1. Information system on protected areas of Russia Ekaterina Tsybikova¹, Maxim Dubinin² ¹ Transparent World, Russia; ² University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA ESRI International User Conference, San-Diego, 2007

2. Russia: 17070949 km2 Forest zone: 57.1% country area Natural forest area, 2000:8340520 km2

3. International acknowledgement of Russias protected areas (PA) system: - 9 UNESCO Natural World Heritage sites - 36 biosphere reserves - 35 Ramsar sites - 4 strict nature reserves have Diplomas of European Council - 4 transboundary PA More than 85% of Russias animals and plants are protected by existing system of countrys PA

4. Main categories of Russian protected areas Probable IUCN categories Amount Strict nature reserves (zapovedniks) I101 National parks II 39393939 Federal-level wildlife refuges (zakazniks) Ib, IV, (IV)* 69 Nature parks II Nature monuments III, IV, (III)* Botanical gardens, arboretums - Nature resorts (healing landscapes) - in total: 14000 objects (a. 12% Russias area) * - values estimated by summing up all the territory of protected areas

5. Problem Lack of adequate accessible spatial and descriptive information about protected areas of Russia, results in poor decision making and low public awareness

6. Information system GIS Web Spatial (geographic) data Attributive (descriptive) data (ISEU, BCC, WRI, Transparent World)

7. History: Atlas of Russias Intact Forest Landscapes (http://www.forest.ru/eng/publications/intact/) http://www.forest.ru/eng/publications/intact/

8. Data sources - primary legislation (governmental acts, bills and other papers) - protected areas official documents - additional information spatial and attributive) - additional information (spatial and attributive)

9. Mapping. Strict Nature Reserves, National Parks and Federal-Level Wildlife Refuges of Russia (2005)

10. Mapping

11. Zapovedniks Total zapovedniks area = 70% of federal- level PA area

12. Biosphere reserves

13. Ramsar sites

14. Guide to national parks of Russia

15. Application - create protected area GIS - create protected area GIS - presentation and education materials - presentation and education materials - include in decision support system to help deal with conflicts occurring on protected area - include in decision support system to help deal with conflicts occurring on protected area

16. map in action – examples of effective land-use decision-making - Megatron-NVK - PetroResource - The Kovikta Project - The Kovikta Project

17. Monitoring of state-issued license permits: Megatron-NVK, North Caspian region, 2005

18. Socio- ecological mapping: Kovikta gas pipeline

19. Web-based Information system http://oopt.info Contents: - news - history of nature protection - publications - conferences proceedings - descriptions of PA - descriptions of Ramsar sites

20. Description of each protected area: - general information - history - geographic features - flora and fauna - research activities

21. Data now available and planned - biosphere reserves zoning (core, buffer, transition zone, biosphere polygon) - biosphere reserves zoning (core, buffer, transition zone, biosphere polygon) - zapovedniks and national parks buffers - zapovedniks and national parks buffers - Ramsar sites - Ramsar sites - Birdlife International sites - Birdlife International sites - regional protected areas - regional protected areas

22. Conclusion - Spatial data can be used for decision support and conflict solving - Spatial data can be used for decision support and conflict solving - GIS is an effective tool, but lots of efforts should be spent to make data really work - GIS is an effective tool, but lots of efforts should be spent to make data really work - in case of inactivity of state authorities, environmental NGOs using GIS can facilitate proper decision making - in case of inactivity of state authorities, environmental NGOs using GIS can facilitate proper decision making

23. Thank you! Ekaterina Tsybikova Transparent World, Russia, e-mail: tsybikova@biodiversity.ru Transparent World, Russia, e-mail: tsybikova@biodiversity.ru Maxim Dubinin Maxim Dubinin University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA University of Wisconsin-Madison, USAsim@biodiversity.ru