BootsnAll Travel Community

There is a story that I've wanted to write for two years now, but I
can't think of the appropriate venue. I do not intend to become a
travel writer, but I am as passionate about travel as I am about
my graduate work in genetics, and my wife's and my interest in exploring
has taken us on horseback expeditions to former USSR's off-limits zapovedniki
(off-limits nature reserves http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_reserves_in_Russia)
in Ural mountains of Bashkiria and then Tian' Shan mountain range of
Kazakhstan. The zapovedniki used to be off limits, but since the
collapse of Soviet Union, they no longer are, and that is the problem.

The reason I am so keenly interested in writing about the two trips is
because the former zapovedniki are in a very precarious position right
now in both Russia and the ex-republics. Many are being logged,
grazed, and dismantled because there is no "nature conservation"
feeling in the populace. Through the rule of Soviet Union, these
zapovedniki were off limits to all but a few researchers, rangers, and
poachers. They did not exist from the public's perspective. They
still do not, and the world pretty much ignores them. The end result
is that we are actively losing or on the brink of losing natural gems
- can you imagine Yosemite quietly getting converted into mining
quarries and cow-pasture lands, with no one noticing?

I have no delusion that an article on this would save the parks, but
it's the least that I can do. It wouldn't hurt. It would be great if
National Geographic devoted an issue or article to the crisis, but
they seem oblivious as well. Any idea where I could submit a piece on
this issue? It could be one long article on the issue, or it could be
two stories on the former zapovednikini in Bashkiria and Kazakhstan,
with the same goal of focusing on the looming extinction of the
protected lands.

I don't think it should be a regular travel story. Encouraging
visitors to these lands is a part of the solution, but only a part.
Unlike the US national parks, the former zapovedniki have no
infrastructure. With no roads and no locals visiting the parks, the
foreign tourism will not generate enough revenue to sustain the areas.
More importantly, without the political will from the people to save
their own parks, the future of these is uncertain. I realize that
becoming an advocate within Russia is probably the best way to go
about this, but my real job is molecular biology, and I think that the
best I can do is to try and direct some attention to this topic.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Huh. Not sure how much I can help, but you might try some newer / radder / greener mags, like Plenty, Terrain, The Ecologist, or even Mother Jones.

Good Luck!
La

I haven't traveled within zapovedniki but have seen some beautiful parts of Russia. Unfortunately, the habits of Russian citizens are not always very responsible. While rafting in Bashkortistan (probably not far from the region you describe, on the Bela River between Ufa and Chelyabinsk), I recall fellow rafters mockingly stowing heaps of garbage behind rocks so that 'Greenpeace won't see the damage'.

The cavalier attitude of many Russian citizens about their great natural heritage is a genuine tragedy. I think the best we can do is to act responsibly ourselves, and hope that the example has legs.