Promotion of the Nature Reserve "Ladoga skerries"
On the 30th of August 2004 representatives of Russian and Finnish administrative bodies and expert organisations for nature conservation met in Sortavala, Republic of Karelia. The agenda was built to encourage political decisions for the establishment of a Nature Reserve "Ladoga skerries" on the northern coast and archipelago area of the Ladoga lake.
The proposed Nature Reserve area has unique natural values and cultural layers from history. They have been brought up in numerous publications by Russian scientific institutions and joint Russian-Finnish nature protection projects. The area attracts increasing numbers of people by its recreational values.
An international project "Karelia Parks Development" 1999-2001 produced and published a "Plan for the establishment of the Ladoga Skerries National Park". The Plan consists of a feasibility study and an action plan. It was handed to the Government of Republic of Karelia in 2001. A nature reserve with official status and funding would secure beneficial combination and preservation of all of the values for the forthcoming years and decades. Economic exploitation of the area without federal or republican level management of nature conservation poses a risk of irreversible losses of the preserved values.
The 20 participants of the meeting adopted a memorandum addressing the top political decision making level of Republic of Karelia. The establishment of "Ladoga Skerries" Nature Reserve, which ever the nominal status would eventually be, would encourage joint efforts of the administrations of the Republic of Karelia together with the local administrations of Sortavala, Pitkäranta and Lahdenpohja districts.
 The memorandum was signed by co-chair of the Karelian-Finnish working group for the cooperation between the neighbouring areas, Mr. Ponomaryov, general director of Ministry of the Environment of Finland, Mr. Kangas, deputy director of the Administration of Nature Resources of the Ministry of Nature Resources (MNR) of Russian Federation in Republic of Karelia, Mr. Shirlin, and co-chair of the Finnish-Russian Working Group on Nature Conservation, Mr. Saano.
Later, representatives of Sortavala, Pitkäranta and Lahdenpohja administrative units and vice-chair of the presidium of Karelian Research Center, Mr. Ieshko, signed the memorandum as well.
On the 1st of September, 2004, the organisers and the Finnish delegation visited Valaam cultural heritage sites and wish to express gratitude to the Director of Valaam Archipelago Nature Park, Mr. Buralkin, for the organisation of a field trip into the Reserve.
The Finnish participants wish to thank Mr. Ieshko for initiating the meeting and all those who assisted him in the arrangements.
Text and a photo:
Aimo Saano
Co-chair of the Finnish part of the Finnish-Russian Working Group on Nature Conservation
Metsähallitus
e-mail: aimo.saano@metsa.fi
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