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Interfax Dvinsko-Pinega nature reserve. Experts: Dvinsko-Pinega Nature Reserve is death for villages in four districts of the Arkhangelsk region

April 19, 2018 at the government of the Arkhangelsk region. a bilateral agreement (moratorium agreement) was signed on establishing the boundaries of the projected Verkhneyulovsky (Dvina-Pinega) state natural landscape reserve of regional significance and ensuring the protection of intact forests (IFL) within the established boundaries between all tenants of the forests between the Northern Dvina and Pinega rivers and environmental organizations - the World Fund Nature (WWF) Russia, Greenpeace Russia.

This is stated in a press release received by Lesprom Network.

In accordance with the moratorium agreement, forest users who have leased plots located on the territory of the proposed Dvinsko-Pinezhsky nature reserve undertake to refuse to harvest timber there until the actual boundaries of this specially protected area are determined. natural area. According to preliminary estimates, the area of the reserve will be 302 thousand hectares. At the same time, the consolidated contribution of the Titan Group of Companies, Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill and CJSC Sawmill-25"will exceed 170 thousand hectares (that is, more than 50%). The remaining forest tenants transferred about 80 thousand hectares to the IFL zone.

The document was signed by the General Director of Titan Group of Companies Alexey Kudryavtsev, General Director of JSC Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill» Dmitry Zylev, General Director of JSC « Sawmill-25» Dmitry Krylov, Deputy General Director of the Ustyansky Timber Industry Complex Group of Companies Alexey Bulygin, Director of Dvinlesprom LLC Sergey Barbolin, General Director of Vaengsky LPH LLC Ivan Potaychuk, Director of Forest Specialists LLC Yuri Fil on the one hand and Director of Environmental Policy World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Russia) Evgeny Schwartz and head of the Forestry Department of Greenpeace Russia Alexey Yaroshenko.

Commenting on the event, Evgeniy Schwartz, Director of Environmental Policy at WWF Russia, noted that the Arkhangelsk region. at the level of large business was able to demonstrate a constructive position on this issue. He also emphasized that the World Fund wildlife always adhered to the principle that there should be no unnecessary prohibitions in the interfluve. The reserve is needed to limit industrial logging. There should be no prohibitions on picking mushrooms and berries, legal hunting and fishing, and ecotourism. Evgeniy Schwartz did not rule out that WWF is testing projects with regional forestry enterprises that would make it possible to involve the local population in reforestation and thinning of young forests, promoting the development of intensive forestry outside the boundaries of the protected area being created. This, in the expert’s opinion, will help both in solving environmental problems and ensuring income for the local population.

Chairman of the Committee of the Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies on Environmental Management and Industrial Complex Alexander Dyatlov recalled that the committee he headed for a number of years had called on all parties to begin working together to create a reserve.

“This is a big step forward towards increasing the effectiveness of security measures environment, management of the natural reserve fund and conservation of the Dvina taiga,” noted Alexander Dyatlov.

He also drew attention to the fact that for many years the regional Assembly had received appeals from deputies of municipal district assemblies, heads municipalities, the population who are concerned about the cessation of production activities of logging enterprises in the Vinogradovsky, Kholmogorsky, Pinezhsky, Verkhnetoyemsky districts in connection with the creation of the Dvinsko-Pinezhsky reserve. The discussion has become even wider, since this issue also affects district budgets, small and medium-sized businesses in the timber industry, as well as the population. In this regard, he turned to representatives of Greenpeace Russia and WWF Russia with a proposal for further joint work to reach an agreement with the population on the creation of a reserve.

“After our timber merchants have agreed on the new boundaries of the reserve, all responsibility for its creation falls on the government of the Arkhangelsk region, the deputy corps and environmental organizations,” emphasized Alexander Dyatlov. - But the decision to create a reserve should be made as carefully as possible and taking into account the opinions of all interested parties. If we continue to conduct a constructive dialogue, taking into account the arguments and interests of all parties, then the reserve can be created in the shortest possible time. I can assure you that on our part we will do everything in our power.”

