World Wildlife Day in Moscow

 

On the occasion of World Wildlife Day the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Office in Russia with the support of the UN Information Centre in Moscow convened on 3 March this year a symposium which focused on the “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet” theme.

“This year’s World Wildlife Day highlights the immense value of forests and forest-dwelling wildlife to the livelihoods of the communities based there, and to the well-being of people living much further away”, said Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General in his address read out to the conference participants.

“FAO encourages a transition from unsustainable to sustainable levels of hunting and fishing for wildmeat through new and inclusive policies, practices and income-generating opportunities that make the most of both traditional knowledge and the latest technologies.”

“Forests sustain life – human life and wildlife. It is our firm conviction that innovative, science-based, green solutions are the pathway to preventing zoonotic diseases, and to ensuring a sustainable supply of food as well as livelihoods to forest communities and beyond.”

“Together for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life, leaving no one behind”, concluded Dr QU Dongyu.

“Russian peoples’ culture and traditions are indeed inseparable from vast taiga, oakwoods and birch groves… Green forests are rightly regarded by our society as an indicator of a healthy environment and a major human health factor”, said Alexander Panfilov, Deputy Head of the Federal Forestry Agency (Rosleskhoz), in his welcoming remarks.

“Last year made us reconsider our attitudes to forests, even residents of megacities. With the onset of lockdowns and restrictions many urban dwellers started to spend more time outside the city and appreciated the diversity and uniqueness of the blessings and benefits that come from forests.”

The work of Rosleskhoz aligns with the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration goals and priorities. We continue to implement the Federal Forest Conservation Project”. “In 2020 forest restoration measures covered over 950 thousand hectares. Efforts of similar magnitude are envisaged this year as well”, Alexander Panfilov emphasised.

Vladimir Kuznetsov, Director of the UN Information Centre in Moscow, stressed that the value of wildlife is associated with environmental, genetic, social, economic, scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and aesthetic aspects of sustainable development and human well-being.

The 2021 World Wildlife Day theme aligns with Sustainable Development Goals 1, 12, 13, 15 and wide-ranging commitments to alleviating poverty, ensuring sustainable use of resources and preserving life on land.”

Ivonne Higuero, Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora – CITES highlighted in her video address such modern challenges as climate change and biodiversity loss threatening the planet’s ecosystem – and primarily its forest resources.

“They are [these challenges] particular threat to the people and communities whose livelihoods and wellbeing are most closely tight to natural systems like forest… We also wish to amplify the voices of the representatives of these groups [indigenous peoples and local communities], so that their experience can inspire all global efforts to conserve forests and the species they harbor, without neglecting the needs of those who rely on them or their livelihoods”, added Ms Higuero in conclusion. 

Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, who moderated the discussion, noted that despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, the videoconference served as another proof of unity that humanity had shown regardless of all the barriers, including around environmental protection, sustainable environmental management and the related Sustainable Development Goals.

Scott Newman, FAO Senior Animal Health Production Officer, formulated the task for humanity: Balancing the needs of people, domestic animals, wildlife and natural ecosystems in the face of limited natural resources and increasing global populations and consumption.

The FAO expert highlighted modifications to natural habitats as a challenge requiring response, given that urbanisation, the sprawl of megacities, for instance, “encroaches on natural habitat”, as well as deforestation, irresponsible waste management and climate change leading to biodiversity loss.

Changes in agricultural practices are equally fraught with devastating consequences due to the “intensification of production systems”, which often leads to “more wastewater and faecal runoff into the environment”; due to the farming of new wildlife species “without proper medical care” or biosecurity; due to control over these processes becoming increasingly difficult in the context of ”globalized international market chains”.

“Forests are of paramount significance for nature and human life”, said Vladimir Moshkalo, Head of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Office in Russia. “They conserve the genetic diversity of biosphere, enrich atmosphere with oxygen, largely determine climate, preserve and improve soil fertility, regulate and purify water flow, they are a core element of recreational potential and a human habitat, as well as the source of raw material for forest and forest-processing industries.”

FAO’s 2020 Global Forest Resources Assessment points out that despite the slow-down in the pace of deforestation over the past decade, almost 10 million hectares of forest are lost annually. Since 1990 the planet has irretrievably lost around 420 million hectares of forests.

“Never before has the need to restore destroyed ecosystems been so urgent”, said the UNEP Representative in Russia, that is why the UN General Assembly proclaimed 2021-2030 to be the Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.

“The overall goal of the UN Decade is the following: to prevent, halt and reverse the degradation of ecosystems worldwide. Forests, grasslands, arable lands, wetlands, savannahs and other terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, marine and coastal ecosystems, and even ecosystems in cities – all of them need a degree of protection and require restoration.”

“The significance of forest is immense”, Vladimir Moshkalo said in conclusion. Leonid Leonov, Russian writer, called forest a Friend with a capital F. Forests are an important and the most effective means of maintaining the natural state of biosphere, they are an indispensable cultural and social factor.”

Kristina Rodina, FAO Forestry Officer, spoke about the 2017-2024 Sustainable Wildlife Management Programme. The Programme aims to reduce wildlife hunting to a sustainable level, protect endangered wild fauna and conserve biodiversity; preserve the basic environmental functions of forest and savannah ecosystems; supply resources provided by ecosystem services (i. e. food), which are necessary for the poor and marginalized people.” The expert noted that in day-to-day practice “a tripartite approach” is being implemented; “it is aimed at preventing the risks of wildlife pathogens’ impact, identifying future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases and adopting an integrated “One Health” approach.”

