Experts from four Greater Altai countries signed an agreement on international cross-border cooperation
On August 1, an international scientific symposium on world heritage and cross-border cooperation took place at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. The event was held at the Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Scientists from Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Nepal presented their reports.
Altai State University was represented at the symposium by Professor of the Department of Economic Geography and Cartography Alexander Dunets and an associate professor of the Department of Physical Geography and GIS Irina Rotanova.
A special session of the symposium was devoted to the development of international cooperation in Altai and the prospects for creating a single cross-border biosphere reserve on the territory of four Greater Altai countries.
At the end of the session the experts from the Greater Altai countries signed a resolution.
In his report, Alexander Dunets noted:
- Altai has a successful experience of creating a transboundary biosphere reserve (TBR) "The Greater Altai" with the participation of two countries - Russia and Kazakhstan. However, of the 10 strategies outlined in the TBR development plan, not all of them are being implemented effectively. Systematic work with the participation of all stakeholders is needed. At the meeting, we proposed steps for its development, particularly focusing on ecotourism. We emphasize the need for more detailed work on spatial development in the cooperation zone of the biosphere reserve. It is insufficient to simply designate a zone for the possibility of tourism development, but further development of a multi-purpose project is important. Particular attention must be paid to coordinating joint work, including the methodological basis of research, since undoubtedly important scientific work has been carried out to date, but it was carried out fragmentarily and often not coordinated with foreign partners. Therefore, first of all, it is necessary to analyze the results already obtained.
Irina Rotanova in her speech addressed the establishment of an international transboundary nature conservation and tourism area in Western Altai as a prototype of a transboundary ecotourism territory. A geoecological justification has been completed, enabling the organization of a transboundary nature conservation and tourism area of Western Altai in the Russian-Kazakh borderland (Altai Krai and East Kazakhstan Region). This initiative aims to enhance cooperation both in nature conservation in Altai and transboundary tourism activities.
The experts at the symposium committed to preparing supporting materials necessary for formal agreements between academic institutes and universities. These agreements are intended to facilitate political decisions at the intergovernmental level regarding the stages and planned results of transboundary cooperation in Altai.