NATURE PROTECTION ACTIVITY. WITHOUT SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS AND SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS?
The article by Ales Pchelka, Turov village,
Published in the «Mir Zhivotnyh» (The World of Animals) Newspaper,
No 9-10, 2003
How is this possible? Do not hurry because your answer may be unequivocal. It is not that easy to say at all .
After I read a pitiful phrase in a book concerning the «progress of scientific activities in reserves and national parks under today's conditions» I posed myself a question: «What is the real situation regarding scientific achievements?»
As an inhabitant of the city of Gomel I am excited about the future of my small Motherland - first of all the Belarussian Polesye. This is why I naturally started to collect information about the researches which are conducted in «Pripyatski» National Park. The facts I learned did not just surprise me. They simply shocked me. Perhaps it is true that I am too impressionable? Please, analyze this for yourself.
To begin I revised issues of the magazine «News of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus» (series of biological sciences) since 1996. Why did I chose this year? It is because in 1996 the status of the Pripyatski Reserve was upgraded to that of a National Park. So it should be clear to see this «progress» reflected in the attention and quality of this scientific periodical!
It turned out that not a single article written by employees of the «Pripyatski» National Park published in the main scientific magazine of Belarus over seven and half years . I had only paid attention to an article entitled «Small mammals of the Pripyatski landscape-hydrological reserve» (No 1, 1997) by Inna Zenina, which was issued by the Institute of Zoology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Further on you will see why I paid attention to the article of this author.
Then I investigated two volumes, filling 600 pages, of materials of the scientific conference «Environment of Polesye: the present situation and its changes» (Brest, 2002). The conference was headed by the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Mr. M.V. Myasnikovich and the academicians I.I. Lishtvan, V.F. Loginav and N.N. Bambalov. The scientific employees of the «Pripyatski» National Park had an obvious and simple obligation in presenting their last and best achievements for such an important conference .
That is what I believed how it should be! But I was naive. I investigated all magazines from cover to backside and once again I amounted not a single publication written by the «Pripyatski» National Park. can you imagine this? Initially I did not believe my own eyes. Is a conference headed by the President of the Academy of Sciences really not a prestigious affair to the employees of the «Pripyatski» National Park?
After I had read all issues of «News of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus» published since 1996 and the materials of the conference mentioned I was shocked by «achievements» of employees of the «Pripyatski» National Park. Therefore I looked up publications issued in the Park .
I took care in exploring a book with scientific publications issued in 1999 devoted to the celebration of 30 years of «Pripyatski» National Park. Employees of the Park wrote just twelve publications (or 10,7%) of the 112 articles the work contains. It means scientific employees of other organizations and institutes made up an absolute majority of 89.3% of all articles and topics. Still something made this fact more sad. Four articles (one third!!) of these twelve were written by one single author! How do you think this author is named? Once again it is Inna Zenina! Previously I found that she wrote three out of six section in a brochure entitled «Vertebrate animals of the Pripyatski Reserve» which was issued in 1995. So, as a matter of fact Inna Zenina must have been a leading research worker in the scientific department of the National Park. But why "must have been"? It is because the administration of «Pripyatski» National Park dismissed her - or more precisely - her labour-contract was not prolonged. You don't believe me? Well, in the beginning I did not believe it either.
It is a fact that the interior scientific opinion results in negative consequences. It was in particular Inna Zenina who appealed for restoration of the status of the Reserve for «Pripyatski» National Park and she protested unrestrained commercialization of this and other specially protected natural areas .
Why is it that the administration of the park dismisses its scientific staff so easily? Possibly there are many intelligent experts who can take on them all tasks? Let us think about just how many scientific employees would be necessary in a National Park which covers 82,461 hectares? Let me remind you that the «Pripyatski» National Park is a serious candidate to be listed as a Ramsar wetlands! If just one specialist is needed in the field of botany, entomology, parasitology, ichtiology, ornithology, teriology and other aspects a theoretical 20 to 25 employees has to be the minimum. What is the true situation regarding employment?
