St.Petersburg, October 9, 2007 –- Results of the IVth International Junior Forestry Contest held under the International Forestry Forum where awards will be given to its winners, have been summarized.
In 2005, the World Bank established a special award for participants of the International Junior Forestry Contest “Young Guardians of Forests” in order to support and promote cross-border sharing of knowledge, ideas and practices among a new generation of forest specialists from Russia, countries of the CIS, Eastern Europe and other regions.
In 2007 the special award went to Vladimir Bogdanov, author of the paper “Forest Fires in the Irkutsk Region”. Vladimir studies at secondary school #23 in the city of Angarsk, Irkutsk region, and he received his award for providing a significant practical input to the building of knowledge on forest protection and promotion of sustainable forestry in the Siberian region of Russia among school students.
On behalf of the WB management the award certificate was presented to Vladimir Bogdanov by Andrei Kushlin, Senior Forestry Specialist, ECSSD. “Some 80% of Russia’s innumerable wealth is in the Asian part of the country. Therefore this region reflects in the most condensed form the global issues present in Russian forests; it is here where cutting-edge approaches to such issues are developed and perfected. In this respect we are especially pleased to see among winners of the International Junior Forestry Contest a representative of the Siberian region who emphasized in his research forest fires, - one of the most “burning” issues for both Russian and international forestry. The WB has been actively supporting efforts of Russia and other countries aimed at upgrading forest fire management systems", - stressed Mr.Kushlin.
Traditionally the Bank offers the winner an opportunity to make a filed trip to one of participating countries to collect materials and implement an international junior research project which is designed together with a team of peers and addresses a relevant forestry issue.
In 2006 the special award marked the work of a school ranger station of the Mstera Center for extracurricular activities from the Vladimir region represented at the Contest by Andrey Kochetov. The students went to a study tour to Latvia where they were received by representatives of the Latvijaz Valsts Meži – LVM. Students of the 8th and 10th grades took part in the study tour.
Content-rich, diverse and packed program developed for young wood growers in Latvia allowed them to obtain new and all-round knowledge on practical issues of forest reproduction, forest science and arboriculture. The tour participants got familiarized with the fundamentals of the European approach to creating various nurseries, innovative technologies of seedlings planting, witnessed reforestation operations performed on industrial scale. They also expressed a lot of interest in the "green architecture” developed in Latvia. Visits to the arboretum, the “Kalenava” nursery for rare ornamental species, the “Mazhili” nursery for forest species and the “Tervete” natural park left them with deep impressions.
Things observed and information obtained has stirred students’ interest to the professions of wood grower, landscape designer, flower gardener and they believe that this trip to Latvia will help them to choose future careers.
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