Under the Year of Ecology, local lore museums can be united in the Association for the Environmental Education of Youth

Within the framework of the Year of Ecology, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation plans to create an Association of Local History Museums in the field of environmental education. Relevant proposals were formed at a meeting in the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia. As the head of the department Sergey Donskoy noted, the creation of the Association will promote the popularization of local lore in general, the creation of popular sites for environmental education of people. According to the Minister of Natural Resources of Russia, there are about 800 museums of local lore in the country, almost every one of them has “corners” dedicated to wildlife. The functions of these institutions and visiting centers of national parks are united by a single goal – the study and popularization of knowledge about the region, its natural, cultural, and historical features. Sergei Donskoy instructed to study the possibility of a wider use of museum areas for the formation of national park and reserve displays. The goal is to attract attention to the activities of specially protected areas and to stimulate domestic ecological tourism. The working group for the preparation of constituent documents of the Association will be formed by the Russian National Committee for UNEP in cooperation with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia, the Ministry of Culture of Russia, and the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. The foundation meeting of the Association is planned to be held before the end of 2017.

Press Service of MENR RT