On June 10th, the recycling points re-opened for the third time in the Zabaikalsky National Park (the Republic of Buryatia) as part of the Trash Free National Parks program which has been implemented by Lake Baikal Foundation in partnership with the FSBI «Zapovednoe Podlemorye» since 2019.
The Foundation draws the attention of visitors to the fact that the location of some recycling points has changed. Now, two separate waste collection points are located in the Myagkaya Karga camp and one point is situated at each of the following locations: the national park checkpoint and the Sorozhia and Monakhovo camps. All recycling points are equipped with information boards that will help understand the rules of waste sorting in this natural territory. In addition, for each bag of properly sorted recyclables and for adherence to the principles of responsible tourism, visitors receive a reward, namely a green coupon, which can be exchanged for services of the Zabaikalsky national park during the next visit.
An important event was the arrival of volunteers without whom the full-scale operation of the recycling system and its ecoeducational component would have been impossible. All volunteers completed trainings on responsible waste management in national parks and are extremely interested in working with visitors and in telling them about the importance of separate waste collection and the possibilities of waste recycling.
Leyla Khakhuraeva, coordinator of the Clean Buryatia (Chistaya Buryatia) ecoclub, which helps Lake Baikal Foundation with coordation of volunteer shifts, shared her opinion on the value of volunteer experience and the approach to organizing a shift in the Zabaikalsky National Park: «A volunteer shift in the Zabaikalsky National Park is an opportunity to dive into the problem of separate waste collection, since volunteers constantly receive information about the world situation concerning landfills during their activity, they begin to study and understand the recycling markings, master their skills in sorting and then start sorting waste at home.
Baikal inspires! Such beauty must not be ruined. Volunteers come here to help the lake, first of all. Nature motivates and reinforces the confidence in the necessity to shift to a different way of perception of waste. After all, garbage is only that part of the waste that cannot be recycled, and the rest is valuable raw material».
Fundraising for the Trash Free National Parks project in the Zabaikalsky National Park continues on the Dobro Mail.ru platform. You can support the project volunteers by following the link.