Environmentally friendly tourism

The Sochi National Park covers hundreds of hectares of unique forests, mountains, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and canyons of stunning beauty. Created 40 years ago, it was the first national park set up in Russia and ranks first by its rich and diverse flora and fauna. More than 50 species of plants, 15 species of mushrooms and lichens, as well as 95 species of animals inhabiting the Sochi National Park are listed in the Red Book of Russia. At the same time, the Sochi National Park is the leader in the development of tourism in the country. The Sochi correspondent of EcoTourism Expert tells us about the possibility to open the treasures of nature to travellers without any harm to the environment, about the leopards growing in the Sochi Park and what should be done with bears; she also tells whether scientists managed to eradicate pests that damage plants, and what the new law on tourism in specially protected natural areas (SPNAs) will give.

Sochi is a green city. Wherever you look, mountains, forests and trees are everywhere. Most of the resort city is located either in the zone of the Caucasian Nature Reserve, or in the Sochi National Park. What is the difference between these organizations? First of all, a ‘nature reserve’ and a ‘national park’ differ in functional zoning and protection regime. There are only two zones in a nature reserve - the zone of limited economic activity where watchposts or outbuildings can be placed necessary for the work of the organization, and a zone where actually nothing can be done except scientific research. Nature reserves are a unique form that exists only in Russia. They are designed to enable nature to develop according to its laws without human encroachment. For example, if there is a fire in a nature reserve, no one extinguishes it, no one eliminates the spill, nature ‘regulates’ everything by itself. National parks are a different story. They were originally established to work out mild interaction between humans and the environment, to attract a great many people to nature to show its wealth and how to be friendly to the environment and preserve nature. And it is impossible to do without developing the tourism.

Today, the Sochi National Park is one of the top three SPNAs in the country in terms of the number of visitors. Last year, it was visited by more than 1.7 mn people and similar high figures are expected in 2023. Today, the Sochi National Park has more than 555 kilometres of routes and ecological trails. There are 158 waterfalls in the Sochi National Park and almost all the natural, historical and cultural attractions of Greater Sochi are located in its area. A new law on tourism in specially protected natural areas that will come into force in September 2023 will help the development of the travel industry. This law is long-awaited for specially protected natural areas and thanks to it, everything will change. The anthropogenic pressure on the SPNAs is increasing throughout the country. It can be reduced in two ways - either completely “delete” a person from the environment, or create an infrastructure removing this pressure and allowing people to have a comfortable rest in the lap of nature. There is no need to reinvent the wheel, everything has long been worked out all over the world. Therefore, the Sochi National Park is open today - for the first time in its history - to the cooperation with investors who want to invest in the implementation of projects in the Sochi National Park’s recreational areas.

These should be projects with a clear concept and location. For example, the creation of the glampings is possible only in two areas of the Sochi National Park - in the recreational and economic ones. The areas having the status of SPNAs will continue to be closed with no access for transit passages, since the main task of any national park is to preserve nature. Preparations for putting the new law into force at the Sochi National Park are already underway, the relationships with existing partners are being brought to the right legal level, in September it will be no longer possible to go by the old rules. To do this, a large analysis of existing routes was carried out, the required trails were identified and their development was determined for two to three years, the Sochi Park told.

The number of routes will not change. Now, the work is in progress to have all the required certificates approved, as well as the proposed tourism and recreational zones in order to understand where a picnic area can be, where visitors will be received, and where temporary structures will be located. As a result, an appropriate agreement will be signed with entrepreneurs this year to determine what they can do in the area of the Sochi National Park, what services they can offer, and what kind of infrastructure will be created for this.

There are many routes in the Sochi National Park, but this season, the priority will be given to the most popular ones, such as Akhun, Agura, and Eagle Rocks. A bridge across the river on a large waterfall is under construction, and by the end of June, a trail leading to the second ground will be made, the danger zone will be improved, the site of gazebos on the Eagle Rocks will be cleaned, and a cafe will be closed there. In such a wonderful place, there should be a park zone, not a public catering area. A good viewing deck will be made, and no cars will be allowed in the Sochi National Park. The Eagle Rocks should be surrounded by wooden walkways. Firstly, for the safety of the route and to reduce a risk of injury, and secondly, so that no one could deviate from the path and damage the Red Book plants. Unfortunately, there are violations of the administrative code now, and article 8.39 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation entails the imposition of a 3,000 to 4,000-rouble fine on visitors breaking a law, the SPNA’s Press Office tells.

In the autumn of 2023, an important document will be adopted in Sochi - the Master Plan of the Resort City. The most important issues the Sochi National Park addresses today are related to land. This is explained by the fact that the National Park is not a single area with delineated borders but it ‘coexists’ with the resort city of Sochi. When travellers drive along the beautiful paved road within the city, the National Park’s areas are located here and there, on the left or on the right. There a ‘patches’ of the National Park scattered over Sochi. In this regard, the borders of the Sochi National Park have been repeatedly changed; the Olympic project has been implemented, the sites the perpetual use right for which originally belonged to the National Park were allocated for the Olympic project’s facilities but remained registered with this organization. It turns out that de jure they belong to the SPNA, and de facto they are the lands of settlements or agricultural areas, etc.

It is a right decision to delineate the borders between the city and the National Park. The land survey work is finally coming to the final stage. The only thing that prevents the Sochi Park from placing land plots on the cadastral register is the arrests, including those imposed on land plots. Based on the instructions given by Deputy Prime Minister Viktoriya Abramchenko, after the completion of all criminal cases initiated in connection with this situation and all legal proceedings, at least four thousand hectares of land should be added to the Sochi National Park. At present, experts are monitoring and analyzing whether specific areas should be included in the Sochi National Park, and whether they still are of any natural value. The Sochi National Park closely interacts with the city authorities on the infrastructure development. The city borders are close to the SPNAs so the Sochi Park proposes to move all the capital structures to the municipal land areas and leave only light infrastructure facilities in the area of the National Park, for example, wooden walkways, benches, and recreation areas. The Pak and the city authorities make attempts to solve the problem of garbage together.

