Germany and Russia wish to expand their cooperation on climate protection and nature conservation. This was confirmed by Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the Federal Environment Ministry, and Sergej Donskoj, the Russian Environment Minister, in a joint declaration made today in Moscow. Both sides gave a positive assessment of past environmental cooperation. Since 2008, Germany has already provided 18 million euros for forest conservation projects in Russia and thus played an important part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions through protective measures and sustainable use.
In their declaration, Flasbarth and Donskoj praised the successful conclusion of a four-year forest protection project that was conducted by WWF Russia and the KfW development bank in the Bikin region in the far east of Russia. Russia's president Vladimir Putin declared the region a national park in late 2015 due to its particular importance. "This is a special tribute to our successful cooperation over the last five years. The project is a superb example of the way in which climate action, biodiversity conservation and support for indigenous peoples can be combined," said State Secretary Flasbarth.
Under its International Climate Initiative (ICI), the Federal Ministry for the Environment supports a number of forest conservation projects in Russia, as forests play a major role in climate change mitigation due to their role as CO2 sinks. The project region on the Bikin river in the far east of Russia enjoys a special status in this regard, as it has a unique, intact primary forest.
The project developed a number of different innovative schemes to finance the protective measures. One example is the production and sale of local, sustainable products by the indigenous population. The revenue secured the protection of the area for the long term. The project is thus exemplary in showing that forest conservation and climate change mitigation can also be economically viable. The measures developed during this project could also be applied in future to finance forest conservation in other parts of Russia that have similar conditions.