The ship "Empire" returned to the village of Listvyanka, Irkutsk region, after an eight-day tour of Lake Baikal. There are 27 passengers on board the first-ever cruise tour "The Protected Necklace of Baikal". They visited the iconic and protected areas of the largest freshwater lake in Eurasia.

The cruise program included acquaintance with the Baikal Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Listvyanka and with the sights of the village. As well as excursions to the famous island of Olkhon with a visit to one of the seven main shrines of Asia – Shamanka Rock. While tourists were getting to the island, guides told them about myths and legends, the history of the island. All participants of the cruise observed the rules of staying in a specially protected natural area.

One day, vacationers visited the island of Thin in the territory of Buryatia. Here they took a walk along the ecotrope.

"Visiting this coast is limited, so there are no factors of concern for animals, and people have the opportunity to freely observe them. There was a case when a white seal swam here. The nature is amazing and the people who come here understand this," Valery Vtorushin, state inspector in the field of environmental protection of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "Reserved Podlemorye", told about the peculiarities of these places.

In the Trans-Baikal National Park, the cruise guests were told about what animals and plants live here, and in the Barguzin Nature Reserve - the history of its appearance as the first protected land in the country. In the Baikal National Park, the guests landed on the island of Ogoy, got acquainted with the Sandy Bay.

In August and September, two more groups of tourists will get acquainted with the "Baikal Reserve Necklace". They will take a cruise on the ship "Alexander the Great". The tour program will be slightly different from the first one. Tourists will visit Listvyanka, Cape Kadilny, Akademicheskaya Bay, Olkhon Island, Cape Burkhan, routes "North of Olkhon" and "Small Sea Water Area" and more.

Tourism in specially protected areas is gaining momentum. In 2022, 14 million tourists visited federal reserves and national parks, which is 32% more than a year earlier.

The Head of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia, Alexander Kozlov, has repeatedly noted the need to ensure the development of tourism in national parks in accordance with unified approaches. That is, so that when coming to the protected area, residents could regain strength, learn something new about nature and how to preserve it. And - most importantly – they did not leave behind any influence on the unique objects.

The law on tourism in Protected areas, which comes into force on September 1, 2023, will lay the unified foundations for the legal regulation of tourism and recreational activities in natural areas. The document was developed for the first time and will allow to restore order in the field of construction of tourist infrastructure - the procedure will become transparent, protect national parks and nature reserves from excessive human influence on unique natural systems.

Source: Press Service of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia

Опубликовано: 08 August 2023