As the minister noted natural resources and forestry complex of the Arkhangelsk region. Alexander Erulik, work on creating the reserve has been going on for several years.

“Field research aimed at confirming the feasibility of taking under protection the taiga areas included in the moratorium agreement and determining the final boundaries of the Dvina-Pinega nature reserve will take place in the spring and summer of this year,” said Alexander Yerulik. - All interested parties will take part in the work on drawing up an up-to-date map of protected areas, primarily employees of the relevant ministry and non-governmental environmental organizations, and this is reflected in a separate protocol, which was also signed today. A mandatory stage of approval will be public hearings in municipalities.”

According to Alexander Yerulik, the protected area project prepared and agreed upon by the research participants is planned to be sent for environmental assessment in the fall of 2018, and then to the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation. Thus, approval of the Regulations on the reserve should take place at the end of 2018 or at the beginning of 2019.

Director for Forestry and Relations with Government Authorities of the Titan Group of Companies, Yuri Trubin, emphasized that the path to approval was difficult, but priority in the economic calculations of logging enterprises was placed on responsibility to residents of the regions and municipalities where the company conducts its business activities.

“The agreement doubles the restrictions on the operation of our enterprises,” Yuri Trubin emphasized. “But we are consciously taking this step in order to guarantee environmental organizations and the regional government the safety of this territory for the legal registration of a specially protected area.”

According to him, the next step will be the signing of an agreement with WWF on further measures to protect forest areas in intact territories under the lease base of the Titan Group of Companies, Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill and CJSC Sawmill-25" generally. According to plans, in 2025 it will amount to 5 million m3.

General Director of the Titan Group of Companies Alexey Kudryavtsev said that, having abandoned logging, the holding's timber industry enterprises will continue to pay for the lease of plots in the MLT zone.

“We have a sustainable development model until 2030, which includes working in the conditions of creating a reserve,” noted Alexey Kudryavtsev. “We will take into account the reserve factor when planning production activities.”

He was supported by the General Director of the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill Dmitry Zylev, recalling that allocated for priority investment project The plant's logging area has become smaller. Taking into account the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill's plans to increase pulping capacity to 1 million tons, management understands that additional volumes of timber will be needed. Therefore, working with the government of the Arkhangelsk region. the search for compromise solutions will certainly continue.

Chairman of the Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies Committee on Environmental Management and Timber Industry Complex Alexander Dyatlov spoke about the situation surrounding the creation of the Dvina-Pinega nature reserve.

Agreement on the creation of the Dvinsko-Pinezhsky nature reserve has been going on since 2001. The idea to create a reserve between the Northern Dvina and Pinega rivers appeared in 2001 from the Russian branch of Greenpeace. It was planned that it would be located in the center of the interfluve in the upper reaches of the rivers Vyya, Yula, Pokshenga, Pingishi and Pukshenga and its area would be more than 400 thousand hectares with an estimated cutting area of about 1.0 million cubic meters.

The meeting of deputies of the Vinogradovsky municipal district addressed the Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies with a request to prevent the creation of a reserve, and subsequently similar appeals were received from the heads of the Kholmogorsky, Pinezhsky, Vinogradovsky, Verkhnetoyemsky districts, and on the initiative of the Committee on Natural Resources and Forestry Complex, on January 27, 2017, " round table"on the topic: "On the creation of the Dvina-Pinega natural landscape reserve of regional significance." Based on the results of the consideration, it was decided to recommend that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Timber Industry of the Arkhangelsk Region consider it inappropriate to create the Dvina-Pinega State Natural Landscape Reserve of regional significance (working name Verkhneyulovsky) on the territory of the Vinogradovsky, Pinezhsky, Kholmogorsky, Verkhnetoyemsky districts.

On January 31, 2017, the Government of the Arkhangelsk Region held a meeting with the participation of the heads and deputies of the Vinogradovsky, Pinezhsky, Kholmogory municipal districts, forestry business, and environmental organizations on the creation of the Dvina-Pinega state natural landscape reserve of regional significance in the interfluve of the Northern Dvina and Pinega.

