Category: Окружающая среда

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Source: Preserved Embassy Foundation

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A practical seminar on modern forest fire suppression methods was held at Buzuluksky Bor National Park. Organized with the support of MTS and the Zapovednoye Posledstvo Foundation, it brought together state park rangers, students from the volunteer fire brigade of the Buzuluk Forestry College, and staff from Samarales and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The training was conducted by Grigory Kuksin, Associate Professor of the Department of Forest Conservation, Protection, and Regeneration at the All-Russian Institute for Advanced Training in Forestry Specialists and founder of the Landscape Fire Prevention Center. He is one of the most respected experts in the field of wildfire prevention and suppression in the country.

During the practical portion of the seminar, participants learned new technologies and equipment, including a temperature probe for locating peat fires and a georeaper for laying mineralized strips. The training also covered tactics and the installation of complex hose lines using tank trucks and motor pumps, allowing water to be delivered to the fire site from any body of water.

"I believe that of all Russian forest protected areas, the Buzuluk Pine Forest is currently the most challenging to protect from fire, the most prone to fires (in terms of the number of fires that occur), and yet the most well-protected," noted Grigory Kuksin. "Several generations of people—first in the reserve, then in the specialized Forest Management Department, and now in the national park—have perfected a system for detecting and extinguishing fires in the forest. But new climate conditions make protecting this forest increasingly challenging. Therefore, we must continually maintain our skills, seek new technical solutions, and conduct preventative measures. And we are proud to be able to contribute to the protection of this truly unique area."

"As a result of this project, which is being implemented with the support of MTS, not only will Buzuluksky Bor National Park receive assistance: we will also create a series of video tutorials to share the knowledge and experience gained with forest firefighters from other national parks and reserves," said Ksenia Gasparyan, Development Director of the Zapovednoye Posledstvo Foundation.

Learning how to use new firefighting tools and methods is crucial to protecting the unique Buzuluk Forest in a changing climate.

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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Source: Preserved Embassy Foundation

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The conservation initiative "Biodiversity Conservation and Development of the Potential of the Buzuluk Forest National Park" is being implemented with the support of MTS and the Zapovednoye Posledstvo Foundation. In one of the country's most fire-vulnerable federal protected areas, fire suppression and its aftermath are being addressed in several ways. Trees were planted in the area where the forest burned, a seminar on modern forest fire suppression methods was held, and the necessary equipment was purchased. Future projects include agricultural management at the forest planting sites, the creation of video tutorials on fire prevention and suppression, and extensive preventative work.

The project began with MTS volunteers planting pine seedlings on a one-hectare plot. This is part of the Borskoye Forestry of the National Park, which was damaged by a major forest fire in 2021. The seedlings, with closed root systems, were grown in the Buzuluk Pine Forest's own tree nursery. This is only the first stage of reforestation: volunteers will continue to visit the Buzuluk Pine Forest to assist during the growing season, until the trees reach one meter in height, and to plant another three and a half hectares of forest.

"Planting seedlings is just the tip of the iceberg called 'post-fire forest restoration.' You need to clear the burned area, grow the seedlings in a nursery, plant them, and then devote several years to agricultural maintenance—regular weeding, loosening the soil, fertilizing, protecting the tiny trees from soil burying them, sand drift, soil erosion, and blowing away, among other things. We're thrilled that MTS volunteers are committed to more than just 'planting trees once,' but to supporting the future of the forest for several years," emphasized Ksenia Gasparyan, Development Director of the Nature Conservation Embassy Foundation.

Another important stage was a seminar on modern methods of fighting forest fires. National park inspectors, students from the volunteer fire brigade of the Buzuluk Forestry Technical School, and employees of Samarales and the Ministry of Emergency Situations studied the theory and practice of this complex field. The training was conducted by Grigory Kuksin, Associate Professor of the Department of Forest Protection, Conservation, and Regeneration at the All-Russian Institute for Advanced Training in Forestry Specialists and founder of the Center for the Prevention of Landscape Fires. He is one of the most respected experts in the field of wildfire prevention and suppression in the country.

Grigory emphasized that firefighting efforts at Buzuluk Forest aren't starting from scratch. The team has the unfortunate but rewarding experience of extinguishing numerous fires, as it's one of the most fire-prone federal protected areas in Russia. However, new climate conditions are making protecting this forest increasingly challenging. Therefore, it's essential to continually maintain skills, seek new technical solutions, and implement preventative measures. This is precisely what the seminar participants were doing.

