PaanajarviandOulankaNationalParks–Russia&Finland
ArtoAhokumpu
[email protected]
+358400296411
http://www.metsa.fi/web/en/transboundarycooperation
PaanajarviNationalPark,Russia,OulankaNationalPark,Finland
Size:c.130000ha,1,300sq/km
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Participantsincoordinatingtheongoingtransboundarycooperation:
NationalGovernment:
• MinistryofNaturalResourcesandEnvironmentoftheRussianFederation
• MinistryoftheEnvironmentoftheRepublicofFinland
Protectedareaadministration:
• PaanajärviNPadministrationinRussia,
• OulankaNPadministration,Finland,
• Parks&WildlifeFinland
Multi-NationalCorporations:
• EUROPARCtransboundaryinitiative
LocalSmallBusinesses:
• SeveralbusinessesandentrepreneurshavingpartnershipwiththeNP
administrations
Objectives:Conservationofborealforests,peatlands,riversystemsandalluvialmeadows,
enhancingculturalvaluesandheritage,promotinglocallivelihoodsbydevelopingtourism,
providingwildernessexperienceacrosstheborder.
Valuesandimportance:Pristineforests,wilderness,uninhabitedarea,geology,
exceptionallylargevarietyofvascularplants,commonculturalheritage,keyattractionfor
localtourismbusiness.
Aspectsoftransboundarycooperation:Natureconservation,recreationandtourism,
watershedmanagement,scientificmonitoring.
Stageintheprocess:Co-operationisinmaturestage,officialagreementssince1992,a
largenumberofjointprojects,harmonizedmanagementplansandtourismstrategies.
DateEstablished:Co-operationstartedin1992afterthedesignationofPaanajärviNPby
RussianFederation.
OfficialProtectedAreaDesignation:BotharedesignatedasNationalParksaccordingto
natureconservationlegislation.Pre-studyfordesignationforUNESCOWorldHeritageSite,
OulankaNPisaRamsarsite.
TheCatalyst:OulankaNPwasestablishedin1956andenlargedin1982and1989.
PaanajärviNPdesignatedaftertheSovietUnioncollapsein1992.RussianandFinnish
scientistsraisedtheneedforconservationofPaanajärviareainthe80’sandthey
supportedthenominationprocessofPaanajärviNP.HalfofthePaanajarviNPareawas
partofFinlandbeforeWorldWarIIandtherewasplentyofscientificinformationonthe
valuesoftheareainFinnisharchives.OneofthejustificationsfornominationofPaanajarvi
NPwastheexistenceofOulankaNPandtheirsharednaturalandculturalvalues.TheFirst
DirectorofPaanajärviNPwasnotexperiencedinprotectedareamanagement,andwhen
hegottoknowthattheareaisborderingwithaFinnishNPhedecidedtomakean
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appointmentwithFinnishcolleagues.Theoutcomefromthatmeetingwasajointwishto
developareatogether.
History:ThedirectorsandrangersinbothNationalParkswerepersonallykeenon
workingtogether.TheFinnshadprofessionalknowledge,whichwasintheverybeginning
missinginRussianside.FortheOulankastaffPaanajärviwasalaboratorywherethe
servicesandconservationworkstartedonvirgingroundafterbeingaclosedborderzone
for50years.
ForthePaanajärvistaffOulankawasthewindowforexperiencedNPmanagementand
internationaltourismpartnerships.TheLakePaanajärviarea,whichistheheartofthe
PaanajärviNP,wasformerlyaFinnishvillageandthusthereweremanylocalswhoseroots
wereonthatareaandtheywerewillingtoparticipateinNPmanagementandsupport
culturalheritageconservationonbothsides.Regionalauthoritiessupportedtheinitiative
andtheywereabletoallocateinternationalEUfundingtothedevelopingprojectssince
FinlandjoinedEUin1995.
