TOMSK, Jun 9 – RIA Tomsk. A Department of UNESCO to study the impact of the Great Vasyugan Mire on the Earth's climate could be created at Tomsk State University (TSU), the university's website reported on Wednesday.
The Great Vasyugan Mire is the largest swamp system in the world, most of which is located in the north of the Tomsk region. It was previously reported that at the end of 2017, the Russian government created a federal nature reserve within the Vasyugan Swamp. The directorate of the reserve is located in Tomsk, its office opened in 2020.
It is specified that the prospects for the creation of the department during a working trip to the Great Vasyugan Mire discussed the leaders of the Siberian Institute of the Future (TSSW SIF), the Vasyugan scientific station of the university and the state reserve Vasyugansky.
"During the expedition to the largest bog in the world - Vasyugan Swamp - they identified sites for future research, discussed the reserve joining the Tomsk Consortium of Universities and Scientific Organizations and the creation of a Department of UNESCO on the basis of TSU. <...> The central direction of the department may be the study of the Earth's climate and the influence of the Great Vasyugan Mire on it," says the report.
It is specified that as a part of the consortium the reserve will conduct and develop researches on climate, ecology and quality of life. It is planned that a cooperation agreement will be signed within the framework of the U-NOVUS forum, which is to take place in 2021.
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In addition, the expedition participants outlined a number of joint activities to prepare a nomination dossier for the status of the Great Vasyugan Mire as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site.
"With our colleagues from the Vasyugansky Nature Reserve our scientific interests fully coincide in such an area as study of global change of the Earth. Interaction in this direction can significantly expand our research capabilities to study the transformation of ecology and the environment and will help to obtain the result, which is unattainable alone," Executive Director of Strategic Academic Unit Lyudmila Borilo is quoted.
The Tomsk Consortium of Universities and Scientific Organizations currently includes seven universities, 10 academic institutes and the Tomsk Scientific Center of the SB RAS. The structure provides interaction of the authorities with the scientific and educational complex of the region and is the link between industry, applied science, university and academic environment.