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PaanajarviandOulankaNationalParks–Russia&[email protected]+358400296411http://www.metsa.fi/web/en/transboundarycooperationPaanajarviNationalPark,Russia,OulankaNationalPark,FinlandSize:c.130000ha,1,300sq/km
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Participantsincoordinatingtheongoingtransboundarycooperation:
NationalGovernment:• MinistryofNaturalResourcesandEnvironmentoftheRussianFederation• MinistryoftheEnvironmentoftheRepublicofFinland
Protectedareaadministration:• PaanajärviNPadministrationinRussia,• OulankaNPadministration,Finland,• Parks&WildlifeFinland
Multi-NationalCorporations:• EUROPARCtransboundaryinitiative
LocalSmallBusinesses:• SeveralbusinessesandentrepreneurshavingpartnershipwiththeNP
administrationsObjectives:Conservationofborealforests,peatlands,riversystemsandalluvialmeadows,enhancingculturalvaluesandheritage,promotinglocallivelihoodsbydevelopingtourism,providingwildernessexperienceacrosstheborder.Valuesandimportance:Pristineforests,wilderness,uninhabitedarea,geology,exceptionallylargevarietyofvascularplants,commonculturalheritage,keyattractionforlocaltourismbusiness.Aspectsoftransboundarycooperation:Natureconservation,recreationandtourism,watershedmanagement,scientificmonitoring.
Stageintheprocess:Co-operationisinmaturestage,officialagreementssince1992,alargenumberofjointprojects,harmonizedmanagementplansandtourismstrategies.DateEstablished:Co-operationstartedin1992afterthedesignationofPaanajärviNPbyRussianFederation.OfficialProtectedAreaDesignation:BotharedesignatedasNationalParksaccordingtonatureconservationlegislation.Pre-studyfordesignationforUNESCOWorldHeritageSite,OulankaNPisaRamsarsite.TheCatalyst:OulankaNPwasestablishedin1956andenlargedin1982and1989.PaanajärviNPdesignatedaftertheSovietUnioncollapsein1992.RussianandFinnishscientistsraisedtheneedforconservationofPaanajärviareainthe80’sandtheysupportedthenominationprocessofPaanajärviNP.HalfofthePaanajarviNPareawaspartofFinlandbeforeWorldWarIIandtherewasplentyofscientificinformationonthevaluesoftheareainFinnisharchives.OneofthejustificationsfornominationofPaanajarviNPwastheexistenceofOulankaNPandtheirsharednaturalandculturalvalues.TheFirstDirectorofPaanajärviNPwasnotexperiencedinprotectedareamanagement,andwhenhegottoknowthattheareaisborderingwithaFinnishNPhedecidedtomakean
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appointmentwithFinnishcolleagues.Theoutcomefromthatmeetingwasajointwishtodevelopareatogether.History:ThedirectorsandrangersinbothNationalParkswerepersonallykeenonworkingtogether.TheFinnshadprofessionalknowledge,whichwasintheverybeginningmissinginRussianside.FortheOulankastaffPaanajärviwasalaboratorywheretheservicesandconservationworkstartedonvirgingroundafterbeingaclosedborderzonefor50years.ForthePaanajärvistaffOulankawasthewindowforexperiencedNPmanagementandinternationaltourismpartnerships.TheLakePaanajärviarea,whichistheheartofthePaanajärviNP,wasformerlyaFinnishvillageandthusthereweremanylocalswhoserootswereonthatareaandtheywerewillingtoparticipateinNPmanagementandsupportculturalheritageconservationonbothsides.RegionalauthoritiessupportedtheinitiativeandtheywereabletoallocateinternationalEUfundingtothedevelopingprojectssinceFinlandjoinedEUin1995.
Barriers,challenges,obstacles,orconstraints:TheborderbetweenRussiaandFinlandisclosedwithspecialregulationsandstrictborderguarding.Bordercrossingispossibleonlyatofficialcrossingpoints,whicharelocatedfarfromtheparkterritory.Thelivingstandardswere,especiallyinthebeginning,relativelylowinRussiacomparedtoFinland.Onlysomeofthestaffmemberscanspeakandunderstandneighbourslanguage.Themainwayoftacklingtheseobstacleshasbeencontinuouspersonalcontactsbetweenparkmanagementandpersonnel.Opendiscussionhelpstofindthesuitablelevel,formsandmeasuresforco-operation.Oneshouldconcentrateonthoseissueswhereonecanreallymakedifference.Onecannotfightagainstwindmills.Anotherimportantissueisthattheparkshavetogetherparticipatedininternationalinitiatives,especiallyundertheumbrellaoftheEUROPARCFederationandearlierasamemberofPANParksWildernessnetwork.Whenyouareworkinginaremoteplacefarfromcapitals,itisimportanttomeetthecolleaguesfromdifferentcountriesandregionsandtolearnfromthemandtoshareyourownexperiences.TheGovernanceandManagementStructures● Cooperativerelationship:Formal,non-bindingagreementbetweentheParks;co-
operationcertifiedaccordingtheEUROPARCFederationscheme“TransboundaryParks–FollowingNature’sDesign”in2005andre-evaluatedin2011and2016.
● Legalbasisforcooperation:Nolegalbase.However,thereisaninitiativefromthe
RussianFederationin2013toformulateanofficialagreementongovernmentlevel,butitisstillpending.Paanajärvi-OulankaareaispartoftheFennoscandianGreenBelt,whichisbasedontheMoUbetweentheMinistryoftheEnvironmentoftheRepublicofFinland,TheMinistryoftheEnvironmentoftheKingdomofNorwayandtheMinistryofNaturalResourcesandEnvironmentoftheRussianFederationsignedon17February2010.
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● Governancestructure:Long-termagreementwithvisionandobjectives,annual
workplan,annualmanagementteammeetings.● Cooperativemanagementarrangement:Annualworkplan,jointprojects,
includingtourismdevelopment,speciesmonitoring,staffexchange.Results:Co-operationisnowinmaturestage;theparksaretogethermorethanalone.Thereareinternationallyorientedmanagementteams,truefriendships,trust,deepinterestindevelopingtheservicestogetherandsharingtheappreciationonthespiritofco-operationwithnewstaffmembers.Theparkstogetherhaveareputationasareliablepartneramonglocalandregionalcommunities.Keyplansareharmonizedandtheparkssharethesamemanagementobjectives.Thechallengesstillinclude:borderformalities,localinvolvement,howtoinvolvestaffmemberinco-operationatalllevelsandhowtosecurecontinuationwhenthedirectorswillretire?LessonsLearned:Wehavefocusedinthecooperationonconcretemeasuresinourprojects,whichmeanthattheresultsarevisible,understandableandcommunicative.Throughinternationalcooperationwehavebeenabletocombinelocalopportunitiesandinternationaltrendstogether.Afterall,cooperationisalwaysbetweenpeople,whichmeansthatyouneedtobuildlongtermtrustandpartnership,andtherehastoberealwillingnesstoworktogether.EventhoughwehaveahistoryofwarbetweenRussiaandFinlandbehindus,peoplecanfindpossibilitiesforco-operationandmaketheirlivesmoreenjoyableandrewarding.ForMoreInformation:
http://www.nationalparks.fi/en/oulankanp
http://eng.paanajarvi-park.com/
Name Title Organization Email Phone
AlexanderBizhon
Director PaanajarviNP,Russia
SariAlatossava ParkSuperintendent
OulankaNP/Parks&WildlifeFinland
