International Environmental Protection Symposium to Begin in Karelia Tomorrow - 7 April, 2003

An international symposium on environmental protection will begin in the Paanajarvi national park in Karelia tomorrow. The symposium will run until April 11. According to the Karelian Ministry for the Press, Information, and Public Relations, the event will be attended by Karelian and Finnish scientists.

The symposium, entitled 'Preserving biodiversity and using natural resources rationally in the forests of Northern Europe: the Paanajarvi national park as an example', is the first to be held within the framework of an agreement signed in March by the Finnish Environment Institute and the Karelian Research Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The agreement will see eight joint projects carried out to preserve biodiversity and develop a network of protected areas in Karelia, which will be financed by the Finnish Environment Institute.

Scientists will give papers on the flora and fauna of Paanajarvi at the symposium, as well as discussing how to preserve them. An excursion is planned to Lake Paanajarvi, one of the most beautiful lakes in Karelia.