian Public Organization “Russian Geographical Society”. This organization has been providing charitable assistance for several years in a row. The Central Bison Nursery is constantly being improved and updated, this is a large farm that needs constant updating and improvement of its infrastructure. The nursery is located on the territory of the Prioksko-Terrasny State Nature Biosphere Reserve and covers an area of 200 hectares. It includes: 8 pens from 6 to 50 hectares, 5 catching yards, 3 haylofts, a vegetable storehouse, a feed kitchen, medical and quarantine yards, an observation tower and kilometers of fencing. This year, repair work to replace the canopy, fence and feeders will be carried out in pen No. VI. The work is carried out by Limited Liability Company “DSK“OMEGA” under the terms of the contract. September is the most convenient time for large-scale projects, since the weather is still comfortable, but there are no more annoying insects. The inhabitants of the nursery will not have to experience discomfort for a long time due to repairs and by the cold weather they will be able to inspect the quality of the new feeding area.
6. Reserved souvenir
Specialist from the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve took part in the 5th anniversary Festival of Folk Arts and Crafts “Zapovedny Souvenir”. This year, the warm and beautiful southern city of Kislovodsk was chosen as the venue. The festival has been held regularly since 2020 and is aimed at popularizing folk arts and crafts in specially protected natural areas. From September 17 to 23, the best producers of souvenirs and folk art crafts from different regions of Russia gathered here. National parks – “Sengileevskie Gory”, “Sochinsky”, “Ladozhskie Zhkhery”, “Russkaya Arktika”, “Losiny Ostrov”, “Nizhnaya Kama”, “Kislovodsky” and the only Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve in the Moscow region. The Festival featured a business program, round tables, master classes and an exciting competition for participants. Specialists of the Priosko-Terrasny Reserve presented a presentation “A unique image of a filled souvenir as an effective tool for attracting attention to specially protected natural areas”, held a tabletop master class and, of course, took part in the competition. Residents and guests of Kislovodsk were able to get acquainted with specially protected natural areas and their souvenir products, buy or make a souvenir with their own hands. The partner of the Festival is the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Russia.
7. «GRASS» in the reserve
On Friday, September 27, a large volunteer environmental campaign was held in the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve. Volunteers from the companies “GRASS” and Fix Price came to help with the landscaping of the paddocks of the Central Bison Nursery. The company “GRASS” has been providing various assistance to the reserve for several years in a row. The company helped in the restoration of the damaged hay storage, installed an interactive stand for young visitors of the excursion “Road to the Bison”. Last year, together with the employees of “Magnit”, they planted 500 seedlings in the paddocks of the Central Bison Nursery. They financed the repair work of the feeding areas of the Central Bison Nursery. This time, volunteers from the companies “GRASS” and Fix Price took part in the volunteer campaign. Light rain softened the ground, and digging became a little easier. The area of pen No. 3 fenced off from bison was planted with linden saplings, each of which was generously watered, as there was no hope for rain. Everything planned was done quickly and in a timely manner, when in a few years the saplings get stronger, the bison will return to the fenced off part of the pen. Having finished their work, the volunteers went on an introductory tour of the Central Bison Nursery and had a hearty lunch. The Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve is very happy with such necessary and important assistance, which the “GRASS” company has been providing us with for many years.