"Our team at the Landscape Fire Prevention Center, with the support of the Nature Conservation Embassy Foundation, spent a week working with national park staff to find the best solutions. We looked at satellite images of past fires and historical fire maps spanning centuries, discussed the causes of man-made fires and ways to reduce their incidence. We held tactical training sessions with the security service, practical training with new equipment, and practiced various firefighting techniques and methods, using hand tools, fire trucks, and motorized pumps simultaneously, so that we could effectively combine the efforts of all responding services during a fire. We are truly inspired by the entire team's commitment to this work," noted Grigory Kuksin.

Grigory Kuksin will also be the speaker in a series of video tutorials currently being created by experts from the Zapovednoye Polusta Foundation. In this series, we will aim to share the latest knowledge and experience with forest firefighters and volunteers from other protected areas. All materials will be made publicly available once completed.

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

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Source: Preserved Embassy Foundation

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The visitor center is the entry point for everyone visiting a protected area for the first time. It is equally important for local residents. How were the needs of key visitor groups considered when creating the new visitor center at Smolenskoye Poozerie National Park in the village of Przhevalskoye? Natalia Butorina, an expert with the Zapovedniki Ecocenter and the Zapovednoye Polostvo Foundation, who participated in the visitor center's design, answers the question.

Visitor centers of specially protected natural areas (SPNAs) are multifunctional complexes. Their primary goals are to visually present the natural and historical attractions of the SPNAs, direct visitor flows, and provide up-to-date information and recreational services.

In Smolenskoye Poozerie National Park, almost all educational trails are connected to the recreational hub around the village of Przhevalskoye. Therefore, the optimal location for the new visitor center was chosen at the entrance to the village—convenient for tourists and within walking distance for locals.

When developing the concept for the visitor center building, a special questionnaire was used to collect data on the needs of future visitors. This helped the architects design the three-module building complex and develop a development plan for the adjacent area. The central module is being constructed as a welcoming guest area, housing an information center, a workshop space, an office for staff, a cloakroom, and restrooms. To the right of the main entrance is a large exhibition hall, "The Heritage of Smolensk Poozerie." A separate section of the visitor center building is a multifunctional hall accommodating up to 100 people for various educational events, with video and audio capabilities.

The new visitor center's infrastructure will significantly expand the range of annual environmental education events at the national park. These will include introductory tours of the exhibits, game programs, creative competitions, and temporary exhibitions, as well as events such as nature conservation festivals and environmental education campaigns. The visitor center's multifaceted activities are aimed at promoting the values of Smolenskoye Poozerie Park, increasing public support, and developing visitors' environmental awareness.

The visitor center, as a focal point for visitors to Smolenskoye Poozerie, is focused on introducing them to the national park's tourism opportunities in various formats: one-day and multi-day tours, volunteering, recreation at tourist centers and in private accommodation, and participation in events. One of the key indicators of success will be tourists' desire to return to Poozerie or recommend the tour to their friends.

For local residents, the visitor center offers a new opportunity for engaging leisure activities and expanding their horizons in the familiar places of the Demidovsky District. Themed excursions and workshops, game programs for children and families, creative competitions, and club and hobby groups are just a few of the opportunities available. Visitor centers typically serve as the basis for Friends of Protected Areas clubs, which coordinate community engagement programs. Thus, the visitor center in Przhevalskoye has the potential to become a "third place" (a place for leisure and recreation, as sociologist Ray Olbendurg calls it) for local residents—an interesting place to spend their free time outside of work or school.

The new visitor center will also foster local economic growth through partnerships between residents and the national park. This will include new jobs, opportunities to sell souvenirs, and the promotion of private initiatives to create recreational services for tourists.

The active work of the visitor center creates a multiplier effect that draws new partners of the national park into sustainable long-term cooperation.

*The visitor center is one of the stages of a joint project between the Zapovednoye Posledstvo Foundation and the Smolenskoye Poozerie National Park, implemented with the support of JTI Russia.

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Source: Save Nature Foundation

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Participants included representatives of international organizations, Belarusian and Russian scientists, specialists in ecology, energy, and environmental management, research fellows, and faculty, students, and postgraduate students from universities in Russia and Belarus.

