In the Moscow region in the Park Hotel Vozdvizhenskoe, an international seminar “Modern social, ecological and scientific approaches to planning and management in the field of ecological tourism in nature reserves” began its work.

This seminar jointly organized the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve and the Ecocenter “Zapovedniki”. More than 60 people from more than 40 zapovedniks and national parks from all over Russia from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad including directors of some nature reserves.

The main goal of the seminar is to train the leaders of Russia’s nature reserves to compile management plans for the development of ecological tourism using the experience of the United States. To participate in the seminar, two American colleagues were invited, with whom we are connected by common experience.

Natalia Danilina, the director of the Ecocenter “Zapovedniki” acts as the main leading seminar, her experience and authority in environmental education, the formation of public support and the development of ecological tourism are well known to all of us.

Professor Nathan Reigner, a consultant to the National Park Service and the US Forest Service, as well as the Icelandic Research Center for Tourism on Social Issues, on Quantitative Modeling and Environmental Analysis, also took the lead. Professor Rainer specializes in the organization of natural and cultural tourism, provides analytical services, training, planning and project management services for the private and public sectors. Nathan Rainer holds a PhD in natural resources management, which he defended at the University of Vermont University’s Research Laboratory and a master’s degree in forestry from Virginia Tech. He is a member of the Standing Committee of the Council for Scientific Research in Transport Research for National Parks and Public Lands at the National Academy of Sciences (USA), as well as a member of several UNESCO working groups within the MAB Man and the Biosphere program.

His colleague Jeremy Wimpey became the online speaker of the seminar and conducted a report and discussion on Skype. Jeremy is a teacher of the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism at the University of Pennsylvania; member of the Standing Committee of the National Commission for Scientific Research in Transport for National Parks and Public Lands of the National Academy of Sciences and is a member of the American Ecotropic Creators Association. He is a recognized international expert in the field of sustainable planning and design of tourism facilities. Jeremy has a multifaceted experience in analyzing and planning tourism projects in different countries around the world, with a focus on resolving conflicts between different user groups and on developing tourism in ecologically sensitive areas.

On December 7, the seminar guests arrived on an excursion to our reserve. Our colleagues visited the Central Bison Nursery, watched the bisons with pleasure, carefully and interestedly familiarized themselves with the tourist infrastructure.

December 8 in the congress center of the hotel “Vozdvizhenskoe” the seminar began its work.

Svetlana Rodionova, deputy director of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve for Environmental Education, Development and Tourism, said:
“For our reserve, participation in this seminar is very important. It is especially important that our reserve is chosen as a model object for discussing the application of the most advanced world experience in the development of ecological tourism. Our reserve is closest to the capital of our country. And we want to use the most modern and effective experience of our colleagues from Russia and the USA in our work. And we also want to be a platform for the most interesting and useful seminars in our nature reserve system. This fall, we held two such forums: a seminar-conference on the Chronicles of nature of Eurasia together with Finnish colleagues, and now – a seminar on the development of ecological tourism”.

The first day of the seminar showed great interest of its participants in the subject of reports and a great deal of discussion activity.

Natalia Danilina, the director of the Ecocenter “Zapovedniki”:
“This seminar has a very high theoretical level. We must understand that our natural reserves are at the very beginning of the development of ecological tourism. We have a lot of experience in practical work, but there is no normative or methodological basis, there is no generalization of the experience already available. We do not have a development strategy. We want to teach our colleagues how to correctly adapt and use the world experience. And this is difficult. Our seminar should encourage people to think about all this, to build a system and strategy for the development of ecological tourism”.

Professor Nathan Reigner: “I, too, once started with practical work in national parks! But later I began to read scientific articles and realized that there was a need for theory. For me, this was a new discovery – when the theory and practice converge! Many of these theories are really complicated. They have a complex character, the factors overlap. It is necessary that practitioners become familiar with such theoretical developments in order to build a bridge between practical work and theory. We will consider here many practical examples, they will help to understand and accept theoretical knowledge. And I’m also very interested in the experience of colleagues from Russia, this is an interesting model, it also enriches my knowledge”.

Alexander Kochergin, director of the national park “Smolenskoye Poozerie”:
“Everything is very interesting, but I see that the theoretical course is focused specifically on specialists in the field of tourism development. For me, as for any head of the natural reserve, other, more practical knowledge is also important. Our dear colleague is just getting acquainted with our experience. His experience and our conditions are only partially compatible. As the director of the national park, it would be more interesting for me to hear how to adapt theoretical knowledge in practice. It is also interesting to participate in various joint programs, infrastructure projects”.

Ekaterina Pilyutina, Deputy Director of the «Bryansky les» nature reserve:
“I’m certainly very interested in this. This is for me a working experience, and experience of meeting with colleagues. We have several years in the reserve, the number of tourists is growing, over 5 years they have become more than 20 times. And it is important to understand how to make it so that they feel comfortable, and nature is not hurt. There are a lot of questions. It is still very important for me to understand how to motivate tourists to go to our reserve”.

Elena Knizhnikova, Deputy Director of the Ecocenter “Zapovedniki”:
“Seminars on management planning, Ecocenter “Zapovedniki” has been held for several years already. In the first years, we were looking only for Russian experts in this field. Now we are well aware that the algorithms developed for Russia do not solve all the problems. Then we need to look for solutions beyond our internal competence, involve other approaches, for example, business. Or theoretical knowledge, the experience of US national parks. We are now collecting all the best ideas that we can apply”.

After the main reports at the seminar, training began in groups. Its theme was the reflection of the individual features of reserves and national parks in the plans for the development of ecological tourism.