ENVIRONMENTAL NGOS FROM 6 CAUCASUS REGIONS TOOK PART IN THE WWF-RUSSIA FOREST WORKSHOP
The Caucasus Ecoregion is one of the richest in flora and fauna species diversity. Mountain forests with valuable tree species attract not only responsible loggers but also so-called "illegal" loggers and those who try to cover up illegal logging with forged documents. The WWF works towards sustainable forest management and records such violations, doing everything possible to bring the perpetrators to justice or prevent possible violations.
NGOs-grantees and activists provide assistance in monitoring the legality of logging and detecting violations. They told about their work at the event. Such workshops of WWF-Russia, within the framework of the Project "People for Nature", are held regularly and always include a day of theoretical topics and answers to questions, as well as field operations.
On the first day, nature activists shared the results and experiences of their work in their regions over the past year with colleagues. Also, WWF employees told the workshop participants about the peculiarities of and updates in legislation and working with the public through social networks and mass media.
On the second day, they visited the area near the Sochi National Park, which local ecologists from the Private institution "Heritage Institute" are trying to save and protect from logging and real estate development. For example, such valuable plant species as hornbeam, beech, juniper, yew and others grow on the territory of the Bytha forest area. Some of them are between 100 and 300 years old. However, in addition to environmental protection, this place also has historical and cultural value for the locals.
Also, employees of the Private institution "Heritage Institute" organized a tour of the territory of Malyi Akhun mount, which was a part of the Sochi National Park until 2013. Previously, these sites were surveyed by environmentalists, as part of the WWF-Russia grant implementation for the "People for Nature" project. The participants were told that the area is full of rare and threatened species of plants (yew, saucer magnolia (110 years), the tulip tree (110 years, 2 trees), etc.), but there is also a preserved fragment of the historical heritage of Sochi.
"Forest defenders from NGOs of the Republic
of Ingushetia joined NGOs from Krasnodar region, Adygea
Republic, Stavropol, Karachay-Cherkess Republic and Rostov region that have
come to WWF-Russia trainings for several times", - says Elena Cherkasova, Forest Officer of Russian Caucasus Ecoregional Office
WWF-Russia. - "We
can say that the Project is successfully working and developing, attracting new
regions and drawing attention to the problem of illegal logging".
The Project "People for Nature" is implemented by WWF-Russia in 2019-2022 with the support of the EU and is aimed at involving the public in environmental protection. The project aims to preserve forests by preventing their degradation and illegal use, as well as to minimize the negative impact of industry on the environment by increasing the environmental responsibility of businesses and reducing air and water pollution.