On October 15, the seminar opened with welcoming speeches by K.V. Yakushenko, Vice-Rector for Research at the Belarusian National Technical University; G.M. Brovka, Dean of the Faculty of Management Technologies and Humanitarianization at the Belarusian National Technical University; A.A. Brin, Director of the Institute of Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus; V.E. Pinaev, Associate Professor of the Department of Environmental Safety and Product Quality Management at the Institute of Ecology at the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University of Russia; and L.L. Poleshchuk, Deputy Director of the Department of Energy Efficiency at the State Standard of the Republic of Belarus.

After welcoming the participants and introducing the seminar program, a plenary discussion opened.

The first speaker to present his plenary report on "Characteristics of the Development of the Nationally Determined Contribution of the Republic of Belarus to the Paris Agreement" was A.Zh. Grebenkov, a leading researcher at the Sustainable Energy Development Laboratory of the Institute of Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

Next, O.V. Kudryavtseva, Professor of the Department of Environmental Management at the Faculty of Economics at Lomonosov Moscow State University, spoke about "Decarbonization of the Electric Power Industry with the Help of Energy Storage Systems and Achieving the SDGs."

N.M. Maltseva, consultant for the Department of Energy Efficiency, Ecology, and Science at the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Belarus, introduced participants to the work on "Decarbonization of the Electricity Generation Sector and its Impact on Achieving Sustainable Development Goals."

Yu. P. Khitev, associate professor at the RUDN University Institute of Ecology, spoke about the activities of the RUDN University greenhouse gas validation and verification body during the Sakhalin Experiment.

The plenary session was quite lively. In addition to reading the papers themselves, the speakers answered questions from the participants in depth.

After a short break, a roundtable discussion on "Decarbonization of the Energy Sector" took place in the conference hall of the BNTU Polytechnic. The discussion was moderated by V.L. Chervinsky, PhD, Head of the UNESCO Department at the Belarusian National Technical University.

T.G. Zorina, Head of the Laboratory, Doctor of Economics, and Professor at the Institute of Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, opened the meeting with a presentation on "Decarbonization of Energy in the Context of Sustainable Energy Development."

Ya.E. Boreiko, an employee of the State Enterprise “Bel Scientific Research Center “Ecology,” presented a report on the topic “Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in the Energy Sector.”

A.M. Apalko, a researcher at the Economic Research Institute of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus, spoke about "Power-to-X Technology and the Role of Hydrogen and Electrolysis in the Global Energy Transition."

V.R. Kuzmin, a junior researcher at the Melentyev Energy Systems Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, presented a paper on "The Role of Digital Twins of Renewable Energy Sources and Monitoring of Pollutant Emissions from Energy Facilities in Energy Decarbonization."

N.N. Dalmuradova, Associate Professor of the Alternative Energy Sources Department at the Islam Karimov Tashkent State Technical University, introduced the participants to the "Role of Resource-Saving Technologies and Recycling of Renewable Energy Components in Decarbonization of the Energy Sector."

K.V. Dobrego, head of Belinvesttorg LLC, a 1AK GROUP holding company and a partner of the seminar, gave a presentation on "Statistical Modeling of Lithium-ion Battery Charge-Discharge Cycles."

A.D. Matyushenko, a postgraduate student at the Belarusian State University, introduced the participants to the "Assessment of the Impact of Various Factors on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Energy Sector of the Republic of Belarus."

At the end of the individual presentations section of the roundtable, moderator V.L. Chervinsky, Ph.D., Head of the UNESCO Department at the Belarusian National Technical University, presented a report on "Improving the Energy Efficiency of the BNTU Student Campus Power Supply by Using a Photovoltaic System."

Participants then began a discussion of the speakers' reports and the challenges of decarbonizing the energy sector.

In the afternoon, experts participated in a roundtable discussion on "Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions" in the conference hall of the BNTU "Polytechnic" Scientific and Technical Complex. The discussion was moderated by A. A. Grebenkov, PhD, leading researcher at the Sustainable Energy Development Laboratory of the Institute of Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

The section of individual reports opened with a presentation by R.N. Salieva, Institute of Ecology and Subsoil Use Problems of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan, on the topic "The Legal Basis for the Implementation of State Policy in the Field of Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Russian Federation."

Participants learned about "Russian Practices in Training and Handling GHGs" from a presentation by V.E. Pinaev, Associate Professor of the Department of Environmental Safety and Product Quality Management at the Patrice Lumumba Institute of Ecology at RUDN University.

