"Tatarstan is a leader and initiator of environmental initiatives." The project of the Ministry of Ecology of Tatarstan on the reintroduction of the saker falcon was highly appreciated by experts of the Eastern Economic Forum and can be included in the new national project "Environmental Well-being".
Today, on the opening day of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the II International Forum "Falcon Day" was held, where the project of the Ministry of Ecology of Tatarstan on the reintroduction of the saker falcon was presented.
Olga Manidicheva, Deputy Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of the Republic of Tatarstan, made a presentation of the project within the framework of the session on the topic of creating rehabilitation centers for the return of seized wildlife objects to nature.
She said that this species of falcon, which was found until the 70s of the last century in vast territories, is now listed in the Red Books of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tatarstan. And in order to return this noble bird to the native sky of Tatarstan, for the second year now, with the support of SIBUR, a project has been implemented to revive the Volga-Kama Saker falcon population. This project has become an example of a dialogue between government, business, science and society. It is conducted with the scientific support of the scientific community with the involvement of volunteers. The main purpose of this is to prepare falcons for life in the wild, their reintroduction. "First of all, we positioned the project to revive the Volga-Kama Saker falcon population as support for the national Ecology project, which is supervised by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and is being implemented on behalf of the President of Russia V. V. Putin. Taking into account the positive results of the pilot project implemented in 2023, this year it was decided to continue the project on the reintroduction of the saker falcon," Olga Manidicheva noted.
During the 2 years of the project, 16 saker falcon chicks were adapted to their natural habitat and released into nature under the supervision of ornithologists and volunteers.
This year, as part of the project, 4 adult birds are housed in aviaries of the Kazan Zoo for the formation of pairs and breeding of chicks.
The project was highly appreciated by the scientific community and became the winner of the All–Russian competition "Reliable Partner - Ecology", as well as a finalist of the National Award "Crystal Compass".
As part of the implementation of this project, in August 2024, a cooperation agreement was signed between the Ministry of Ecology of the Republic of Tatarstan, the A. I. Shchepovskikh Regional Public Fund for Environmental Protection, the companies PJSC Sibur Holding and Capt Taxes and Consulting LLC.
The moderator of the session, Olga Krever, Deputy Director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution Roszapovedcenter of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, emphasized that Tatarstan is a leader and initiator of many environmental initiatives. This includes the creation of Snow Leopard Conservation Centers, the revival of environmental protection and conservation, the development of professional standards in the field of ecology and much more.
With the support of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, the issue of participation of the project for the reintroduction of the saker falcon in the new national project "Environmental well-being" is currently being worked out, which starts next year and will be a continuation of the national project "Ecology".
Let us recall that the International Forum "Falcon Day" is intended to become an international expert platform for a comprehensive dialogue and to attract the attention of government officials, experts and the scientific community to the conservation, protection and increase of populations of predatory and rare bird species, including birds of the Falconidae family. Since 2023, the Forum has been held annually in Russia.