“Work goes on day and night”: how national parks and reserves in Central Russia survive fires

Abnormal heat and strong winds have caused the emergence and rapid spread of wildfires in a number of regions of Central Russia.

On August 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the current situation "difficult" and "worrying."

Fires broke out not only in Ryazan, but also in the Nizhny Novgorod region and the Republic of Mari El.

And the smoke from the fires reached, among other things, Moscow, the Moscow and Vladimir regions.

“I note that in the Ryazan region, not only the lands of the forest fund are burning, the responsibility for which lies with the subject of the Federation.

The fires spread to two specially protected natural areas - the Oksky and Meshchersky reserves, to two reserves, ”he added at a meeting on the elimination of natural fires in the territory of individual constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

As Alexei Pankov, deputy director of the Oksky Reserve, told RT, the fire area on the territory was more than 500 hectares.

The problem is that specialists need not only to put out the current fire, but also to guard the previous fires that began in early August.

“The current fire actually started on August 6th.

He came to our territory, then it started to rain, and we managed to localize him: we plowed the territory and held the fire.

But in the neighboring territory, in the Kudomskoye forestry, as soon as the rains stopped, the fire began to rage with renewed vigor and laid the foundation for the large-scale fire that is now going on.

On August 14-15, there was a strong wind that turned the fire into a riding one, which means that the speed of the spread of fire is higher, it is more difficult to extinguish it, only by planes, and it is much more dangerous than the grassroots, ”Alexey Pankov explained.

According to his description, it is dangerous to be in the part of the reserve engulfed by fire.

According to Pankov, the swamp is on fire, so equipment cannot get there and even the movement of people is difficult.

The situation is complicated by the fact that the same area burned in 2010, so there are a lot of old fallen trees on the territory.

“Now the scale is about the same as in 2010 or even more, because 12 years ago, as a rule, there were no crown fires,” says the deputy director of the Oksky Reserve.

According to Pankov, on the part that burned in 2010 and is now burning, “the restoration process has just begun, small birch trees grow, five meters each, thin.”

As for the damage to fauna, birds and large animals, as a rule, escape fire without any problems: “But small animals such as hedgehogs, unfortunately, die in such a situation, because fire can overtake them quite suddenly.”

A lot of work needs to be done

The crown fire also moved from the adjacent territory to the land of the Meshchersky National Park.

Now all its specialists have been sent to eliminate the fire: according to the characteristics of the Meshchersky representatives, "heroic work goes on day and night."

“Fires like this have an impact on the biodiversity of an area.

Animals migrate and die.

Bird nests are burning.

The flora dies, the composition of the soil changes.

Over time, nature will recover and even get better, but it will take years.

We must not forget about the people living in the park: the way of life, habitat is changing, infrastructure and houses may suffer, ”said representatives of the national park in an interview with RT.

In the regions adjacent to the Ryazan region, special measures were introduced in connection with forest fires.

For example, in the Vladimir region, people's access to forests is limited.

“Drive by car only by agreement.

If citizens try to break through on their own, then this already threatens with an administrative article, ”explained RT in the Unified Directorate of Specially Protected Natural Territories of the Vladimir Region.

At the same time, the interlocutor of RT noted that the directorate is engaged in the protection of 100 objects in the region, while there are only five employees: “Closing the passage to the forests with the forces of five people is simply unrealistic.

Therefore, combined teams have now been created in each district under the leadership of local administrations, and our employees are also included in them to monitor the situation with fires.”

The degree of damage from forest fires directly depends on the type of natural area, the director of the Voronezh State Natural Biosphere Reserve named after V.M.

Peskov Anatoly Tarasov. 

“Economic activities are carried out in the reserves and national parks, the territory, as a rule, is not so large.

And if, for example, a tree has fallen, then it will be removed.

But nature reserves are huge areas, a solid wall of forest, where there can be a lot of such dried up fallen trees.

Accordingly, when extinguishing a fire in the reserve, it is easier to get to the fire.

And in order to put out the fire in the reserve, you need to do a lot of work, up to sawing off part of the forest, in order to clear the way for equipment, ”he explained to RT.

According to Anatoly Tarasov, 90% of the causes of the fire are the human factor.

At the same time, he attributes 10% of the causes of fires to the consequences of climate change: “Because of the heat, dry thunderstorms often occur lately.

Lightning strikes mainly aspen, oak and pine, and there is no rain to put out the burning tree.

And the fire starts.

We now have the fifth level of fire danger - the heat is +35 degrees and strong wind, because of which the fire will spread almost instantly.