In his Address to the regional assembly, Governor of the Arkhangelsk Region Igor Orlov instructed the regional Government to develop a plan for the development of specially protected natural areas, which should be submitted for consideration by the public, representative authorities, and tenants by July 1 of this year.

“The most important thing today is to take into account three important components: ecology, economics and social sphere. We cannot allow a bias towards only one of these factors,” says Alexander Dyatilov. - The main thing when creating a reserve is to take into account the opinion of local residents and not to leave people in municipalities without work, without a livelihood - to prevent the extinction of our northern Russian villages. In addition, a number of the largest tenants of forest plots in Pomorie - GC Titan, CJSC Lesozavod 25 and JSC Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill - came out in support of the creation of the Dvina-Pinezhsky nature reserve within the new borders.”

The parliamentarian also said that the Assembly of Deputies of the Pinega District opposed the creation of the reserve.

“The meeting of deputies of the Pinega municipal district wrote an appeal stating that the creation of a reserve in these territories is unacceptable,” added Alexander Dyatlov.

In particular, the appeal states: “In the interfluve of the Dvina River and the Pinega River today there is a large array of predominantly spruce plantations with age limit trees. To develop these overmature forests in Soviet time and our new timber industry enterprises were built. The forest in these areas is dying, timber is being dumped, and the count is hundreds of thousands of cubic meters. The sawlog yield today is no more than 40%, while the norm is 60-65%. We ask you not to allow the creation of the Dvinsko-Pinezhsky reserve of regional significance to the detriment of the residents of the Kholmogorsky, Vinogradovsky, Pinezhsky, Verkhnetoyemsky districts and the timber processing enterprises of the cities of Arkhangelsk and Novodvinsk.”

Chairman of the Pinezhsky Council of Deputies municipal district» Natalya Shekhina believes that a ban on cutting down mature forests is not a way out of the environmental situation.

“There were big debates among deputies on this topic, but at the regional session everyone unanimously supported the decision that the creation of a reserve on our territory is unacceptable. Most residents of our areas will lose their jobs. It is unacceptable. The environment should not be at the expense of the economy on such a scale,” said Natalya Shekhina. “There is a way out - to establish competent forestry management, to organize mandatory reforestation with seedlings with a closed root system.”

“You can understand why many are against the creation of a reserve. We need to find a compromise. Perhaps it is worth reconsidering its borders and strengthening reforestation after cutting down mature forests,” added Alexander Dyatlov.

The government of the Arkhangelsk region discussed options for creating the Dvina-Pinega state natural landscape reserve of regional significance.

The participants of the meeting, which took place informat of open dialogue,were representatives of regional and municipal authorities, the regional branch of the World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace Russia and other environmental organizations, as well as tenants of forest plots.

The discussion was started by Deputy Chairman of the Regional Government Viktor Ikonnikov:

“2017 was declared the Year of Ecology and Protected Areas by the Decree of the President of Russia. Of course, the closest attention is paid to these issues in Pomorie, and a number of program activities have been developed. As for the creation of the Dvina-Pinega nature reserve, in this matter it is necessary to hear and understand the point of view of each of the interested parties.”

It should be noted that the issues of creating a new specially protected natural area (SPNA) affect the interests of residents of the Vinogradovsky, Pinezhsky, Kholmogorsky and Verkhnetoyemsky districts, as well as eight enterprises included in the forest holdings of Pomorie.

Expertise with reservations

The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry Industry of the region, Konstantin Doronin, recalled: more than a hundred protected areas have been created in the Arkhangelsk region. Their total area already exceeds 11 percent of the region’s territory (not including the sea area). According to this indicator, Pomorie is in second place in the Northwestern Federal District and in seventh place in Russia.

– Work on the design of the new reserve has been carried out since 2011 with the participation of environmental organizations and scientific institutes Finland, Sweden, Norway and North-West Russia,” the minister noted.

As a result, the project received a positive conclusion from the environmental assessment, but with reservations. The coordinators (primarily the World Wildlife Fund) were obliged to:

carry out environmental education work with the population and relieve social tensions;
find compromise solutions with forest leaseholders working in this area.