I.I. Poloz, Associate Professor at the Belarusian National Technical University, PhD in Agricultural Sciences, conducted a "Review of Policies and Measures to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the Waste Sector."

J. Dobkovich, A. Andreev – Official representatives of GAIA Corporation in Russia introduced participants to the experience of “Local processing of organic waste to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.”

Seminar participants learned about "Neural network modeling of carbon dioxide concentrations as a basis for developing emission reduction technologies" from a presentation by V.A. Nurmekhamitova from the Institute of Ecology and Subsoil Use Problems of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan.

E.V. Rassokha, Head of the Department of Production Organization and Real Estate Economics at BSTU, and A.M. Frantsuzova, PhD student in the Department of Production and Real Estate Economics at the Belarusian State Technological University, presented their research on "Decarbonization of Real Estate Based on the Integration of ESG Principles."

V.V. Dyurov, an employee of the Scientific Research Economic Institute of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus, spoke to participants about "Managing the Efficiency of Material Resource Use in Industry in the Republic of Belarus as a Factor in Decarbonization: International Experience and National Economic Prospects."

The individual papers section concluded with a lecture by Xueyao Liu from the Belarusian State University on "Research on Environmental Emissions in China."

The participants then began a discussion, during which they discussed the speakers' presentations and answered questions.

On October 16, a roundtable discussion on "Decarbonization of the Energy Sector" was held in the conference hall of the BNTU Polytechnic. The discussion was moderated by V.L. Chervinsky, PhD, Head of the UNESCO Department at the Belarusian National Technical University.

The round table began with an award ceremony for the young participants of the seminar, whose scientific work received high praise from experts.

Leading experts took part in the meeting to discuss the proposals and summarize the results of the discussion, including: A.M. Apalko – Research Economic Institute of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus, Ya.E. Boreiko is an employee of the State Enterprise “Bel NRC “Ecology”, D.A. Gaskova is a junior researcher of the Department of Artificial Intelligence Systems in Energy of the L.A. Melentyev Energy Systems Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, M.V. Grinyuk, V.D. Osmolovsky and I.O. Parshuto are employees of the RUE “BelTEI” RUE “BelTEI”, N.N. Dalmuradova is an associate professor of the Department of Alternative Energy Sources of the Tashkent State Technical University named after Islam Karimov, T.G. Zorina is the head of the laboratory, Doctor of Economics, Professor of the Institute of Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, O.V. Kudryavtseva is a professor of the Department of Economics of Nature Management of the Faculty of Economics of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov, V.R. Kuzmin is a junior researcher of the L.A. Melentyev Energy Systems Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, A.D. Matyushenko is a graduate student of the Belarusian State University, A.V. Tavrykin – employee of the Institute of Power Engineering of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, S.E. Titov – professor, candidate of technical sciences of Kazan State Power Engineering University, V.L. Chervinsky – so-called sci., head of the UNESCO Department of the Belarusian National Technical University.

Participants discussed proposals and ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon and renewable energy sources in the energy production sector of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation.

After a short break, the same group of experts held a roundtable discussion on "Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions." The meeting was moderated by A. A. Grebenkov, Ph.D., leading researcher at the Sustainable Energy Development Laboratory at the Institute of Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus.

The speakers discussed the potential for applying greenhouse gas reduction methods, as outlined in their previously presented reports. Following the discussion, the experts reached a consensus on key areas of work and expressed hope for continued joint efforts and the exchange of experience between Russia and Belarus to strengthen the results achieved.

All proposals were included in the final Resolution.

The Revival of Nature Charitable Foundation served as a partner for the seminar. Participants were able to learn about the Foundation's activities and mission, as our public service announcement about family values and a love of nature was shown on screens during registration. Participants also received useful and memorable gifts from the Revival of Nature Charitable Foundation and the Patrice Lumumba Institute of Ecology at RUDN University – convenient folders for participation in conferences, seminars, and forums. The Revival of Nature Charitable Foundation also provided food for the participants, funding coffee breaks and lunches.

The international expert seminar on environmental aspects of energy development, "DECARBONIZING THE ENERGY SECTOR. REDUCING GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS," held in Minsk demonstrated the unity of international scientists and practitioners focused on addressing pressing environmental issues, preserving natural resources, and improving the quality of life for the world's population.

We thank the organizers, the Institute of Energy of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Belarusian National Technical University, and the Patrice Lumumba Institute of Ecology of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, for inviting us to partner with this significant event.

Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.