News

The international environmental project SUPER, in which Karelian scientists assessed the ability of the environment to withstand high recreational pressure in natural and cultural heritage sites, has come to an end. The project has also built waste management infrastructure in the pilot areas and organized lots of educational events.

A new international project entitled “Wolf: Barents predators – managing large carnivores in the Barents region” started at KarRC RAS. In the project, scientists from Karelia and Sweden will share expertise and research results regarding wolf populations.

A working meeting between representatives of the Karelian Research Centre RAS and the Ruskeala Mining Park development team took place in the mining park. Experts discussed research plans for the park, collaboration in the “European Underground Laboratories Network”, plantation of an experimental curly birch alley, and setting up of an integrated underground monitoring system.

A workshop of the international WAMBAF-Tool Box project took place in Petrozavodsk. Its participants were introduced to the forestry practices that reduce the input of nutrients and hazardous substances to regional and coastal waters in the Baltic Sea region.

At a meeting in St. Petersburg, KarRC RAS President Olga Bakhmet presented the organization’s results and plans for the Interreg Baltic Sea Region Programme, including setting up of an underground lab in Ruskeala, testing of sustainable water management tools, activities for and with socially challenged groups, and many other things.

Scientists working within the international project DIAS continue to familiarize people in Karelia with invasive alien plant species. One of the most aggressive among them is the widely known garden (or large-leaved) lupine. This beautifully flowering plant settles readily on poor soils, displacing native species, some of which may be endangered. The lupine can, in some cases, be dangerous for humans, too.

KarRC RAS President Olga Bakhmet and representatives of the Republic of Karelia Ministry of Culture discussed the plans for collaborating in the international project “Ordinary Man in a Great War”, in particular the making of a new museum exhibition at the Kalevalatalo Ethnocultural Centre.