During the discussion, it became clear that the experts did not work sufficiently with residents. District heads are concerned: the departure of timber industry enterprises will lead to a reduction in jobs and tax revenues to local budgets.Tenants are a socially responsible business, the municipalities noted. Without their support, many pressing problems of the territories will not be easy to solve.

Chairman of the Committee of the Regional Assembly of Deputies on Environmental Management and Forestry Complex Alexander Dyatlov focused on how the creation of the reserve will affect the provision of logging for investment projects.

Open dialogue will continue

Konstantin Doronin noted that the business operating in the project area conscientiously makes forest payments and carries out forestry activities. And this means that there are no legal grounds for terminationunilateral lease agreements.

By the way, timber merchants unified position didn't work out. Some people are wary of creating a reserve, while others are ready to compromise.

In particular, Yuri Trubin, Director for Forestry and Relations with Government Authorities of PKP Titan, said:

“The forestry industry of the Arkhangelsk region is an export-oriented sector of the economy. In the context of high international environmental requirements for products supplied to world markets, it is necessary to move towards the creation of protected areas. Within what boundaries the reserve should be created is another question. The decision must be made separately for each site together with the international expert community.”

Summing up the meeting, Viktor Ikonnikov noted:

“A constructive dialogue took place, all participants in the process expressed their points of view. This work will continue. Through joint efforts, it is necessary to find a balance between ecology, economics and social sphere, so that the regions of the region have the opportunity to develop dynamically.”

In addition, the Deputy Chairman of the regional government thanked environmental organizations for the initiative to update the map of intact forests of Pomorie. Our immediate tasks include studying and evaluating this document.

Press service of the Governor and Government of the Arkhangelsk region

ARKHANGELSK, October 6. /TASS/. The reserve in the interfluve of the Northern Dvina and Pinega (Dvina-Pinega State Natural Landscape Reserve) in the Arkhangelsk region is planned to be created before the end of 2018, taking into account the opinions of local residents, municipalities and forest users, Konstantin Doronin, Minister of Natural Resources and Timber Industry of the region, told TASS on Friday.

"The reserve is planned to be created next year. Until the end next year we must carry out all the work, conduct an environmental survey, determine the boundaries, prepare a Regulation on the reserve and approve it at a government meeting. It must be ensured that environmental, social, and economic principles are taken into account in a given territory.<...>So that there are no contradictions with the population, municipalities and tenants (of forest plots - TASS note)," Doronin said.

Previously, the reserve was supposed to be created in 2017 on an area of almost 500 thousand hectares. An environmental survey to justify the creation of the reserve, which was ultimately found not to correspond to the current situation, was carried out in 2013.

What is planned to be protected

“Once again, we need to make sure that this territory fully complies with the criteria that are included in the very concept of intact territories.<...>The goal is to preserve old-growth spruce forests and part of the pine forests in the form in which they once were, the minister said, clarifying that the situation with forests in this part of the Arkhangelsk region is complex and insufficiently studied. - Municipalities say that there are areas where drying out has occurred: there is a lot of dead wood, there may be fires, the development of outbreaks of diseases and pests. There are areas there that need to be surveyed and forestry work carried out."

The initiators of the creation of the reserve were Russian and international environmental organizations, in particular, the World Wildlife Fund of Russia (WWF), advocating the preservation of the unique natural heritage Dvina taiga.

Moratorium on logging

According to the director for forestry and interaction with authorities of the Titan Group of Companies (the largest tenant in this territory - TASS note) Yuri Trubin, since 2013, logging has not been carried out in the intact forest areas of the proposed reserve. The forest fund in the territory of the proposed reserve is under long-term lease from eight large logging enterprises.

“Today, in the territory where an environmental survey was previously carried out, moratorium agreements have been concluded with all tenants for the period until the creation of the reserve. They are not logging there,” Doronin said.

