The maps will be formed by the end of 2023
(tass.ru) - By the end of 2023, Russian scientists, with the support of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), will form roadmaps for the conservation of the reindeer population in the European North, according to Oleg Sutkaitis, the fund's representative in the Barents Ecoregion, quoting by TASS on Wednesday.
“We will form a species conservation strategy for each subject. <…> We must have roadmaps for all regions - for the Murmansk region, the Komi Republic, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the Arkhangelsk region and Karelia. Each region must have its own strategies, because the problems are mostly same, but the solutions may differ. I think that by the end of 2023 we will form such road maps for everyone," the agency's interviewee said following a working meeting, which was held in Petrozavodsk, on the study and conservation of wild reindeer in the European North of Russia.
The Conservation Plan will include ways to address the major problems that are causing the declining number of wild reindeer. According to Sutkaitis, the once widespread species today cannot restore its numbers without human help. In addition to addressing poaching and habitat conservation issues, tourists who are fond of snowmobiles or try to catch up with a deer for a photo have also become a danger to the animals.
According to the WWF representative, in this case, people need to be educated, as well as to regulate the tourism industry. “All over the world there are rules for snowmobilers where they can move, routes are allocated for them. We still need to work with this. This is one of the elements. There are rules that require bringing to enlightenment - if you see a deer, you don’t have to catch up to it, it’s better to take pictures from afar," the source said.
On the protection of wild reindeer
A more positive situation with the reindeer population has developed in Karelia. According to Danila Panchenko, Senior Researcher at the Zoology Laboratory at the Institute of Biology, a unit of the Karelian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, researchers note a good offspring in model areas, including the Kostomuksha Reserve, which may lead to population growth. At the same time, researchers cannot predict whether this trend, which has manifested itself in specially protected natural areas, will be able to outweigh the influence of poaching or other anthropogenic factors in general. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Karelian Republic, facts of illegal hunting of 17 deer were recorded in the region in the spring of 2022.
"But these are only recorded facts, in reality there are many more of them," Panchenko said. He also added that Karelian Research Center employees are preparing justifications for creating wildlife sanctuaries in the area of Lakes Nyuk and Maksimyarvi, which borders on the Kostomuksha Nature Reserve. "If we do not limit the influence of these factors, then no potential growth will affect the result, and the number of wild reindeer will decrease. Our task is now to find opportunities to apply the conservation measures that we propose to the roadmaps for the conservation of the population reindeer," he explained. The measures will involve representatives of the executive branch, as well as employees of national parks and other protected areas.
During the discussion of the issue, the experts noted the importance of patrolling the territories where animals live, especially in the spring, including public figures.
According to Sutkaitis, specialists also face the task how to create "corridors" through which reindeer can exchange genetic material. The already small preserved species groups are often separated when begins the construction of large infrastructure, linear facilities.
"There are plans, for example, for the construction of linear structures in Komi, in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, which cause concern. They can even "cut" those groups that exist into two parts, divide what little we have," Sutkaitis added.
