Students and employees of the Institute of Geography with schoolchildren of the region started a project to improve the eco-trail under the program “Sirius. Summer"

20 January 2022 Institute of Geography
On January 12, students and employees of the Institute of Geography of the Altai State University began to develop a project for the improvement of the territory of the Aya Natural Park and walked along the route of the future ecological trail.

The project is implemented under the federal program “Sirius. Summer: start your project. Season 2021/2022”, according to which gifted schoolchildren, under the guidance of student mentors, solve actual practical problems of the region.

The trail will run along the southern and southwestern shores of Lake Aya, as the project participants decided. They chose locations to place small architectural forms. How exactly these objects will look like, it is up to the students to decide. The guys will develop their 3D sketches.

Schoolchildren from the Aya secondary school, as well as from Biysk and Barnaul, are participating in the project. Mentors are 2nd and 3rd-year students of the Institute of Geography, who study in the areas of landscape architecture, geography, ecology and nature management. The Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Geography and Cartography of the Institute of Geography Evgenia Tabakaeva together with  Altaipriroda participated in the development of the project task for schoolchildren. The project team was accompanied by the inspector of Altaipriroda Yuri Ilyakhin.

Telli Mukhtarova, a 3rd year student of the direction of Geography, emphasized:

“A personal visit to the site was necessary, since it allows to optimally assess the situation on the territory . It is not always possible to correctly characterize the area just using photographs, understand the features of the relief and the state of the object. Therefore, the specialist needs to see everything with his or her own eyes all the most important elements, flora and fauna along Lake Aya in order to improve it and make it more accessible for tourists. Thanks to this trip, we have a complete picture of the territory. This will make our job easier. Lake Aya itself left an unforgettable impression. Even teachers with great experience, who have been in different places and have a lot of experience, were amazed by the beauty of the fabulous winter Aya.”

The freshwater Lake Aya, located in a hollow among forested mountains, is characterized by clear and warm water. It fills one of the three basins on the surface of the Katun terrace. The length of the coastline of Lake Aya is more than 1 km, the maximum depth is 21.7 m, and the area is 9 hectares. The lake is located on the territory of a natural park in the Altaisky district of Altai Krai, 10 km south of the village of Maima. "Ai" in Altaiс means "the moon".

“The need to improve the beautification of the Aya Natural Park causes an increasing recreational load. The new eco-trail will make it possible to unload the attendance of the already existing trail, and, which is very important, will allow the guests of the park to get acquainted with the pearl of this territory - Lake Aya, because the current eco-trail does not affect the water bodies of the park. Thanks to the new eco-trail, interest in the territory will increase, which will positively affect both the scientific and educational activities of the park and the economy of nearby settlements, which is important for local residents,” says project mentor, 2nd-year student of Altai State University, studying in the direction of “Ecology and nature management”, Yana Pleshkova.

Schoolchildren's mentors and teachers of the Institute of Geography express their gratitude to the employees of  Altaipriroda  - director Alexei Astanin and inspector Yuri Ilyakhin for organizing support for the project team in the park and comprehensive assistance in the implementation of the project.

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