Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan

14 May 2013, Tuesday

Today, State Counselor of the Republic of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaymiyevmet with Piet Wit, Chairman of the Commission on Ecosystem Management under the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and Kalev Sepp, Professor of the Estonian University of Social Sciences, Preservation and Management of Natural and Cultural Landscapes and Natural Heritage.

Last October Kalev Sepp visited Tatarstan as an expert of theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature – a consulting organization under UNESCO, in the context of work on inclusion of Bolgar and Sviyazhsk into UNESCO World Heritagelist. At that time the attention of Kalev Seppwas concentrated on the Island-City of Sviyazhsk, as he was preparing an opinion on this facility for the World Heritage Committee.

At the beginning of the meeting, guests shared their impressions with regard to the sights of Tatarstanthat they had seen by that time, including the Island-city of Sviyazhsk, the Raifa Monastery,Volga-KamaState Natural Biosphere Reserve, and the Kazan Kremlin.

Mintimer Shaymiyevreminded that during his last visit Kalev Sepp proposed to consider the possibility to hold the World Congress in Kazan under the auspices of theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature, and his suggestion was supported by the President, and the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan. “Interaction with people like you, and your vision are very useful to us and our experts; Tatarstan for you is like a little new world, he said. Rushing from one century into another, we don’t pay due attention to the environment. A lot is done in the prejudice of nature. We want to make it better for people, but, in the end, it turns out to be not in the interest of a person. It’s time to realize that”. According to him, the World Congress, touching upon the problems of preservation of ecological systems and unique cultural landscapes will promote more attentive and careful attitude towards nature.

Piet Wit familiarized participants of the meeting with the activity of theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature and its Commission on Ecosystem Management. He noted that when Kalev Sepp returned from Tatarstan and informed that people in Kazan are interested in holding the Congress,the International Union for Conservation of Nature elaborated a preliminary plan on arranging the Congress. For instance, it is planned to invite the world experts as the key reporters on relevant topics. Piet Wit emphasized that the participants of the World Congress will be very much interested in the rich Russia’s experience, in particular that of Tatarstan with regard to preservation and rational use of natural and cultural heritage.

Professor Kalev Sepp, Director of Volga-KamaState Natural Biosphere ReserveYury Gorshkov, Acting Director of the Institute of Ecology and GeographyK(P) FU Svetlana Selivanovskaya, Pro-rectorof Kazan State University of Culture and Arts – Head of Povolzhsky Branch of UNESCO Department Rafael Valeev made their suggestions with regard to arrangement and concepts of the World Congress.

On summarizing the results of the meeting, Mintimer Shaymiyevnoted that it is necessary to think over the theme and the program of the Congress in cooperation with representatives of the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The World Congress on Management of Ecosystems and Cultural Landscapes is planned to be held in Kazan in2015.

Head of the Secretariatof the State Counselor of the Republic of Tatarstan Evgeny Grishin, Minister for Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan Artem Sidorov, Minister of Forestry of the Republic of Tatarstan Nail Magdeev, and Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Ayrat Sibagatullin took part in the meeting.

Moreover, a sightseeing tour around the State Historical, Architectural and Artistic Reserve Museum “The Kazan Kremlin” was arranged for the guests.

For reference

TheInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)

The International Union for Conservation of Nature founded in 1948 on the initiative of UNESCO, is the world oldest and the largestindependent international non-commercial organization engaged in the problems of nature protection and preservation of biodiversity of the planet. It elaborates general principles and strategy for nature protection, determines the directions for international cooperation and national policy of the states with regard to the nature protection activity.

The Union consists of 82 states (inclusive of the Russian Federation represented by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology), more than 200 governmental establishments, more than 900 nongovernmental agencies and around11,000 scientists and experts from 160 countries. Six commissions form part ofthe International Union for Conservation of Nature:

• Species Survival Commission;

• World Commission on Protected Areas;

• Commission on Environmental Law;

• Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy;

• Commission on Education and Communication;

• Commission on Ecosystem Management.

The Supreme Authority of the International Union for Conservation of Natureis the General Assembly. The headquarters is located in Gland (Switzerland). The staff of the IUCNexceeds1000 people; Ashok Khosla is President of the IUCN.

The Commission on Ecosystem Management (CEM) is a networkof approximately 800 expert volunteers from all over the world who work in the field of ecosystem regulation and related matters, for instance, adjustment to the climate change, reduction of danger related to natural disasters, the Red list of ecosystems, and recovery of ecosystems. The Commission works in close contact with other commissions of the IUCN, regional departments and global topical programs. The Global Ecosystem Management Program (EMP) is a coordinating one for the CEM, which finances the Secretariat and ensures technical support. The EMP is now managed by the Regional Department of the IUCNin Nairobi (Kenya), although the matters of membership in the CEM and communication support are regulated by the headquarters of the IUCN in Switzerland.

Information of the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan

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State Counselor of Tatarstan Mintimer Shaymiyev met with Piet Wit and Kalev Sepp