The Sochi National Park is active in solving the problem of garbage, they already know how much wastes are in the National Park, and how “carefully” the Sochi residents treat this natural site. It is customary to explain everything that happens by a large tourist flow. But the Crimean Reserves’ experience has shown that over 70 percent of the garbage is left by local residents. And in Sochi, the situation is aggravated by numerous construction sites, which means a lot of heavy wastes. There is no way out of this situation other than strengthening the control. The Park has already worked with state inspectors and all visitors are warned that any violation of the Sochi Natural Park’s rules entails at least the imposition of an administrative responsibility, and in the worst case, they can be brought to criminal responsibility, the Sochi National Park says.

Another problem the Sochi National Park has been addressing for many years is the preservation of plants. The boxwood moth carried with planting material to Sochi in 2012 led to catastrophic consequences - the destruction of boxwood trees, relic plants of the Tertiary period. Boxwood moth butterflies have exterminated boxwood forests almost throughout its range in the Caucasus and Turkey. With the first examinations made in the National Park, it became clear that it was necessary to urgently collect seeds from the survived trees and lay the maximum possible number of boxwood seedlings in the nursery-gardens. More than 30 thousand seedlings have grown in the nurseries using the seeds of 2014-2015. They were planted in 13 district forestries, their survival rate is from 95 to 98 percent. In addition, self-sown boxwood trees appeared. But still, without the help of specialists, including the foresters of the Sochi National Park, this problem cannot be solved. Therefore, planting of boxwood seeds will be carried out until 2030.

The chestnut trees also suffered from insects, gall wasps, and to restore the chestnut tree population affected by these insects, it was decided to use the torymus, a special wasp, as a biological control agent for invasive insects and a natural enemy of chestnut gall wasps. Temporary nursery-gardens have been set up in 13 district forestries. In the autumn of 2022, chestnut seeds were collected and sown in temporary nursery-gardens on an area of 0.13 hectares. The chestnut restoration programme is designed for a period up to 2030.

The condition and population of wild animals in the National Park are stable. Moreover, the wild boars recover their population after the African swine fever (Pestis africana suum). While a decade ago, the number of wild boars declined to 65, and there are 1,152 of them now. The development of the city had a strong impact on the fauna. Synanthropic species like the jackal and raccoon moved to the mountains up to 1,200 metres above sea level, got used to ecological niches they never occupied earlier and their population tripled. Bears are of particular concern, they are increasingly coming out to people, the animals can already be seen in the summer cottages near Sochi, near the dumpsters. Due to the disease of the chestnut trees and the lack of a food base, a synanthropic group of bears with a hypertrophied form of behaviour has formed. The bears started visiting city dumps, dumpsters, tourist sites, summer cottages, and cemeteries. The constant contact of bears with humans lowers the threshold for actively defensive behaviour. The animal ceases to see a real danger in humans, and the available food leftovers make them attractive “feeders”. A group of bears “fond of dumpsters” and “beggars” has appeared, which can pose a real danger. Bears appear rather frequently not only in the ski resorts, holiday villages, but also in the city.

Over the past year, state inspectors of the Sochi National Park have registered 55 conflict situations with a brown bear. In addition, more than forty dangerous pathogens of infectious diseases have been detected in synanthropic animals, including plague, salmonellosis, typhoid, and others. This reduces their value as a trophy, and the number of hunting licenses issued declines. Something needs to be done about this situation, including shooting aimed at regulating their population, no matter how cruel these words said by an environmental organization may sound. But this makes sense, there is a certain procedure and a scientific explanation. A group of scientists, ecologists, veterinarians, and representatives of mountain resorts has already been set up to develop an effective mechanism for preventing and eliminating the access of animals to humans based on the best practice in the country of the Far East region and the Amur Tiger Centre where they successfully solve the problem of conflicts between tigers and locals. The work on the environmental education is also carried out. The specialists of the Sochi National Park explain to people the rules of behaviour and what to do when they encounter a bear.

And if the number of bears should be reduced, then the leopard population should be increased. As for the Persian leopard restoration in the Caucasus, the Sochi National Park is at the forefront. Thanks to Minister Aleksander Kozlov’s support, attention and personal participation in the work the Park is actively developing and updating the infrastructure. This allowed to reduce the leopards’ training periods from 36 months to almost 18-20. The leopards living in the Sochi National Park’s Centre for Persian Leopard Restoration in the Caucasus breed ‘like rabbits’. Now, there are two leopard kittens from a couple brought from the Swedish zoo. After evaluating their behaviour, they will be released into their natural habitat. Also, there are two leopard kittens from wild parents in the sector where they are being prepared before releasing them in the wild. Recently, the specialists of the Centre successfully formed two pairs and mated them. Since the foundation of the Centre for Leopard Restoration in the Caucasus, 13 animals have already been released into their natural habitat. The main issue of the population recovery today is that the animals should feel good after releasing them in the wild. This requires conditions, including the available forage base. Their number cannot grow if there is poaching. And poaching is a problem. Exterminating the poaching is like exterminating the corruption. Do you believe it is possible? Poaching appeared when royal hunting grounds appeared - long before the specially protected natural areas. Where there is a ban, there is a temptation, and naturally, when there are hunting grounds ‘crowded’ with animals, no one would like to track animals for several days but would prefer to go hunting where it is guaranteed to get a trophy. It turns out that poaching can only be reduce through rigid control, like in the case with garbage.