As Alexander Dyatlov, chairman of the Arkhangelsk Regional Assembly of Deputies Committee on Environmental Management and Timber Industry Complex, told TASS, residents of the districts are afraid that if the reserve is created they will be left without work. “We have appeals from municipalities, from district deputies, where the population speaks out against the creation of the reserve,” Dyatlov added to TASS.

Trubin clarified that forest users are in constant dialogue with environmental organizations to agree on boundaries so that enterprises do not have to cut jobs. “Our task is to maintain the normal production activity of enterprises, preventing its reduction, and to maintain jobs at the level achieved today,” he said.

The forest will not be closed

As the minister explained, after the creation of the reserve, the forest will not be closed to local residents. “The Regulations on the reserve will definitely prohibit clear-cutting. We plan to leave hunting, in accordance with existing laws, as well as fishing, visiting the forest to collect mushrooms and berries,” Doronin said.

According to the minister, work on an environmental survey of the territory will be carried out in the spring-summer period of 2018, and based on their results, the boundaries of a specially protected natural area will be determined.

For more than 16 years, the debate surrounding the future of the Dvina-Pinega nature reserve has not subsided. In 2001, scientists and specialists from environmental organizations drew attention to the high ecological value of wild forests in the area between the Northern Dvina and Pinega rivers and proposed creating a reserve here. Numerous expeditions and studies have confirmed that this territory is very important for the conservation of rare species of plants and animals, in particular wild forest reindeer, the protection of salmon spawning rivers, and the maintenance of a favorable climate in the region. These forests have great importance and for local residents, as hunting and fishing grounds, places for collecting berries and mushrooms.

The creation of the reserve provides for the cessation of logging and the removal of this part of the northern taiga from industrial use. The possibility of designing a reserve was provided for by the Government of the Arkhangelsk Region in the relevant forestry and territorial planning documents, but over all these years the reserve was never created. During this time, all the forests on the territory of the future reserve were leased to many logging enterprises.

The creation of a reserve is not just a decision of the regional government; it requires many approvals - with loggers, the local population, municipal and regional executive and legislative authorities.

And now, 16 years later, in October 2017, the first real step in creating the reserve was taken - the largest forest tenants - Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill and the Titan Group of Companies - signed an agreement with WWF to coordinate the boundaries of a specially protected natural area in the interfluve of the Northern Dvina and Pinega rivers , passing through the territory of their forest plots on an area of 350 thousand hectares.

IN recent years Greenpeace makes many claims against APPM and the Titan Group of Companies that they are “cutting down” forests in the territory intended for the reserve. But the enterprises of the Titan Group of Companies did not and do not conduct harvesting in these zones. No one cubic meter no timber has been cut down in the area where environmental organizations propose to create a reserve.

All interested parties - we - the tenants, the authorities and the population - now need to come to a compromise - the reserve must be created, but all interests must be taken into account, especially the interests of the people living in these territories. After all, for them, logging is the only source of work and life for their villages.

For more than 500 years, the basis of the economy of the Pinega region has been logging. And for local residents, work in the timber industry is the meaning of life and the future of their children. Now the Ust-Pokshengsky timber industry enterprise for the residents of Pinega region is not only jobs and wages. The timber industry enterprise has become the main source of investment in the social infrastructure of the region.

The boundaries of the projected Verkhneyulovsky reserve have now been agreed upon with the TITAN group of companies and the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill - one of the main tenants of the forests between the Northern Dvina and Pinega rivers. And this is a big step. But the following steps are also necessary - coordination with other tenants, coordination with municipalities and the regional government, and, most importantly, with local residents. This is a lot of work that needs to continue. In the meantime, discussions and approvals are ongoing, the Titan holding and APPM are complying with the signed moratorium agreements and are not logging in areas intended for inclusion in the reserve.

View opinions on the future of the reserve, what a forest is for the Pinega region, and why it is vitally important to take into account the opinion of the population in the film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbtcn2hKfDk

Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill was founded in 1940. It is one of the leading wood chemical enterprises in the Russian Federation and Europe. Specializes in the production of cardboard and commercial pulp, paper and paper products. The sole shareholder of APPM is the Austrian company Pulp Mill Holding GmbH.