Barriers,challenges,obstacles,orconstraints:TheborderbetweenRussiaandFinland
isclosedwithspecialregulationsandstrictborderguarding.Bordercrossingispossible
onlyatofficialcrossingpoints,whicharelocatedfarfromtheparkterritory.Theliving
standardswere,especiallyinthebeginning,relativelylowinRussiacomparedtoFinland.
Onlysomeofthestaffmemberscanspeakandunderstandneighbourslanguage.Themain
wayoftacklingtheseobstacleshasbeencontinuouspersonalcontactsbetweenpark
managementandpersonnel.Opendiscussionhelpstofindthesuitablelevel,formsand
measuresforco-operation.Oneshouldconcentrateonthoseissueswhereonecanreally
makedifference.Onecannotfightagainstwindmills.Anotherimportantissueisthatthe
parkshavetogetherparticipatedininternationalinitiatives,especiallyundertheumbrella
oftheEUROPARCFederationandearlierasamemberofPANParksWildernessnetwork.
Whenyouareworkinginaremoteplacefarfromcapitals,itisimportanttomeetthe
colleaguesfromdifferentcountriesandregionsandtolearnfromthemandtoshareyour
ownexperiences.
TheGovernanceandManagementStructures
● Cooperativerelationship:Formal,non-bindingagreementbetweentheParks;cooperationcertifiedaccordingtheEUROPARCFederationscheme“Transboundary
Parks–FollowingNature’sDesign”in2005andre-evaluatedin2011and2016.
● Legalbasisforcooperation:Nolegalbase.However,thereisaninitiativefromthe
RussianFederationin2013toformulateanofficialagreementongovernmentlevel,
butitisstillpending.Paanajärvi-OulankaareaispartoftheFennoscandianGreen
Belt,whichisbasedontheMoUbetweentheMinistryoftheEnvironmentofthe
RepublicofFinland,TheMinistryoftheEnvironmentoftheKingdomofNorwayand
theMinistryofNaturalResourcesandEnvironmentoftheRussianFederation
signedon17February2010.
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● Governancestructure:Long-termagreementwithvisionandobjectives,annual
workplan,annualmanagementteammeetings.
● Cooperativemanagementarrangement:Annualworkplan,jointprojects,
includingtourismdevelopment,speciesmonitoring,staffexchange.
Results:Co-operationisnowinmaturestage;theparksaretogethermorethanalone.
Thereareinternationallyorientedmanagementteams,truefriendships,trust,deep
interestindevelopingtheservicestogetherandsharingtheappreciationonthespiritofcooperationwithnewstaffmembers.Theparkstogetherhaveareputationasareliable
partneramonglocalandregionalcommunities.Keyplansareharmonizedandtheparks
sharethesamemanagementobjectives.
Thechallengesstillinclude:borderformalities,localinvolvement,howtoinvolvestaff
memberinco-operationatalllevelsandhowtosecurecontinuationwhenthedirectors
willretire?
LessonsLearned:Wehavefocusedinthecooperationonconcretemeasuresinour
projects,whichmeanthattheresultsarevisible,understandableandcommunicative.
Throughinternationalcooperationwehavebeenabletocombinelocalopportunitiesand
internationaltrendstogether.Afterall,cooperationisalwaysbetweenpeople,which
meansthatyouneedtobuildlongtermtrustandpartnership,andtherehastobereal
willingnesstoworktogether.EventhoughwehaveahistoryofwarbetweenRussiaand
Finlandbehindus,peoplecanfindpossibilitiesforco-operationandmaketheirlivesmore
enjoyableandrewarding.
ForMoreInformation:
http://www.nationalparks.fi/en/oulankanp
http://eng.paanajarvi-park.com/
Name
Title
Organization
PaanajarviNP,
Russia
Email
Alexander
Bizhon
Director
a.bizhon@oneg
o.ru
SariAlatossava
Park
OulankaNP/
sari.alatossava
Superintendent Parks&Wildlife @metsa.fi
Finland
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Phone