In the beginning of August of 2003 there were three. scientific employees in the «Pripyatski» National Park. These are Anna Sergeichik, senior research worker, Valery Khmelevsky and Alexander Zyatikov. Under the title of deputy director of science, and doctor of philosophy of agriculture, Mr. Anatoly Uglyanetz leads the scientific staff. The most interesting thins is another fact: after the reserve changed its status to that of a National Park the number of scientific stuff has decreased. In 1996 there were nine employees, in 1997 there were six, in 2003 only four . And that is the whole scientific crew of «Pripyatski» National Park.
A principle question is whether «Pripyatski» National Park needs to employ a scientific department. One of the newspapers in the city of Gomel frankly wrote about «Pripyatski» as the Polessyian tourist Mecca. And the administration of «Pripyatski» National Park has already added a post of «head of the department of tourism and ecologic visits» in its staff list.
It should be desirable to ask whether the Academy of Sciences and its subdivisions (Institute of Experimental Botany, Institute of Zoology, the Institute of Forests etc.) really give consent on transformation of the Pripyatski National Park to that of a tourist Mecca? Has actually any appropriate decision of scientific councils been made regarding this matter?
Or have we possibly come already to the dramatic point that nobody cares about the opinion of scientists?
It is likely that similar situations and a similar surprising constancy arise in other reserved areas. By the way, literally one of the last days I found interesting information about Belovezhskaya Pushcha. A book has been published online. The book is called «THE BIALOWIEZA FOREST IN THE THIRD MILLENNIUM: CHALLENGES FOR NATURE CONSERVATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT» edited by Onno de Bruijn (The Netherlands), Heorhi Kazulka (Belarus) and Czeslaw Okolow (Poland). In the book reports from Belarusian and Polish scientists and leading experts are published. It presents the results of a transboundary conference on biodiversity conservation, nature protection and preservation of the cultural heritage of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha at the border of Poland and Belarus. Many topics are discussed, such as park management strategies, effective nature conservation, sustainable forestry, water management, sustainable tourism, development of ecological agriculture and the preservation of the cultural heritage. The book presents possible solutions to those problems which exist in Belovezhskaya Pushcha and definite pilot projects are indicated for realization in coming years.
As you read, the Belarusian author is Mr. Heorhi Kazulka. Nowadays he is former deputy director of the «Belovezhskaya Pushcha» National Park. Today he imparts impressions from his past position: collapse of the international project, a book which cannot be issued and he was dismissed.
Information: Heorhi Kazulka was an employee of the scientific department of the Belovezhskaya Pushcha for 16 years. He defended his thesis on the theme of preservation of invertebrate animal communities in the forests of Belovezhskaya Pushcha. He has the scientific degree of Philosophy Doctor of biology. He is the author of over one hundred scientific and popular publications in national and foreign periodicals. He is known as the expert on wild nature protection, ecology and invertebrate zoology in Belarus and abroad. He repeatedly presented reports at international conferences where he represented the Republic of Belarus. These conferences included meetings organized by the UNESCO. He was fired from the post of deputy director on science of «Belovezhskaya Pushcha» National Park in 2001. It was because he did not support the policy of large-scale fellings in the protected forest by principle. This policy was adopted by the new administration of the National Park. He is currently employed at the secondary ecological school of Kamenyuki. The school is located in the Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Mr. Kazulka teaches biological and ecological matters (this information is available online at http://bp21.org.by/en/art/inter.html).
Finally Mr. Kazulka is one of the authors of the Program on biodiversity in the «Belovezhskaya Pushcha» and «Braslav Lakes» National Parks. Is it really true that the country does not need this expert, who cared about Belovezhskaya Pushcha for many years and knows all of its problems? If it is like that, what kind of specialists are essential? Experts on tourism.?