On 16-20 April 2012 the Ulaganskiy District of the Altai Republic hosted a series of training seminars on Microloan-Funded Ecotourism Development Program supported by WWF Russia and the CITI Foundation. The key organizer behind the event was the non-profit organization “Altai-Sayan Mountain Partnership” established by the Altaiskiy and the Katunskiy Biosphere Reserves with the active support from the administration of the municipal unit “Ulaganskiy District” and the Nature Park “Ak Cholushpa”.
On 16 April T.V. Yashina and S.N. Shchigreva, representatives of the Altai-Sayan Mountain Partnership, and A.A. Maikova, director of Nature Park “Ak Cholushpa”, met with Y.M. Yargakov, head of the municipal unit “Ulaganskiy District”, and presented the Microloan-Funded Ecotourism Development Program targeted at residents of the district with a special emphasis on areas of the Ulaganskiy District adjoining the specially protected territories of the Altaiskiy Biosphere Reserve and the Nature Park “Ak Cholushpa”. Members of the meeting coordinated the schedule of key events and the composition of the regional commission in charge of evaluating the contest applications.
Balyktiyul, Koo, Balykcha and Saratan settlements hosted this week’s seminars that brought together over 70 participants. Apart from presenting the Microloan-Funded Program, holding a training seminar on application requirements and providing all necessary documentation for filing applications, organizers of the seminars visited camps and manors in the Chulyshman Valley and the Kok-Pash settlement. M.A. Mamadakov, member of the Economic Development Department of the municipal unit “Ulaganskiy District” also participated in the seminars alongside with the representatives of the Altai-Sayan Mountain Partnership and Nature Park “Ak-Cholushpa”.
The seminars also familiarized the participants with the experience of the Altaiskiy Reserve in establishing Public Boards and forwarded the idea of establishing similar Boards by residents of the settlements adjoining the Nature Park “Ak Cholushpa” to spur their environmental and social-economic development.
Altai-Sayan Mountain Partnership expresses sincere gratitude to the administration of the municipal unit “Ulaganskiy District” and more specifically to Yuriy Mikhailovich Yargakov, head of the Ulaganskiy District; Yekaterina Kalistratovna Ukhanova, head of the Balyktiyul settlement; Valentina Ivanovna Bydysheva, head of the Chulyshman settlement and Aidar Kirillovich Akchin, head of the Saratan settlement for providing many-sided support. Organizers would like to express their particular gratitude to Alyona Alekseevna Maikova, director of Nature Park “Ak Cholushpa”.
For further information concerning the Microloan-Funded Program and deadlines for filing applications in the Ulaganskiy District, please contact:
Altai-Sayan Mountain Partnership, ecoprosvet@mail.ru, 8-906-970-24-44
Support for Entrepreneurship Center at the Economic Development Department of the municipal unit administration “Ulaganskiy District”, 8 (388-46) 22-3-24
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The Altai-Sayan Mountain Partnership, headed by Igor Vyacheslavovich Kalmykov, is a non-profit organization established jointly by the Altaiskiy and Katunskiy Biosphere Reserves in 2009.
The Altai-Sayan Mountain Partnership targets the support of nature conservation and sustainable subsistence of local communities inhabiting the World Heritage Sites in the Altai-Sayan Ecoregion by means of:
- strengthening the potential of Wortld Heritage Sites;
- launching pilot projects in sustainable management of natural resources in World Heritage Sites;
- teaching local communities inhabiting World Heritage Sites or territories adjoining them the principles and methods of environmental activity;
- supporting environmental, research and education activity in the territories of World Heritage Sites;
- assisting transboundary cooperation in the Altai-Sayan Ecoregion;
- involving local communities and other interested parties in planning and management of World Heritage Sites;
- supporting other organizations’ efforts of sharing experience and information concerning the activity of World Heritage Sites and specially protected nature territories.
E-mail: alt-sayan@rambler.ru