#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The Pasvik visitor center was opened five years ago, on January 17, 2017, in the Ecology Year in Russia. During this time, more than ten thousand people visited it, more than a thousand events took place there, about 400 of which were with the participation of foreign citizens.
The reserve is located in the valley of the Paz river, which originates in lake Inari in Finland, and in the middle reaches between Russia and Norway, dividing the two states along the fairway. There, along the border, 30 years ago, the reserves of the two border countries with the single name Pasvik were created.
In 2011, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation purchased an empty 840 square meter building in the Nickel settlement for the reserve’s future visitor center. The development of the project, as well as part of the construction, was financed by the Nornickel company.
“The Pasvik nature reserve is the pearl of the region. It is a unique example of trilateral cross-border cooperation”, said Anastasia Ruzayeva, attaché at the Russian Consulate General in Kirkenes. “The creation of such a visitor center, in our opinion, makes a huge contribution to the development of further cross-border cooperation and tourism”.
The creation of this unique space became possible thanks to the implementation of the international project Phenomena of the Arctic Nature under the Kolarctic cross-border cooperation program, as well as financial support from Nornickel.
“The exposition includes traditional information in the form of stands, photographs, maps, as well as multimedia in the form of videos, touch panels with questions and answers, quests for self-test”, said Natalya Polikarpova, the Pasvik reserve director. “Everything is as convenient as possible for visitors: pictures, author’s style, branding, lighting”.
Within the cooperation, Nornickel provides support for cultural and educational work, reserves monitor the environment and wildlife state.
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Text: Maria Sokolova, Photo: Nornickel press office, Pasvik nature reserve and Nikolay Shchipko
