Translation. Region: Russian Federal
Source: Preserved Embassy Foundation
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
"Why was building a visitor center so important for the national park?" "Currently, around 50,000 people visit the national park annually. The absence of a visitor center deprives us of the opportunity to conduct comprehensive visitor management. After all, today the national park only has small information centers—one at the national park office and the Baklanovo Ecocenter. We'd long dreamed of building a visitor center; 12 years ago, we applied for a federal program to support the construction of a visitor center. We developed a design, passed environmental assessments and the Main State Expertise, and planned the construction of a permanent facility. But an unforeseen circumstance arose—the program was terminated. And we were left high and dry."
The dream became a reality when a joint project with the "Zapovednoye Posledstvo" (Protected Embassy) Charitable Educational Foundation was launched. A huge thank you to Natalia Romanovna Danilina, the foundation's President, for initiating a comprehensive development project by "Zapovednoye Posledstvo" (Protected Embassy) with the support of JTI Russia to develop the Smolenskoye Poozerie (Smolensk Lake District) area. The project includes infrastructure development, reforestation, the creation of a navigation system, bison population support, and the development of a volunteer movement within the national park. Park staff, local residents, and the Smolensk Region Government are now aware of another significant outcome of this joint project: a new visitor center, exceptional in size and facilities, will open its doors early next year.
I'm very pleased that the Smolensk Region Government, led by Governor Vasily Nikolaevich Anokhin, has paid close attention to the project. The national park received significant assistance in connecting our visitor center to electricity. The Przhevalskoye administration also assisted with connecting the water supply.
What new opportunities does the visitor center open up for the development of the national park? Most importantly, the park will be home to a facility that will unite all existing environmental education sites: nature trails and the Baklanovo Ecocenter. All information about the national park will be centralized here. It will be a hub for cooperation and collaboration among all stakeholders working in the national park. The benefit for visitors is the opportunity to explore the park's facilities: accommodations, dining options, and business services (horseback riding, canoeing, SUPs, etc.).
It's symbolic that the visitor center construction project began in the year of the 300th anniversary of the village of Przhevalskoye, formerly Sloboda, an important socio-cultural and administrative center. The construction of the visitor center has transformed the central part of the village, which once housed the estate of the famous explorer Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky and numerous natural, historical, and cultural heritage sites. Plans include improving the shoreline of Lake Sapsho. Including the new visitor center in this development project as an important element will make the area more attractive to visitors.
Developing the area adjacent to the visitor center is a new direction for us. We'll need landscaping and installation of environmental education elements. We'll need to develop a souvenir line and engage creative people, including local residents, in the process. We'll explore holding master classes, and with the opening of the visitor center, we'll be able to devote even more attention to this area.
Importantly, the national park will now feature a museum exhibition, something previously unheard of. Interpreting natural and cultural heritage through interactive information is a new standard, and we intend to develop this approach further.
We plan to train professional specialists to greet visitors and interact with them effectively. The uniforms and merchandise must be appropriate, and this will require significant work from the entire team. Maintaining the visitor center's operations will also require significant effort from us as an institution. Of course, many questions will still arise. But the most important things have been accomplished.
What events are you planning to hold at the visitor center? We've already planned several exhibitions of our artists. We're currently in talks with the State Hermitage Museum about organizing an exhibition of archaeological finds from the Northwestern Expedition.
Large-scale public events will undoubtedly find their place on the visitor center's grounds after the area is improved. We will host nature conservation festivals on our stage, moving the Stork Festival and ethnographic celebrations such as Maslenitsa from the village's central square. We will screen new films in the visitor center's conference hall in preparation for the national park's 35th anniversary celebration in 2027, and two years later, we will host the Smolenskoye Poozerie anniversary events themselves.
This year, we're holding the Przhevalsky Memorial Conference in Smolensk, but we'll then bring the participants to the Smolensk Poozerye Visitor Center. This is a scientific expert community that can assist in organizing scientific museum exhibitions.
– If we talk about the visitor center as a club place for local residents, what potential do you see here?
"It's important for the visitor center to feel like a familiar, not alien, facility for the village residents, so that locals understand that the visitor center is theirs, too. We understand that this is crucial for the local community. If visitors learn about guesthouses and accommodations, and if the local community sees opportunities to sell their own products, all of this will benefit the community."
We'll be engaging creative people living in the village, working with the Community Center to hold lectures, tea parties, free tours for schoolchildren, and meetings with famous people. We'll be exploring ways to collaborate, as this is very important.
– How do you plan to organize excursion activities?
We hope that volunteer tour guides will also assist us at this site as part of our joint project with the Zapovednoye Poslost Charitable Foundation, "Nature Volunteer – Assistant Tour Guide in Smolenskoye Poozerie." This year, they completed internships at three sites: the "Poozerie Without Barriers" eco-trail in Baklanovo, the Zubrinets aviary complex, and the Aptekarsky Garden. The visitor center is the fourth site where volunteer tour guide assistants could be helpful. We only have two tour guides on staff, and in the summer, when workloads are high, volunteers could assist them. Because when the visitor center receives a flood of visitors, it will be difficult for us to cope on our own.
There were so many plans, ideas, and concepts. Thanks to the designers, the persistence of the staff of the Zapovednoye Posledstvo Charitable Foundation, and the support of JTI Russia, the project turned out to be very interesting.
AUTHOR: Tatyana Margulyan
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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