ИСТИНА

By the early 1960's due to the development of industrial production, the natural environment of the Soviet Union forced with the threat of reduction of many endemic species. According to the minds of some scientific experts, the industrial needs made impossible the total preservation of its natural environment. In 1960th the Soviet Union had only one form of nature protection on the local level as the establishment of nature reserves (zapovedniki). This changed with the creation of specially protected biosphere reserves under the auspices of soil scientist Viktor Kovda and others in the wake of the 1972-UN Conference on the Human Environment. There, any human activity was strongly forbidden and scientists can participate in ecological research. Biosphere reserves became the places with more high standards of environmental protection than national parks and even the natural reserves. The creation of biosphere reserves has not only the goal to save natural diversity, but they also became an important instrument for ecological cooperation with Western countries and socialistic countries. For instance, biosphere reserves participated in environment program of UNESCO and Comecon (The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance). Creation new national parks led to the spreading semi-protected territories. To explain the creation of new protected territories and establishing its borders the various aspects of conservation policy in the Soviet Union would be described in that presentation.