Pechora-Ilychsky Reserve

The organization of a number of large domestic reserves was aimed at protecting valuable fur-bearing animals, primarily sable, the main source of valuable and exported furs. The sharp depletion of its reserves at the beginning of the XX century forced to resort to a three-year ban on fishing, established in 1913, but the ban was not respected. I had to look for effective sable rescue measures related to the protection of specific territories. Among the first were proposals for the organization of special sable reserves in the western foothills of the Northern Urals - the only place in Europe where the sable is still preserved. The device of reserves was planned in Cherdyn district (Belousov, 1915) and in the upper reaches of the Pechora (Nat, 1922). The latter included a small area of ​​dark coniferous forests between the Ilycha and Pechora rivers, which is now in the center of the main territory of the reserve. The initiator of the reserve, S. G. Nat, being a forester, and then a forest auditor of the Vologda province, visited the region several times from 1906 to 1913 to examine its forests, waters and hunting, the results of which were published in two of his works (1915 ; 1922).

The implementation of the proposal began only in 1928, when zoologist A.F. Chirkova presented the materials of Nath and a brief draft of a scientific expedition to Pechora to the Council of the All-Russian Society for the Conservation of Nature to check them and collect additional information necessary for organizing the reserve. The expedition was approved by the State Committee for Nature Protection, its leader was appointed Franz Frantsevich Schillinger - a well-known leader of the national conservation area.

During the summer of 1929, the expedition surveyed the area of ​​the future reserve, having traveled about 1,500 kilometers by boat and on foot. After it was completed, Schillinger (1929) made the following conclusion: “The preservation of sable in the European part of the Union, that is, in the Komi region, according to the expedition, based on a detailed study of this issue on the spot, is possible only if a large national park is established as soon as possible. most suitable place for this purpose. Otherwise, it is safe to predict that the sable will be completely exterminated as well as the beaver was exterminated. ” They were offered a project of organizing such a park-reserve in the territory between the Upper Pechora and Ilych, bounded from the east by the Ural Range, and from the north by the Ilychsky tributary Kozhimyu . The project was supported by many prominent Russian scientists, among whom were S. A. Buturlin , M. A. Menzbir , V. A. Varsanofyev , A. A. Chernov , G. A. Kozhevnikov, and others. Soon the Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR was issued May 4, 1930, in which the People's Commissariat of Enlightenment was instructed in the implementation of the five-year plan to organize and arrange six new reserves, including the Pechora Reserve (Nature Protection, No. 4, 1930). In subsequent official documents and publications before 1951, it is referred to as Pechora-Ylychsky, later the modern name was adopted - Pechora-Ilychsky.

July 30, 1931 Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR No. 826 "On the boundaries of reserves of national importance" approved the boundaries of the reserve proposed by the Schillinger expedition. The original reserve territory, in the natural borders of the Pechora-Ilych interfluve, had an area of ​​1,134.6 thousand hectares. and in this form was maintained during the first two decades of the reserve. On May 14, 1932, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR No. 510 “On the inclusion of the Pechora-Ylychsky Reserve in the list of research institutions of the RSFSR” was adopted. February 10, 1935 By the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR, the Pechora-Ylychsky Nature Reserve was approved as full, of national importance ^[2] .

In 1933, the first organizational plan of the future reserve was drawn up, including the staffing table, cost estimate for construction, and the acquisition of equipment and materials. The reserve began functioning in 1934, when the state was partially filled and the territory was first protected and the first scientific research was carried out by the reserve itself and the Botanical Institute of the Academy of Sciences. It was not until 1937 to staff the forest and scientific departments with the staff of the required specialties.

Management of the reserve was originally located in the village of Ust-Ilych , and in 1935 it was transferred to the village. Yaksha , where it is today.

In 1950, when the first reorganization of the national reserve system began, Pechoro-Ilychsky, like most of the others, was included in the list of reserves to be eliminated. He was able to be preserved only thanks to the efforts and perseverance of scientists, in particular, Professor V. A. Varsanofyeva . However, the protected area was reduced by more than ten times - to 93 thousand hectares (Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 3192 of August 29, 1951). The entire mountainous landscape area and almost the entire flat part were excluded from the former protected area. The reserve began to exist in the form of two sites. One of them, 6 thousand ha in size, was located in the vicinity of the settlement. Yaksha, the second stretched along the upper Pechora with access to Ilych along the valleys of the Bolshoi Shezhim and Shezhimu rivers. In 1959, at the initiative of the scientific community and the petition of the regional authorities, the reserve area was again increased (Ordinance of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR of January 14, 1959 No. 164-P). Within the boundaries defined by this document, the reserve is still up to date.

