WASHINGTON, D.C. - Russian government officials and the public can now better police illegal activities within its most precious nature reserves, national parks, and wildlife refuges with help from a new map of protected areas released today by the World Resources Institute's Global Forest Watch (GFW) Russia initiative.

A clear sign that civil society continues to grow stronger in Russia, the map was created by two GFW Russia members in Moscow, the Socio-Ecological Union International and the Biodiversity Conservation Center, and is already in great demand from the Duma, the Moscow City Department of Natural Resources and dozens of regional government bodies, oil and forest companies, environmental non-governmental organizations, and nearly 2,000 schools.

The map, entitled "Strict Nature Reserves, National Parks and Federal-Level Wildlife Refuges of Russia," collects the most precise cartographic information to date on the present status of Russian federal-level protected areas and has already proven effective in land-use decision-making. For example, a consortium of Russian NGOs using the map's database informed Megatron NVK that the company's plans for oil exploration in the North Caspian region fell within protected boundaries. Megatron NVK has since agreed to change license-permit boundaries to exclude protected areas if the Ministry of Natural Resources can verify that the zones are indeed protected.

"The protected-areas map is already affecting the way business is being done in Russia," said Lars Laestadius, project manager for GFW Russia at WRI. "The map is based on public data the Russian government should compile and make accessible, but does not. Much of this data is already used in the Atlas of Intact Forest Landscapes that we created for IKEA, but we also thought it would be useful as a separate planning tool."

Sophie Beckham, forestry coordinator for IKEA Social and Environmental Affairs, added, "IKEA believes that the GFW maps of intact natural forests and further delineation of protected areas in Russia help support our work to source forest products from responsibly managed forests. These maps are practical tools to support our purchasing policies and assist our suppliers to meet our minimum requirements for forestry."

The accompanying cartographic Web site -- located at http://oopt.info -- features detailed information on Russia's 100 strict nature reserves, 35 national parks, and 69 federal-level wildlife refuges, as well as information on the types of wildlife and vegetation, the state of the ecosystem, and scientific activities. The site is currently only in Russian but English-language materials will soon be added.

GFW Russia is a community of non-governmental organizations that seeks to improve forest land-use by publishing practically useful, high-quality information. The work on this map was supported by the Moscow City Department of Natural Resources.

For more information on GFW Russia products, please contact Volha Roshchanka at +1(202) 729-7734 or volha@wri.org.

For more information, please visit the WRI Newsroom at http://newsroom.wri.org.

The World Resources Institute (www.wri.org) is an independent, non-partisan and nonprofit organization with a staff of more than 100 scientists, economists, policy experts, business analysts, statistical analysts, mapmakers, and communicators developing and promoting policies that will help protect the Earth and improve people's lives.

World Resources Institute

World Resources Institute

The World Resources Institute (WRI) is an environmental think tank that goes beyond research to find practical ways to protect the earth and improve people's lives. Our mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth's environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations. Because people are inspired by ideas, empowered by knowledge, and moved to change by greater understanding, WRI provides—and helps other institutions provide—objective information and practical proposals for policy and institutional change that will foster environmentally sound, socially equitable development. WRI organizes its work around four key goals:

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