As a part of our new program for the conservation of rare, endangered and endemic species of plants and animals of the Baikal region, scientific teams have been identified that will soon receive grant support from the Foundation to implement their projects.
1. A team from the Irkutsk regional environmental organization «Asia-Irbis», the Koltsov Institute of Developmental Biology of RAS, and the Baikal-Lena Nature Reserve’s scientific department will go in search of the habitat of the black-capped marmot in Irkutsk region and the Republic of Buryatia, collect materials for molecular and genetic studies of the red-listed animal and try to find the causes of its population decline.
2. The well-being of the same animal will be studied by specialists from the Institute of Geography of the Siberian Branch of the RAS and employees of the FSBI «Zapovednое Podlemorye». They will learn how the black-сapped marmot adapts to environmental changes on the territory of the Barguzin range (Republic of Buryatia).
3. The team of the Siberian Institute of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry of the Siberian Branch of the RAS will study the factors of conservation and restoration of the endangered species of the plant Megadenia bardunovii.
4. In the Chikoy National Park they organize monitoring of a large winged raptor – golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos).
5. Scientists from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the RAS will count the Baikal seal on the Ushkan Islands and study the impact of environmental factors on its overall physiological state of the seal.
The total grant fund of the program is 2,331,050 rubles. This amount will be distributed among the above-mentioned projects according to the anticipated expenses for their implementation. This year the implementation of five new environmental initiatives was made possible thanks to the support of the corporate trustee of the World Around You Foundation, Siberian Wellness Corporation; the «Nuzhna Pomosch» («Help Needed») and «Kod Dobra» («Code of Goodness») foundations; a donation from Raiffeisenbank and the Christmas fundraising fair «Horoshkola».
More than 30 experts from research institutes, higher education institutions and protected areas from all over the country, from Primorsky Krai to Murmansk Oblast, took part in the evaluation of the applications.
We will soon tell you more about each animal and plant, whose protection will be worked on by research teams from the Irkutsk region, the Republic of Buryatia, the Zabaikalsky Krai and Moscow.
Photo: Olega Mikhaleva, Sergey Kazanovsky, Chikoy National Park.