Russian Parks Officials Study How U.S. Manages Protected Areas
Washington â€" The snow-covered environs of Siberia’s Lake Baikal and the subtropical ecosystem of Florida’s Everglades may be separated by 11,165 kilometers and several climate zones, but when it comes to the challenge of managing such national treasures, these two protected natural areas have much in common.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington — The snow-covered environs of Siberia’s Lake Baikal and the subtropical ecosystem of Florida’s Everglades may be separated by 11,165 kilometers and several climate zones, but when it comes to the challenge of managing such national treasures, these two protected natural areas have much in common.
Rudy D’Alessandro, an official with the U.S. National Park Service, explained, for example, that both sites are on UNESCO’s World Heritage List and both are threatened by nearby human encroachment.
To better understand how the United States manages its protected areas such as the Everglades, and to allow an exchange of professional information and experience, 20 Russian national park and nature reserve managers are in the United States for a workshop and study tour that may lead to greater bilateral cooperation in the future.
During their February 20 to March 4 visit, the Russian officials are hearing from three relevant U.S. government agencies, and making hands-on visits to several national parks, forests and wildlife refuges in Florida. The program is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development ( USAID ) and occurring under the auspices of the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, established in 2009 to improve coordination between the two nations in various fields.
The Russian delegation includes 14 park and natural reserve managers, officials from the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and representatives from environmental nongovernmental organizations ( NGOs ).
The delegation began their American program February 22 with briefings by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service. These three federal agencies oversee, respectively, 553 wildlife refuges, 395 national park sites and 155 national forests.
The Washington briefings provided the Russian delegation an overview of the history, mission and operation of the three agencies. Of particular interest to the Russian officials was how the United States balances public use of these natural areas with environmental stewardship.
Russia’s protected areas include 42 national parks and 102 federal nature reserves; access to the latter is now largely limited to scientific researchers. Draft legislation before the Russian Parliament would provide for greater public access to the parks and reserves while also safeguarding their ecosystems. The legislation also aims to improve their infrastructure, end haphazard tourism development and increase ecotourism.
“The Russian visitors can gain an understanding that the U.S. national parks model is adaptable to their own protected areas,” said D’Alessandro, adding that Russians are concerned that opening these areas to greater commercialization may ruin them.
Vsevolod Stepanitsky, the delegation leader and a deputy director in the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, echoed D’Alessandro’s comments, saying that his country might find U.S. practices in wildlife management, environmental education and public outreach applicable to Russia.
“In selecting the delegation, we specifically chose people we thought would be able to pick up certain points and be able to adapt them for use at home,” Stepanitsky told America.gov.
The U.S. model of managing the impact of visitors and tourism in protected areas was a major point of discussion at all three agencies visited in Washington.
Mike Carlo, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service official, said that when his agency evaluates tourism activities in the 98 percent of wildlife refuges open to the public, “the impact on wildlife and natural resources is our first concern.” Only activities appropriate to conservation, such as wildlife watching, nature photography and environmental education, are permitted.
D’Alessandro advised the Russian officials to learn from U.S. mistakes in parks management.
“You don’t want to have as many visitor centers as we do,” he said, adding that there are four in the Everglades National Park and eight in Yellowstone National Park.
“Less is more,” he continued. “We spend a lot of money maintaining tens of thousands of buildings in our parks and have a $5 billion maintenance backlog.”
Given that there are only 20,000 National Park Service employees, D’Alessandro spoke of the vital role played by the 150,000 individuals who volunteer each year in U.S. national parks, contributing labor worth an estimated $72 million.
“The more people you have volunteering from the local community, the better the relationship with it,” he said.
Both Carlo and D’Alessandro also pointed to the positive economic impact of protected areas on nearby communities, with each saying that every taxpayer dollar that goes to a wildlife refuge or national park returns $4 to the local economy.
The Florida program for the Russian officials includes visits to Everglades and Biscayne national parks, Apalachicola National Forest, Big Cypress National Preserve and St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. Among the topics to be examined firsthand in Florida are wildlife management, multiple land-use issues, environmental education and balancing habitat conservation with public access.
The possibility of creating additional “sister park” relationships between individual U.S. and Russian national parks is also under consideration. At present, Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming is paired with Russia’s Khvalynsky National Park, a relationship that D’Alessandro called one of the most active that the Park Service has anywhere in the world.
Victor Savinov, director of the 26,000-hectare Khvalynsky National Park, located in the Saratov oblast of Russia’s Volga region, said he hoped the U.S. study program would help such international cooperation develop further.
“We need to preserve biodiversity and protect nature,” he said, adding that 2010 had been a difficult year because of the massive summer wildfires that swept across Russia. “It’s very important for us to preserve this planet for future generations,” he said.
( This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://www.america.gov )
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