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Preservation of the Natural and Cultural Heritage Must Become a Matter of National Priority

This is the opinion of the participants in the IV International Scientific Practical conference “Museum-Reserve: Ecology and Culture”, which was held in the State M.A. Sholokhov Museum-Reserve on September, 24-25.

The conference gathered the workers of Russia’s museums, natural parks, leading scientists – biologists, ecologists, pedagogues and specialists in the field of garden and park art, cultural, ecological and ethnographic tourism. The exchange of opinions and results in the scientific investigations took place simultaneously in two halls of the People’s House.

The round-table discussions on the subjects of keeping regional Red Lists of Threatened Species drew to a conclusion about the necessity of improving realization mechanisms of the national policy on preservation of biodiversity of flora, fauna and micobiota. At present a number of acute problems exist including a critical state of a number and vitality of some animal and plant species populations, increase in a number of new “Red List” species, lack of specialists for monitoring.

The exchange of experience in keeping the Rostov Region Red List of Threatened Species was joined by the office manager of the Committee on the environment protection of the Rostov Region Administration T.Y. Khibukhina, the scientists of the South Federal University (SFU) V.G. Parshin and V.V. Fedyaeva. They suggested establishing an independent laboratory based on the SFU and the South Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in order to join the leading scientists and professionals of the Rostov Region Committee of Nature for introducing a cadastre of the Red List biota species and to help in the research quality improvement.

Director of the natural park “Nizhnekhopyorskiy” T.G. Ponomaryova spoke about the most important fields in the work of the Volgograd scientists who gained a positive dynamics in preserving rare animal species.

The necessity of preserving the unique and standard natural landscapes of the Sholokhov District, protection of rare and extincting plants, animals, fungi, as well as the problems of ecological education of people were considered in the talk of the candidate of Biological Sciences of the SFU V.A. Rusanov. The workers of the SFU Botanic  Garden A.N. Shmaraeva and Zh. N. Shishlova presented the results of their research in the state of the Donetsk ridge endemic population of Donetsk cleome, which is in danger of extinction.

This problem was also discussed by the scientific assistant director of the “Rostovskiy” reserve A.D. Lipkovich, senior scientific worker of the South Scientific Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences Y.G. Arzanov, ecologists of the Taganrog Administration G.A. Tkachova and T.V. Popova.

In the other hall there were considered the problems of museumfication and preserving the structures of historic and cultural heritage, studies and conservation of biologic diversity, environment monitoring on the territories of the museum-reserves, national parks and cherished areas, ecological education, cultural, ecological and ethnographic tourism, garden and park art.

The chief of the Pushkin Reserve department of historic and cultural territories protection A.A. Stepanov raised the problem of preserving the historic and cultural territories and current land relations. The existing legislation is insufficient to solve this problem, and the facts of sales and resales of the land property, share lands bordering on the reserve territories have become frequent of late. The administration and staff of the Pushkin Reserve take effective steps to prevent the raider usurpation. These most acute problems can be solved by the new Federal laws being framed now.

The deputy director of the N.A. Nekrasov Museum-Reserve “Karabikha” and the scientific workers N.Y. Erofeeva and L.A. Belkova spoke about the role of the museum-reserves in ecological education of people and gave a general characteristics of the flora in the “Karabikha” Museum-Reserve parks.

The subject of ecological education was shared by the workers of the “Tsaritsyno” Museum-Reserve I.N. Bazhenov, M.A. Blagovidova, L.A. Inozemtseva, who noted the peculiarities of the “cultural landscape” formation and a necessity to diversify as much as possible the spectre of the museum and educational  activities pertaining to different categories of visitors. I.A. Ivanov, the chief of the tourist department of the Ust-Medveditsa natural park, the Volgograd Region, shared his experience in educating the younger generation in the system of ecological values.

The teachers of Boguchar boarding school V.I. Chervonnyi and T.Y. Kravtsova characterized the plots of moving sands along the border of the Voronezh and Rostov regions. The so-called “Boguchar Sahara” is a relic element, which is close to extinction. This territory must be conferred a status of a natural memorial with a nature reserve founded on the open sand plots for preserving the unique landscape.

The problems and perspectives of cultural, ecological and ethnographic tourism were the subject of the talk of the Doctor of Geographical Sciences, the chief of the SFU tourism chair O.V. Ivlieva. She pointed out the existing negative factors and the necessity of a complex approach to rational use of the Azov Sea coast and the Priazov region as a whole.

Summing up the work of the conference there was noted a good quality of the talks given, the topicality of the problems discussed and a necessity of the further in-depth exchange of the scientific and practical experience.

The conference members visited the museum sites, saw the natural memorials, took part in the literary and ethnographic holiday “Autumn in Kruzhilin”, where a complete technological cycle of growing grain was demonstrated. The guests could plunge into the atmosphere of the past and try themselves in the role of Cossack grain-growers. A revival of the forgotten traditions became a kind of “rereading” of Sholokhov’s works and helped for deeper comprehension of the Cossack history, culture and everyday life.

Nowadays, in the time of information technologies it is very important for everyone, living on the planet of Earth to comprehend the significance of preserving really invaluable cultural heritage we possess, to master it and hand it down to the younger generation in an increased and renovated form. The experience of the State M.A. Sholokhov Museum-Reserve, according to the forum participants, is interesting and useful for all the institutions and offices engaged in preservation of the cultural heritage.

N. Kuznetsova,
O. Bakhtiyarova