Cultural landscapes as vectors for local sustainable development

Overview

Many cultural landscapes of Russia are located in rural areas where living standards are low, the unemployment rate is high, and the economy has priority over the preservation of local cultures. Protected area (PA) managers and other key stakeholders do not have enough skills, knowledge or resources to effectively manage cultural and socio- ecological landscapes. The Environmental Education Center Zapovedniks therefore implemented this project in Shulgan-Tash Zapovednik (Ural Mountains) to foster the capacity of and collaboration between PA managers, local communities and local authorities, with a view to bring about a positive change towards long-term socio-economic development.

Key achievements

• The project strengthened the capacity of PA managers, local authorities and local communities working with cultural landscapes to increase their role in local socio-economic development.
• The project disseminated the experience of Russian and international projects as well as Kenozero National Park – one of the best parks in Russia that protects socio-ecological production landscapes.
• The project contributed to the better understanding of the significance of work in relation to engaging local communities in protection of biodiversity and cultural landscapes on protected areas, and dissemination of the best practice experience, and thus served as a catalyser of PA activities in this field.

Lessons

• Interaction and collaboration with federal, regional and local authorities during implementation of the project ensured their approval and support.
• To make sure the project results are long-term and sustainable, it is important to maintain this intersectoral cooperation between the federal agencies responsible for protected areas, and other stakeholders managing nature and cultural landscapes, and to secure state budget for the use of new skills and knowledge.
• Based on the experience of completed projects by Center «Zapovedniks», there is a possibility that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation will approve and support the best practices that were summarised and published in the framework of this project.