The European Green Belt is the territory along the former Iron Curtain. Being for a long time inaccessible to the general public, the areas have preserved their valuable natural heritage, including intact meadows, forests, and wetlands. At the turn of the centuries, the European community joined together to save the largest green network in this part of the world. The goals of the Association are to protect the nature, and to study the cultural and ecological history of this unique area.
The European Green Belt falls into four regions: Fennoscandia, Baltic Region, Central Europe, and the Balkans. Each one is supervised by a regional coordinator elected biennially. Coordinator’s tasks are to provide support to implementation of the Association’s action programme, take part in regional meetings, keep record of activities and prepare reports, launch new projects, contribute to promotion and visibility of the European Green Belt. The only scientific centre supervising this thematic area in Russia is KarRC RAS. Lately, KarRC, represented by its President Olga Bakhmet, has been the coordinator for the Green Belt of Fennoscandia.
The European Green Belt and its segment – the Green Belt of Fennoscandia, provide an environmental framework for the preservation of natural heritage. Karelian Research Centre RAS has been implementing extensive related activities on a regular basis for over 30 years, which is the reason for its being re-elected as the coordinator of the European Green Belt’s largest segment – explained Olga Bakhmet.
Over these years, KarRC RAS has produced feasibility studies substantiating almost all the protected areas (PAs) founded in Karelia in the past decades, and gathered an extensive database on the natural ecosystems of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia and its cultural heritage. E.g., researchers from KarRC RAS prepared nomination papers for the establishment of the Ladoga Skerries National Park and Kalevalsky NP; research work at the Kostumukshsky Strict Nature Reserve has been underway for many years.
- We have also identified quite a number of other areas: landscape reserves and bird sanctuaries, nature monuments, and others, varying in significance, objects of interest, and size. Many of the PAs have been endorsed, quite a few remain in process – so called “provisional PAs” – KarRC RAS President added.
At present, Karelian scientists together with colleagues from European countries, namely with the Ministry of the Environment Finland, are implementing a number of large projects for the protection of rare and endangered species, environmental education, and sustainable management of natural resources. Conferences, workshops, working meeting are organized. E.g., after the European Green Belt Association General Assembly meeting on November 5th, it was decided to have the next conference in Petrozavodsk in 2021, if the epidemiological situation allows.
Implementation of projects related to the Green Belt of Fennoscandia is a federal-level task in Russia, handled, in particular, with support from the Russian Environment Ministry. Karelian Research Centre RAS oversees Green Belt border areas not only in Karelia, but also in the Murmansk Region, i.e. the Russian-Finnish and the Russian-Norwegian sections of the border.
The fact that over a half of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia falls in the Arctic zone adds to the relevance of its conservation. The proposal to employ earlier developments in this sphere is already recorded in the documents regarding the development of the Russian Arctic.
KarRC RAS
in social media
in social media
News
November 30, 2020
Karelian Research Centre RAS was re-elected as the regional coordinator of the Green Belt of Fennoscandia, encompassing border areas of Russia, Finland, and Norway.
See also:
October 5, 2026
Ancient rock art discussed in Belomorsk by scientists from across Russia
On October 1-5, Zalavruga Visitor Center in Belomorsk hosted the All-Russian Conference "Ancient Rock Art: Contemporary Challenges in Preservation, Management and Use". Scientists from Petrozavodsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Ufa, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Tver, Vladivostok, and Apatity, as well as from Astana (Kazakhstan) delivered presentations and discussed the results and prospects of research on ancient rock art.
On October 1-5, Zalavruga Visitor Center in Belomorsk hosted the All-Russian Conference "Ancient Rock Art: Contemporary Challenges in Preservation, Management and Use". Scientists from Petrozavodsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Ufa, Kemerovo, Novosibirsk, Tver, Vladivostok, and Apatity, as well as from Astana (Kazakhstan) delivered presentations and discussed the results and prospects of research on ancient rock art.
September 30, 2026
Karelian scientists present the results of research into plant growth control mechanisms at a conference in Makhachkala
Scientists from the Karelian Research Centre’s Institute of Biology and Forest Research Institute – Tatyana Shibaeva, Natalia Galibina, and Irina Teslyuk – took part in the All-Russian Conference "Patterns of Distribution, Reproduction and Adaptation of Plants and Animals" held in Makhachkala within the annual meeting of the Russian Society of Plant Physiologists. The researchers presented the results of studies on the mechanisms of regulation and control of plant growth, including agricultural crops and woody species.
Scientists from the Karelian Research Centre’s Institute of Biology and Forest Research Institute – Tatyana Shibaeva, Natalia Galibina, and Irina Teslyuk – took part in the All-Russian Conference "Patterns of Distribution, Reproduction and Adaptation of Plants and Animals" held in Makhachkala within the annual meeting of the Russian Society of Plant Physiologists. The researchers presented the results of studies on the mechanisms of regulation and control of plant growth, including agricultural crops and woody species.
September 29, 2026
Five KarRC RAS doctoral students granted scholarships
Five doctoral students at the Karelian Research Centre RAS will be receiving scholarships for a year. This decision was taken by the Head of the Republic of Karelia, Artur Parfenchikov, in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Karelia "On Scholarships of the Republic of Karelia for Students Enrolled in Major Professional Educational Programs", Such scholarships are awarded to undergraduate and graduate students, medical residents, and assistant trainees enrolled in higher education programs at the KarRC RAS, Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk State Conservatory, and a number of other educational institutions.
Five doctoral students at the Karelian Research Centre RAS will be receiving scholarships for a year. This decision was taken by the Head of the Republic of Karelia, Artur Parfenchikov, in accordance with the Law of the Republic of Karelia "On Scholarships of the Republic of Karelia for Students Enrolled in Major Professional Educational Programs", Such scholarships are awarded to undergraduate and graduate students, medical residents, and assistant trainees enrolled in higher education programs at the KarRC RAS, Petrozavodsk State University, Petrozavodsk State Conservatory, and a number of other educational institutions.