Expert Christina Rodina presented problems of sustainable management of forest and wildlife resources, as well as activities in this area by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) during a video presentation for students of the Institute of Chemistry and Ecology of Vyatka State University.
Christina Rodina, coordinator of the Global Programme on sustainable management of wild fauna resources and specially protected natural areas of the FAO Department of Forestry, delivered her presentation as part of the ongoing collaboration between the Moscow branch of FAO for liaison with the Russian Federation and Vyatka State University. Speaking about the history of FAO, its mandate, mission, structure, the expert introduced future ecologists to the main activities of the FAO Forestry Department in more detail.
The core of the presentation was a topic previously unfamiliar to the student audience: “FAO's experience in preventing conflicts between wild animals and humans.” The speaker said that the nature of conflicts varies. This may be "the extermination of crops and livestock, which causes material damage". Or the emergence of a "threat to human life." It happens that predators become carriers of diseases. Often there is a killing of animals "in retaliation", the specialist noted.
The causes of conflicts are multifaceted. These are, first of all, human factors: transformation of forests, savannahs and other ecosystems into agrarian regions or urban settlements; population migration for safety reasons (drought, floods, civil unrest, natural disasters or wars); growing interest in ecotourism and an increase in the presence of people in protected areas. Natural factors associated with changes in the natural habitat may also be causes. This is an anthropogenic impact on nature; droughts, fires, climate change; other unpredictable natural disasters.
As examples of modern measures of protection and prevention of conflicts, Christina Rodina cited the following: the construction of fences, in particular, the use of rows of beehives for this purpose; the movement of problem animals; the location of animals using GPS-collars and cameras. The given illustrations were taken by the FAO expert during his missions to African countries, in particular, Zimbabwe.
The video presentation ended with answers to questions from the audience.
