March 14-18, 2012 witnessed a regular instructor gathering of prospective ecotourism guides in Yailu settlement – the central manor of the Altaiskiy State Biosphere Reserve. The gathering was traditionally organized by the Tourist Department of the
Barnaul State Pedagogical College and the Environmental Education Department of the Altaiskiy Biosphere Reserve within the framework of the Teletskaya School of youth ecotourism
“Guardians of the Lake”.
Seminar's program, well seasoned with the organizers' vast experience, proved very ambitious and action-packed. Warm-up exercises on the ice-bound Teletskoye Lake conducted at the beginning of each field training by Ivan Pronin, an old hand at instructor gatherings and a final year student of the Adaptive Physical Training Department of the Barnaul State Pedagogical College, set a merry start for the rest of the day. Field trainings were organized by Yevgeniy Veselovskiy, a staff member of the Reserve’s Environmental Education Department with vast experience in the sphere of youth ecotourism and excursion activity management. Over these three days of fruitful work students and their teachers made three radial trips taking a view of the Teletskoye Lake and Yailu settlement from different angles. Thus, a steep taiga trail took them to the Vas’kina Mountain viewing point from which the participants could take a bird’s eye view of the Teletskoye Lake. Later they took a 20km trip on the ice-bound Teletskoye Lake visiting the Airan Cape and the Kishte waterfall, and a visit to Yailu settlement familiarized them with historical and cultural monuments of the Altaiskiy Biosphere Reserve and the settlement. The field training program covered a wide range of activities, namely, practical training in accident prevention on ice and in steep terrain, specifics of excursion management in a specially protected nature territory as well as gathering and processing additional data for ever-expanding excursion activity in the settlement.
Apart from that, prospective guides learned the specifics of work of the Supervision and Inspection Department of the Altaiskiy Biosphere Reserve, and their mentors received a collection of articles by the Reserve’s researchers to be used for further ecotourism promotion - a tested and viable tool for the Altai’s sustainable development.
A hot banya and a scorching cold plunge pool of the Teletskoye Lake – a time-tested prevention measure to fight all diseases – closed the set of instructor gathering events.
This year marks the 5th anniversary of spring instructor gatherings. For the fifth year in a row Vladimir Vasilievich Muravlev, head of the Tourism Department of the Barnaul State Pedagogical College has been finding time and funds to organize his students' trip to one of Altai's unique sites – Altaiskiy Biosphere Reserve – enabling them to soak up Altai nature’s beauty and wisdom and grow into harmoniously developed personalities. The school of active ecotourism molds his students into experienced guides capable of organizing trips with minimal negative impact on the environment. Involving students from other Departments of the Barnaul State Pedagogical College in instructor gatherings and expeditions in the Altaiskiy Reserve, and thus avoiding an accent on the Tourist Department, makes the mission of Vladimir Vasilievich even more significant and worthy of respect.
Spring instructor gatherings in Yailu, simmer expeditions to the Altaiskiy Reserve, autumn camps taking care of Yailu apple orchards – organized by the Tourism Department of the Barnaul State Pedagogical College in cooperation with the Environmental Education Department of the Altaiskiy Biosphere Reserve – are a well-tested tool of molding and supporting the youth’s healthy lifestyle and its vocational guidance.
Press center of the Altaiskiy Biosphere Reserve
Seminar photos