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January
29 - February 1, 1997
at the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation,
International Academy for Nature Conservation, Isle of Vilm
Results
and recommendations
Participants
29
experts in nature conservation, coming from 5 European countries (Russian
Federation, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany), participated at the
workshop on Vilm Island. The participants represent governmental authorities
of Finland, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Karelia, the Leningrad
and Murmansk districts as well as national and international non-governmental
environmental organisations (IUCN/WCPA, FNNPE, Association of Zapovedniks
and National Parks of Northwest Russia, Greenpeace, Biodiversity Conservation
Center, WWF, NABU, Friends of the Earth, St.Petersburg Society of
Naturalists), Finnish timber industry (ENSO) and scientific institutions
(Helsinki University, Greifswald University, Institute of Geography
of the Russian Academy of Sciences, All-Russian Scientific Centre
of Forest Resources of the Federal Forest Service of Russia), hosted
by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.
Objectives
The
main tasks of the workshop are the following:
1.
Inventory of the existing and planned protection areas along the
borders of Russia, Finland and Norway in the so-called "Green
Belt of Fennoscandia" from the Barents Sea in the north to
the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic in the south.
2.
Scientific discussion of the various proposals of governmental authorities,
non-governmental organisations and scientists for the nomination
of a bilateral or trilateral transboundary cluster Natural World
Heritage Site "Green Belt of Fennoscandia".
3.
Promotion of public awareness for the World Heritage Convention
and recommendations for the further international cooperation in
the World Heritage process and in particular in the "Green
Belt of Fennoscandia" nomination.
Results
1.
The participants have defined as main objectives for their cooperation
the protection of old-growth forests by creation of protected areas
and implementation of sustainable forestry outside protected areas.
This is an important contribution to the conservation of the biological
diversity and the natural heritage of Europe, according to the World
Heritage Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the IUCN-Strategic
Action Plan "Parks for Life" and other international agreements.
They state, that the nomination of the "Green Belt of Fennoscandia"
as a World Heritage Site will be a good base for the longterm and
open process for nature conservation and sustainable development in
the regions concerned.
2.
The participants recommend that the existing working group continues
the preparation work for the nomination and asks the responsible authorities
to promote the nomination.
3.
They welcome the initiative of Greenpeace Russia and the German Nature
Conservation Association (NABU) to support the nomination of potential
World Heritage Sites in the Russian Federation. They recommend to
include these activities in the frame of the Russian-German Inter-governmental
Agreement on Environmental Protection.
4.
The participants point out, that partnership at different levels and
between different interest groups are an essential prerequisite for
a successful nomination of the "Green Belt of Fennoscandia",
for example between the governments of the concerned states, between
federal and regional administrations, between governmental bodies
and non-governmental organisations, between nature conservationists
and land users, between politicians and scientists and between all
of these and the local population. They represent different interest
groups and play different roles, but success is only possible, if
all groups will be integrated in the process.
5.
They state that the basic idea for the nomination is the uniting conception
for the "Green Belt of Fennoscandia" proposed by the participants.
6.
The participants underline, that the "Green Belt of Fennoscandia"
is one of the most fascinating and outstanding natural heritages of
Europe. It is characterised, as a specific part of the European boreal
Taiga zone, by a unique complex of geological formations, geomorphologic
forms, different untouched biotopes and ecosystems (old-growth forests,
mires, lakes, rivers, coasts, archipelagos, wetlands, rocks) in the
climatic gradient from the Barents Sea shore to the Gulf of Finland,
as well as by some other outstanding features. For example:
- one
of the last remaining old-growth forest areas in the whole of
Europe, -the Fennoscandian platform as one of the most ancient
geological formations of the earth as well as youngest deposits
of the ice age and the Holocene
- a
gradient of climatic conditions from arctic to temperate
- a
specific biological diversity in gradients from oceanic to continental
influences, from temperate to arctic zones and from the coastline
to upland areas, from moist to dry ecotopes AAa
complete gradient of vegetation zones from the arctic tundra to
the border of the middle European decidous forest zone
- the
habitats of threatened birds species and a critical part of the
North-Atlantic migrations routes.
The
effective protection of this heritage requires the joint responsibility
of European countries and should be supported by them.
7.
The participants support the initiative to nominate Vodlozero National
Park separately, not waiting for the "Green Belt of Fennoscandia"
-nomination.
Recommendations
1.
A Natural World Heritage Site "Green Belt of Fennoscandia"
should be submitted to UNESCO by the responsible governments as a
joint project of transboundary cooperation.
2.
The participation of all interested states - Russia, Finland and Norway
- in the "Green Belt of Fennoscandia" nomination is desirable.
3.
The nomination should consist of clusters, representing the whole
diversity and all of the outstanding areas of the Green Belt. In the
selection, existing protected areas as well as planned protection
areas and such areas that should be planned and established in future
should be included.
4.
The clusters should represent all natural subzones as well as unique
features of this area and cover the specific ecosystem complexes.
The clusters witch can be recommended for the nomination are listed
in Appendix 1.
5.
The nomination documents should be elaborated as soon as possible
and not later than the nomination deadline July 1st, 1998.
6.
Five Finnish non-governmental organisations introduced to the meeting
a joint list of areas which, according to them, should be included
into the "Green belt of Fennoscandia" -nomination. The meeting
considers that it would be highly useful if the Finnish Ministry of
the Environment carried out an ecological evaluation of these and
other proposals concerning the Finnish side of the "Green Belt
of Fennoscandia".
The
participants express their gratitude to the International Academy
for Nature Conservation on the Isle of Vilm of the Federal Agency
for Nature Conservation for providing the possibility for this meeting.
List
of Participants
Dr.
Amirhan M. Amirhanov, Vice Minister, Committee for Environmental
Protection of the Russian Federation
Mrs.
Aldona A. Maksimova, Department for International Cooperation, Committee
for Environmental Protection of the Russian Federation
Michael
S. Feschenko, Minister, Ministry of Environmental Protection of
the Karelian Republic
Yuriy
V. Fokin, Minister, Ministry of the Nature Use and Environmental
Safety of the Leningrad region
Ivan
A. Vyshnyakov, Chairman, Committee for Environmental Protection
of the Murmansk Region
Oleg
V. Tscherviakov, Chairman, Association of Protected Areas in North-West
Russia
Sergei
A.Tsyplenkov, Greenpeace Russia
Dmitry
E. Aksenov, Biodiversity Conservation Center
Igor
Lysenko, WWF Moscow
Alexander
Karpov, St.-Petersburg Society of Naturalists
Andrei
V. Ptichnikov, Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of
Sciences
Nadeschda
Raichenko, All-Russian Scientific Centre of Forest Resources of
the Federal Forest Service of Russia
Jukka-Pekka
Flander, Senior Advisor, National Parks and Protected Areas, Ecology/
Ministry of the Environment
Martti
Poutanen, General Advisor / Ministry of the Environment
Harri
Vasander, University of Helsinki
Jarmo
Pyykkö, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation
Rein
Midteng, Friends of the Earth - Norway
Dr.
Hans Dieter Knapp, Bundesamt für Naturschutz /INA Insel Vilm
Dr.
Heinrich Schmauder, Bundesamt für Naturschutz
Prof.
Dr. Michael Succow, Universität Greifswald
Eva
Kleinn, NABU Project Office Eurasia and Indigenous People
Dr.
Heiko Liedeker, WWF Germany
Lars-Erik
Esping, IUCN-WCPA (Sweden)
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