Biodiversity Conservation

Biodiversity Conservation

The Baikal is unique due to the evolutionary development of the fauna, which took place for a long time in isolation, in stable conditions. The lake is home to more than 800 endemic species of animals but due to human economic activity, the condition of many of them is under threat of degradation. To properly preserve unique populations, they must be systematically studied with the support of the state and society.

As part of our projects, we protect a number of Baikal endemics: the Baikal seal, the Olkhon vole and the Yellow-breasted Bunting. The Foundation’s priority is to provide high-quality expertise and up-to-date scientific data on the state of endemic populations, which can become the basis of a strategy for preserving the biological diversity of the Baikal region.

Goals by 2025:

  • to ensure that decisions on endemic species and the Baikal ecosystem are based on current and reliable scientific data.

How do we preserve the biological diversity of the Baikal region:

September 2023 - July 2024 The Great Bustard is a globally rare species and is protected not only in Russia, but also worldwide. The world population of the eastern subspecies is only about 2,000 individuals. Now the bird is protected by the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Red Book of the Russian Federation and various international conventions. In Buryatia, the Bustard is a consistently rare species that requires annual monitoring of its numbers not only within specially protected natural areas (SPNAs), but also in border areas where there is no protection regime. The Borgoi population of the eastern subspecies of the Great Bustard inhabits the territory of the Borgoi State Nature Reserve and its surroundings in the Dzhida District of the Republic of Buryatia.  In 2023, Burpriroda received a grant from the Lake Baikal Foundation to study the status of the population of the eastern subspecies of Bustard in the Borgoisky Wildlife Refuge as part of the programme for the conservation of rare, endangered and endemic species of the Baikal Natural Area. Goal: Studying and recording the number of the eastern subspecies of Bustard on the territory of the State Nature Reserve "Borgoisky" and in the border areas; development of measures to preserve the Borgo population of the bird. What was done: Population counts of bustards were conducted in autumn-winter 2023 and spring-summer 2024. It was found that about 20 individuals inhabit the territory of the Borgoisky Nature Reserve, and 40 to 50 individuals inhabit the territory of the Borgoi Basin.Proposals for conservation measures for the rare bird have been developed.The Borgoy's Dudak brochure (Current status of the Borgoja population, ecology and conservation of the bustard) was published. Publications The Lake Baikal Foundation funded projects to study rare lake inhabitants, Babr24.com, 30.09.2023 Three rare birds were spotted in a nature reserve in Buryatia, RB Newspaper, 03.05.2024 A scientific brochure on the bustard was presented in Buryatia, RB Newspaper, 26.06.2024 "Bustard is back": residents spot the rare bird in spring and summer, Буряад Yнэн, 12.07.2024 In search of a migratory bird: how the Foundation helps to keep a record of the bustard population in the Borgoisky Nature Reserve, The Lake Baikal Foundation, 11.05.2024 200 out of 2,000 bustards of the eastern subspecies live in Russia: what have the staff of the Burpriroda BU managed to find out about this bird with the support of the Foundation?, The Lake Baikal Foundation, 29.07.2024


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