August 20 student group "Tiger 2015" has completed work on the improvement of the ecological path "Lake of grace," in the Sikhote-Alin biosphere reserve in the North of Primorsky Krai.
For the second year in a row, for almost two summer months, the team "Tiger", organized by Amur tiger Center and the Sikhote-alinskiy reserve, created comfortable conditions for future visitors tourist routes protected area. During the Grand opening of the ecological path "Lake grace" commander Alexei Sachenok cut the "red tape" rope – a proprietary material, which was used in the landscaping.
“Two years later, we see that the student group “Tiger” is a distinctive organism, this year it took us twice as little effort to work at full capacity. I was in many national parks outside our country, I saw infrastructural objects of ecological paths built by professional builders. And now I can say that everything created by the team efforts of environmental students, veterinarians, and game managers is in no way inferior in quality to foreign examples.” – says Sergey Aramilev, Director of the Primorsky Branch of the Amur Tiger Center.
The day before the end of the environmental watch, 26 students from different parts of the country — Moscow, St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Novosibirsk, and the Primorsky Krai — completed the design of small architectural forms on the territory of the Blagodatnoe natural boundary. Under the leadership of the staff of the reserve and Anna Gritsuk, a specialist in the improvement of ecological paths, "Tiger-2015" completed all the tasks set a week earlier than scheduled. On the territory of the main recreation area of the reserve is now equipped with parking for tourists; additional meters of flooring and embankment on the “Cape Severny” path were laid; landscaped ecological lake "Blagodatnoe"; built the necessary infrastructure - an observation tower, firemen; updated navigation signs and decorated entrance groups. Thanks to the efforts of the students, the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve, which celebrates its 80th anniversary this year, will welcome tourists at the most modern level.
“I am pleased with the work that we have done, we have developed the corporate identity of the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve in the design of trails and infrastructure facilities of educational tourism. Detachments of 2014 and 2015 were given to work in full. Of course, the first students had a little more difficult. It was an experiment that tested both the improvement of trails and the functioning of the camp. This year, a lot has already gone on the thumb. The new equipment, which appeared in the reserve, allowed students to unload from the transportation of materials and take them to the work on the improvement.” – says Dmitry Gorshkov.
Dmitry Gorshkov shared his plans for 2016, including the arrangement of the third ecological path “Golubichnaya Bay” and the prevention of ready-made existing routes.
Before leaving, the students visited the Information Center of the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve in Terney, where they visited the recently opened author's exhibition of local photographer Grigory Shaulsky, got acquainted with the dioramas of the Museum of Nature, and also touched the culture of a small people of Primorye - udege. After the excursion, a friendly football match took place with a team of indigenous terinees.
The environmental watch of the student squad "Tiger-2015" is completed, the project participants are sent to their homeland. In memory, each of them received gifts and letters of appreciation from the Amur Tiger Center and the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve.
“I will not be afraid of this word and call you friends, because during these two months we have become really close, I would not want to lose touch in the future. In this age of information technology is not difficult. We had a very good close-knit team - everyone worked together, got along and did a beautifully necessary job.” – comment Leonid Zaika brigadier of the student group Tiger.
“Going to become a “Tiger”, I just wanted to visit the wild taiga, see Vladivostok. Over the past two months in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve, I have more than once thought about moving here - in Primorye. And this is not just a minute rush or a compliment goodbye. I really think about it.” – says Lilia Kharlamova - a fourth year student of Peter I Voronezh State University, future veterinarian.
The work of the student environmental unit "Tiger" is aimed at drawing attention to the problem of preserving wildlife in general and the Amur tiger in particular, developing the volunteer movement and ecotourism in the Far East, supporting the creation of infrastructure in national parks and reserves, and work in protected areas of theoretical and practical knowledge and skills.
The project is carried out with the financial support of the State Atomic Energy Corporation ROSATOM and the company Techsnabexport.