On February 15, 1985, at a meeting of the ISS MAB Bureau, a decision was made to grant Pechoro-Ilychsky Reserve the status of a UNESCO biosphere reserve. On December 15, 1995, at a meeting of the Bureau of the World Heritage Committee, a decision was made to inscribe on the UNESCO World Heritage List the territory of the “Virgin Komi Forests”, including the areas of the Pechora-Ilych Reserve and the Yugyd-VA National Park, as well as their buffer and protection zones ^[3] .

The nature of the reserve varies greatly as it moves from west to east. The Pripechorsk lowland, occupied mainly by pine forests and swamps, is gradually replaced by dark coniferous forests of the foothills, and then by continuous mountain dark coniferous forests (they reach an altitude of 600 meters above sea level), arched forests, meadows and mountain tundra. This landscape series closes the loaches of the Northern Urals.

The variety of forest types, their alternation is very large, depend on soil types, relief , geographical location. In the pine forests in the upper tier there is Siberian larch ; sometimes they are interspersed with islands of cedar , which is getting closer to the Ural range. Many hardwoods, including birch, in places powerful developed. Cranberries , blueberries , cloudberries are common in sphagnum bogs, black and red currants , raspberries , and wild rose hips are found on the coast. On floodplain meadows are dominated by tall communities of reed grass , foxtail , meadowspring and other moisture-loving plants ^[1] . The abstract of the flora of vascular plants includes 659 species from 228 genera and 87 families ^[4] .

The fauna is typical for northern taiga and is represented by 49 species of mammals, 230 species of birds, one species of reptile ( viviparous lizard ), four species of amphibians ( Siberian salafer , grass frog ^[5] ), 17 species of fish, one species of cyclostomes ( Siberian lamprey ) ^[4] . The background includes squirrel , white hare , beaver , brown bear , pine marten , wolverine , otter , ermine , weasel , elk , undertaking large seasonal migrations here. The forests of the reserve are abundantly populated with grouse birds - hazel grouse , black grouse , capercaillie . An insignificant number of species nest among the waterfowl — gus-rumen, large merganser, sviyaz, teal-crackler . In winter, you can meet the permanent inhabitants of the reserve - cross , cuckoo , tits , woodpeckers . Of the most valuable species of fish, salmon should be noted, which comes in protected reservoirs to spawn, taimen (along the Ilych river), grayling ^[1] .

The Pechora-Ilych Reserve is known for the world's first moose farm, created for the domestication of elks. This idea was put forward in the 1930s by Professor P. A. Manteifel ^[1] .

The idea of ​​moose domestication is not new. Numerous cave paintings of moose were found in various regions of Siberia, which people graze, lead in halters and about, put on a leash, use in sledges and for riding, keep in pens, etc. From what can be assumed that practiced by the ancient inhabitants of Siberia since the Stone Age . The Ostyaks, at a later time, also used moose for sledding, the Yakuts for riding. In the 17th century, in the Scandinavian countries, moose in a sleigh were used to transport couriers ^[6] .

In Soviet times, moose attracted attention primarily as capable of transporting cargo through taiga deafness. With the advent of snowmobiles, such a need has disappeared, but the results of many years of research carried out on the farm are very impressive. They gave valuable knowledge from the field of physiology, ecology, behavior of this most interesting animal, allowed to accumulate experience of its content in semi-free conditions. As of the end of the 1980s, there were several dozen elks on the farm. Studies on the domestication (domestication) of moose constitute one of the scientific objectives of the reserve ^[1] .

• Biosphere Reserve
• Bear Cave

• Map sheet P-40-33,34 upper hut . Scale: 1: 100,000. 1968 Edition.
• Map sheet P-40-69,70 Big Shaitanivka . Scale: 1: 100,000. 1968 Edition.
• Map sheet P-40-71,72 Pechora Nature Reserve . Scale: 1: 100,000. Indicate the date of issue / state of the terrain .

• The official site of the Pechora-Ilych Reserve
• Troitsko-Pechora District of the Komi Republic (pages about the reserve and moose farm)
• Information site of the Troitsko-Pechora region - Reserve
• Pechoro-Ilychsky State Natural Biosphere Reserve (Unc) (inaccessible link) . Archived December 6, 2006. (Wildlife Conservation Center website)
• UNESCO World Heritage Site Virgin Komi Forests on the website of the Natural Heritage Protection Foundation
• Pechora-Ilychsky Reserve Page on the lichenological site of Alexey Pchelkin
• Description of the trip to the plateau Manpupuner (1998)