A student environmental group called "Tiger" consisting of 25 young professionals from Far Eastern Federal University and Primorskaya State Academy of Agriculture will start its work on the 1st of July this year. The project is organized by the Amur Tiger Center.
Students of different specialties will make a contribution in the preservation of the unique animal of Primorsky Krai. They will work in a key habitat of the Amur tiger – the Sikhote-Alin Reserve. During two months the young specialists will be involved in setting up infrastructure, landscape the unique natural complex and construct nature trails.
"The construction team is mostly assembled with students who have chosen a profession related to nature. Participation in the unit is an advance for their future and an opportunity to get practical skills and earn some money since professions related to the protection and study of the environment are unpopular and are not always adequately paid. It should be understood that the work supposes a fairly extreme climatic conditions, mosquitoes and ticks - it is a serious challenge, not everyone is ready for it. However, I am convinced that our students will successfully pass it, making the trails civilized so that soon everyone will be able to see the beauty of an amazing animals and plants of Primorsky Krai, where the Amur tiger is considered as a gem", - says director of the Primorsky branch of the Amur Tiger Center Sergei Aramilev.
The place for the event was not chosen by chance. The Sikhote-Alin Reserve is the most fully preserved natural habitat of the Amur tiger. The history of the protection of the big cat has always been closely linked with the history of the reserve. In the late 40-ies of the last century it was the place where the last group of the Amur tigers used to live, the group which made it possible to maintain and increase the number of subspecies population 10 times.
The Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve is located on the territory of three districts of Primorsky Krai: Terneisky, Krasnoarmeysky and Dalnegorsky. The unique natural complex is preserved there, it includes most species of animals and plants of the Russian Far East. In this regard, in 1979 at the UNESCO forum the reserve was given the status of a biosphere, and in 2001 the reserve was included in the list of territories of the World Natural Heritage by UNESCO.
In the context of the preparations to work in the Sikhote-Alin Reserve, young professionals from the "Tiger" group climbed Mount Pidan. On the top of the mountain, each "fighter" who had reached the top left a note in the Pidan’s Notebook. The hike disposed the readiness of the young people to live in the forest.
"All members of the unit involved in the campaign showed their best side. We can say that we have become a single whole: support and mutual understanding were accompanying us during all three days of the campaign,"- says Bogdan Krasnobaev, commander of the "Tiger" team.
To date, the "Tiger" is fully staffed, but there were more attenders than vacancies. All students who did not get to join the environmental squad this summer, will be able to contribute to the conservation of the Amur tiger population next year.