J. Wetlands Biodiversity (2014) 4: 73-95 SPECIAL NATURAL PROTECTED AREAS SYSTEM: THE NATURE CONSERVATION OF BAIKAL REGION Arkady D. Kalikhman and Tatyana P. Kalikhman Received: 16.07.2014 / Accepted: 07.11.2014 Abstract: Specially protected natural territories of the Baikal region have typically used either the basin or administrative approach. In article propose an integrated approach that allowing us to overcome shortcomings of the basin and administrative approaches. The integrated approach strives to navigate the political and economic barriers to an effective conservation plan. Keywords: administrative approach, basin approach, integrated approach, lake Baikal, nature conservation, protected areas. Introduction:1 of Lake Baikal" was passed. This is Russia's only law regarding the management of the Lake Baikal is one of the most unique places lake and the Baikal region. on Earth. This is the oldest and deepest lake The main way to preserve, maintain and in the world. It contains 20 % of the world’s restore the biotic and landscape diversity is fresh water and it is home to more than 2,000 through territorial nature conservation. The endemic species of plants and animals. territorial nature conservation activities Therefore, the current conservation of the comprise all the efforts to protect areas of waters of Lake Baikal and the surrounding different categories, status and regimes of region affects the state of its ecosystem. In protection. In accordance with the federal 1996, the Baikal area and its immediate law "On specially protected natural areas", surroundings were included in the list of the main categories of protected areas are World Natural Heritage Sites by UNESCO. scientific nature reserves or strictly protected In 1999, a special federal law "On protection areas (zapovednik), natural parks (regionally declared), national parks (federally declared), and refuges established at the Arkady D. Kalikhman: federal and regional levels (zakaznik). There National Research Irkutsk are also other, less significant (in terms of State Technical University Lermontova 83 St. conservation) categories of protected areas. 664074 Irkutsk Oblast The two most widely used approaches to Russia conservation of protected areas are: the basin e-mail: [email protected] approach and administrative approach. The basin approach is driven by the goal of Tatyana P. Kalikhman: preserving the biotic and/or landscape Institute of Geography diversity of the territory using the natural Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences boundaries of the lake basin, for instance, a 1 Ulan-Batorskaya St. watershed as limits for management. An 664033 Irkutsk administrative approach stresses the Russia Istros – Museum of Braila 74 J. Wetlands Biodiversity (2014) 4: 73-95 uniformity of institutional establishments This article discusses each of the three and economic conditions within the territory, approaches for comparison and analysis. in particular for protected areas, such as those in Germany which are subject to separate federal states (Bishop et al. 2000). Results and discussion: In the Baikal region, the basin approach covers the entire drainage basin of Lake Basin approach to the study of ecosystems of Baikal which contains units of four Lake Baikal administrative entities within the Russian Federation: the Buryatia Republic, the Natural circumstances have isolated the Zabaikalsky Kray, the Irkutsk Oblast and the basin of Lake Baikal as a region possessing Tyva Republic. A significant part of the high biotic and landscape diversity. There basin of Lake Baikal which is in Mongolia is are unique ecosystems, a large number of beyond Russia’s control. The basin approach rare endemic species of flora and fauna, as takes into account the condition of well as numerous endangered ones. In ecosystems and natural conditions within the general, the ecology of the Lake Baikal basin region in order to plan activities related to is relatively well-understood. the protection of the area. A nearly continuous mountain chain at The administrative approach seeks to the periphery of the basin contributes to local standardize the management of protected endemism of the flora and fauna. On the areas within the separate territories other hand, the basin contains the pertaining to Lake Baikal. The established intersections of areas representing different institutional features of the Irkutsk Oblast’, geographical zones. There is a complex Buryatia Republic, and Zabaikalsky Kray are pattern of floristic-faunistic and ecosystem- factored into the protected area planning, typological interaction, which extends to including those related to land-use problems, adjacent biogeographic areas and across the the relationships of protected area northern part of