
WWF-RUSSIA HAS PRODUCED A FILM ABOUT THE UNIQUE FORESTS BETWEEN THE NORTHERN DVINA AND PINEGA RIVERS
Filming took place this summer. The film crew spent several days in the wild taiga forest which is one of the last largest intact forest landscapes in Europe.
The crew’s guide through the forest, and one of the heroes of the film, was Viktor Khudyakov, a local hunter from the Pinezhsky region of Arkhangelsk Oblast, whose life has been entwined with these forests since childhood. Viktor, like many other in the local community, still feeds his family primarily through hunting, fishing, and picking mushrooms and berries. Viktor is concerned that the forest, which plays such a large role in his life, could disappear as a result of industrial logging.
Experts from WWF-Russia share his concerns.
The creation of a protection area (PA) covering
the reserve could help to protect this unique intact forest from logging. The
project was developed by WWF-Russia in cooperation with the Centre for
Environmental Resources Management and Environmental Protection of Arkhangelsk
Region. Under the project, the Dvisko-Pinezhsky reserve will include forest
ranges in the Kholmogorsky, Pinezhsky, Vinogradsky and Verkhnetoemsky districts
of Arkhangelsk Oblast. The total area under conservation will amount to
approximately 350 000 hectares. WWF-Russia believes it is fundamental that
the reserve territory is accessible for mushroom and berry picking, fishing and
hunting. Only activities that could have a damaging environmental impact such
as logging, mining and roadbuilding should be totally prohibited.
The problem is that the whole territory of the planned reserve has been leased out to forest companies. Although all leading forest leasing companies expressed their support for the creation of the reserve, the negotiations of the boundaries of the reserve that would be acceptable for all parties has progressed slowly. Currently, WWF-Russia has agreed on the boundaries of the reserve relating to land leased by the Titan Group. WWF-Russia calls on other forest companies to follow Titan Group’s lead.
WWF-Russia expresses its thanks to the company MGTS for its support of the work of the Intact Forest Conservation Foundation.
Headline photo: (c) WWF-Russia