“The total area of low-disturbed forests” (LDF) is 13.1 million square kilometres or 23.5 percent of the global forest cover. Almost two-thirds of the LDF are located in three countries, namely in Canada, Russia and Brazil, said Andrey Shchegolev, Sustainable Forest Management Programme Director at WWF-Russia.

The expert stressed that by 2020 Russia had seen at least a 50 percent reduction and where necessary a halt in “the rate of natural habitat loss, including forests and grass ecosystems, as well as a significant decrease in their degradation and fragmentation.” Meanwhile, “despite the declared recognition of the extensive forest exploitation inefficiency, the rate of the LDF exploitation over the past years has been steadily rising,” noted Andrey Shchegolev.

“Russia is regarded as the planet’s lungs seeing that its forests represent some of the largest forested areas in the world; they provide environmental services, environmental rehabilitation, watershed, livelihoods and home for 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity of fauna and flora,” Oleg Kobiakov, Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation, commented on the intervention of his colleague.

“The challenge is thus to preserve this natural wealth in the face of growing population, pressure on forest resources, illegal logging, wildfires, urban and infrastructure sprawl. On the part of FAO, we are grateful to WWF-Russia for its active engagement in forest conservation, and there are many reasons for further cooperation,” added the Director of the FAO Liaison Office with the Russian Federation. 

The theme was picked up by Nikolay Shmatkov, Executive Director of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), who emphasized that “the natural forests which have preserved their self-maintaining capacity are considered to be the national forest wealth of Russia.”

“With shrinking forest cover and its worsening condition, climate change is becoming more pronounced, noted the expert. Over millennia of their existence old-growth forests have accumulated an enormous amount of carbon. Wildfires and logging lead to the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which contributes to the greenhouse effect. Old-growth forests are of particular importance in maintaining the natural water cycle. Their loss makes the climate in the central part of the mainland more arid and leads to extreme precipitation events on the coasts.”

“Exploitation of forests often results in their degradation. It is just as dangerous as deforestation because it causes the loss of the forest ecosystem’s vital elements, continued Nikolay Shmatkov. Forest streams on which forest flora and fauna depend become shallow and dry out. The number and the diversity of animals and plants have been decreasing. We are witnessing the loss of big old trees which are the only habitats for some bird species (including rare ones), bats, lichens, and fungi. Wetlands which exhibit a particularly high level of biodiversity have been drying out.”

The expert explained that on top of that “the trees which grow in the place of the cut-down ones cannot substitute them. For instance, oak, spruce, pine, and cedar ensure greater biodiversity than birch, aspen and alder (which usually randomly occupy the logged areas).

The FSC standards oblige companies to conserve at least 30 percent of old-growth forests. It is intended that under the terms of the FSC-certification logging companies voluntarily renounce the exploitation of a part of old-growth forests. Thus have been established the Koigorodsky National Park in the Republic of Komi and the Onega Pomorie National Park, the Dvinsko-Pinezhsky Reserve and the Uftyugo-Ileshsky Reserve in the Arkhangelsk region. In our country we have some 250 million hectares of old-growth forests. Only Brazil has a larger area of this type of forests.

Jean Perché, Deputy Director of the Moscow Office of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), pointed out the importance of the joint efforts to combat the increasing threat to the ecosystem within a “One Health” approach, which stipulates that animal, human, plant and environment health are interconnected. Having highlighted the strong connection between the healthcare system and reforestation, Dr Perché spoke of the need to strengthen the monitoring system for the identification of human and animal diseases and the control of their spread, as well as for the management in the forest and wildlife conservation. 

Marianna Muntianu, President of RusKlimatFund, Young Champion of the Earth 2019 (UNEP) in the European Region, spoke about the work of the Fund. It consists of calculating both companies’ carbon dioxide footprint and its compensation options; forest restoration within the areas affected by fires and other natural disasters; corporate volunteering; landfill reclamation via forest restoration after mineral extraction. Thanks to voluntary donations the Fund plants new forests and decreases the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere with each sapling planted.

The destiny of Udeges (“forest people” in the Udege language), who inhabit the Bikin riverbanks in the Primorsky region, has always directly depended on the traditional exploitation of forest resources.  Unfortunately, “the commercial logging has forced certain groups to leave their indigenous habitats,” said Rodion Sulyandziga, Director of the Center for support of indigenous peoples of the North (CSIPN). “Paradoxically, the more we talk about the conservation of forests, the more we lose them,” he stated stressing that for the Udeges forests “are fundamental to life on our planet and to understanding the world.” There are only 1700 Udeges left. This is the least populous indigenous people in Russia.

Sustainable forest management is of vital importance to them. The National Park Bikin has been established and its name is derived from the river, so-called “the Russian Amazon.” The Udeges are engaged in forest resources co-management and environmental actions. Yet “this does not solve all the problems, and we are concerned that in the post-pandemic period corporations may again develop a desire to compensate their losses by the means of “predatory plundering of forest resources.”

Rodion Sulyandziga closed the discussion by sharing an old saying of the Udege people which is as follows: “The Earth does not belong to us. We belong to the Earth”.

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The recorded video of the conference is available here.

Learn more information about FAO’s work on SDGs on the website. 

Background:

World Wildlife Day is an opportunity to celebrate the many varied and beautiful forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that environmental protection provides to people. Furthermore, the Day reminds us of the need to step up the fight against wildlife crime, which has wide-ranging economic, environmental and social impacts.

This year the World Wildlife Day’s theme is “Forests and Livelihoods: Sustaining People and Planet”, which aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals: 1. “End Poverty”, 12. “Responsible Consumption and Production”, 13. “Climate action” and 15. “Life on Land”.