Many consider Moscow to be one of the greenest cities of Europe. For every inhabitant of the city, there are 16 square metres of parks and gardens. Compare this to London or Paris, where the corresponding figure is only half of that. Within the Moscow city-limits, there are 111 protected nature preserves, amongst them the oldest national park, Losiny Island. One can see all the various flora and fauna native to the region in these nature preserves without officially leaving the city!
Natalia Brinza, the deputy chief of the Moscow Department for the Protection and Use of Nature Preserves, said, “Certainly, animals that live in forest preserves surrounded on all sides by a city with millions of inhabitants need human assistance. Where animals are overexposed to human contact, we render veterinary aid when it is needed. Just as our counterparts abroad do, we act in accordance with existing natural conservation laws to protect the wild natural areas in the capital region. We are developing and implementing a programme on the existing natural habitat so that we can increase the number of nature preserves, and, I must add, we actively collaborate with our foreign colleagues in this effort. In particular, we cooperate with the World Wildlife Fund and the Fund for Wild Nature, and we actively call upon their expertise when needed”.
Ecologists in Moscow are actively breeding the most valuable and rare endangered animal and fish species. They use a series of special breeding areas where optimum conditions for reproduction are created. To supplement the fish stocks in the capital region’s reservoirs, they use so-called “floating houses” to aid in the breeding of rare forms of fish. Similar apparatus has already been used to aid endangered populations of Oka starlet, perch, yershei, Bychkov bullheads, and even three forms of molluscs. One should note that the various molluscs in our reservoirs play a special role in the life of our city. A single mollusc filters and cleans up to 40 litres of water a day! Therefore, the existence and maintenance of a viable mollusc population in the reservoirs is vitally necessary.
Technology to aid in avian reproduction has been worked out. It involves an automatic incubator for the nestlings and an insulated and heated winter shelter for birds. In the words of Aleksei Akhundov, the manager of the development section of the Moscow City Natural Conservation Department, “During the first stage of the project, we concentrated on the breeding of predatory bird species. Why was this necessary? Unfortunately, we have too many grey crows in Moscow. They do great damage to the natural habitat and attack the protected bird population there. However, we encouraged the growth of the predatory bird population, for they are a natural regulator to the grey crow population. Therefore, by encouraging the breeding rate of the predatory birds, we indirectly increased the habitat of the birds that dwell in the Moscow nature preserves”. Mr Akhundov went on to say that his programme is now breeding other species of birds. “Today, we encouraged the birth of 20 pheasants and peacocks using artificially-encouraged methods. In all, this year, we expect a generation of no less than 100 nestlings. Next year, we plan to begin work on encouraging the breeding of other avian species”.
Specialists agree that rare and endangered animals have a good chance of increasing their populations in the nature preserves of the city. Over the next 12 years, it is planned to create almost 300 new parks, which shall mean that some 20 percent of the area of the city shall be in protected nature preserves. In all of these parks, the system for the artificial-encouragement of the breeding of endangered and disappearing animal species shall be extended.
20 August 2008
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=80998&cid=22&p=20.08.2008 (in Russian)
