The inhabitants of the village of Priluki with the support of the Prioksko-Terrasny state natural biosphere reserve managed to repulse another attempt to build the road through the biosphere reserve.

This time, as we assume, the desire to expand the road through the reserve and connect the two highways “Belgorod” and “Don” is connected with plans for the removal of garbage to the polygon near Kashira. This is due to the closure of the “Lesnaya” garbage ground in Serpukhov district.
In order to understand the situation, troubled residents of the village of Priluki on August 19 held a general meeting. The meeting was conducted by the village elder. The general director of JSC “Turovsky” AG Shakovets was invited to the meeting, who confirmed that no one had coordinated the beginning of the road works with him. This land plot was not withdrawn from the ownership of JSC “Turovsky”. The inhabitants of the village of Priluki wrote a collective appeal to the governor of the Moscow region.
The owner of the land – JSC “Turovsky” together with local residents organized a checkpoint with ditches and concrete blocks. However, the builders tried to break the obstacles (photo). Representatives of the reserve left for a meeting with the builders under the guidance of Yuri Bujvolov, deputy director for scientific work, candidate of biological sciences. However, by the time the reserve staff arrived, the builders were no longer there, the equipment was taken out. We never managed to find out exactly who conducted the work, who owned the equipment and who gave the command to leave.

Local residents and employees of the reserve are ready to fight to the end for preserving the unique nature around the Oka River. The reserve is preparing documents on the inadmissibility and possible negative consequences of the implementation of road construction plans, an extraordinary meeting of the Coordination Council of the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve is planned.
The territory where the construction of a road for garbage disposal is planned is the reserve land, as well as agricultural land owned by JSC “Turovsky”. The lands of JSC “Turovsky” are located in the protection zone and the cooperation zone of the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve of UNESCO, here one can neither build nor plow meadow-steppe lands. On the lands where the road is planned, plant cultivation is conducted in compliance with the established regime, and also ecological tourism and recreation can successfully develop here, various projects of “green” development are planned.
The construction of the highway is currently the main threat to our biosphere reserve. The information on this threat was sent to the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program Committee as part of the periodic report. The Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve is the only area of sustainable development of international importance in the Moscow Region. The core of the reserve is the Prioksko-Terrasny Biosphere Reserve, one of the first biosphere reserves in Russia, included in the UNESCO program “Man and the Biosphere” in 1978.
Earlier attempts to build a motorway through the biosphere reserve have already been undertaken. For example, in 2013, heavy construction equipment came to the reserve allegedly for “reconstruction”, but in fact for the construction of a broad highway.
After the appeal of the administration of the reserve, the scientists of Roshydromet, the Academy of Sciences of Russia and the intervention of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, the Governor of the Moscow region A.Yu. Vorobyov decided to exclude the construction of the road from the Development Program. It would seem that the issue is resolved in favor of Nature and the people living here.
But … Now a new attempt is being made to build a short road to the dump – through protected forests, meadows and habitats of bison.
To be continued…