the Asian continent. regulations at federal and regional levels, in The biotic and landscape diversity of order to achieve unified management of Lake Baikal is determined by the latitude- protected areas within the administrative zonal, provincial and elevation-zonal unit. differentiation. Ecosystems form three main A new approach is proposed in this types of environments: tundra, taiga and article. Called the integral, it is intended to steppe. Biomes of the major mountain overcome the shortcomings of the basin and systems have significantly greater diversity the administrative approaches. It is known compared to adjacent plains. Typical of the that the boundaries of natural areas and areas Baikal basin, the overlap between latitudinal- formed by the administrative and territorial zonal and elevation-zonal patterns leads to division may not coincide. In the Baikal taiga and forest-steppe ecosystems, which region, an example of this mismatch is the are largely mountainous and steppes that Baikal Natural Territory (BNT). The have highland and lowland variants. determination of the BNT, which was The forest-steppe within the basin, in defined in the aforementioned federal law, is most cases, forms an almost continuous band the key to guiding its protection. There was of zonally elongated areas, southward of the therefore a need to identify and develop a taiga mountain systems. In general, forest- new integral approach to overcome steppe communities differ in the maximum administrative boundaries in a single plan or structural and biotic (adaptive types and to achieve a harmonious administration of forms of life) diversity (Bannikova 1990; the surrounding territory, not just the area Gunin et al. 1998). Fauna in the steppe is limited by the watershed of Lake Baikal. apparent, but there is low diversity, and therefore the sustainability of these Istros – Museum of Braila J. Wetlands Biodiversity (2014) 4: 73-95 75 ecosystems in the region is low (Lavrenko et space and varying degrees of disturbance of al. 1991). ecosystems. Very few disturbed ecosystems The extent of the basin of Lake Baikal are found in the high mountains (Khangai, enables provincial biogeographic Baikal, Barguzin, Ikat Ranges of the North- differentiation. There are differences in the Baikal and Hentey-Chikoysky Highlands) or flora of eastern and western portions of the the midlands (Hentey, mountain ranges of basin. The main forest species are two southeastern Transbaikalia). Small different types of larch (Larix sibirica and populations over large areas usually do not Larix dahurica) and they share taiga forest pose a threat to natural systems. Some of on the southern Siberia in the Baikal- these territories are part of the protected area Dzhugdzhurski areas (Atlas of Transbaikalia (Huvsgul and Zabaikalsky national parks, 1967). There is apparently no similar Baikalsky, Sokhondinsky, Dzherginsky differentiation of fauna from west to east in zapovedniks). The middle and lower the taiga zone. More significantly, the forest- elevations of the Lake Baikal basin are steppe zone and the river valleys beyond its characterized by mild to moderate degrees of borders contain forest-meadow species. ecosystem disturbance. In the southeastern The ecosystem diversity of the basin of part of the valley, the plains and hummocky Lake Baikal is almost 3/4 of the continent’s areas, disturbance is moderate and even north of the subtropics. There are general severe. Local disturbance in the largest geographic regularities of this phenomenon. lowland riparian and lacustrine ecosystems The first is the placement of the basin in the and particularly in the areas of water middle of the zonal spectrum of the collecting in Mongolia can be extreme. continent, a dense arrangement of the zonal The process of creating new protected bands of high gradients’ increase aridity, the areas in the Russian part of the basin presence of high mountain systems with a intensified during the "perestroika" period, full range of landscapes and ecosystems of but has stagnated over the past decade elevation zones for the corresponding (Savenkova 2001; Kalikhman 2007). In the latitude and longitude intervals (Gunin et al. 1980's, the zapovednik Baikalo-Lensky 1998) (1986), Pribaikalsky and Zabaikalsky The largest and most unique ecosystem national parks (1986) were created. In 1981, in the basin is the Lake Baikal’s ecosystem. the zakaznik Pribaikalsky in Buryatia was In addition to its ancient history and established. By 1990, the network of geological and geographical characteristics, protected natural territories in the Russian Lake Baikal is unrivaled in the amount of section of the Baikal basin had included 4 diversity and endemism of living plants and scientific nature reserves, 2 national parks,