In the northern hemisphere, on the territory of Russia, there is a swamp of international importance. Since 2000, Siberian wetlands have been included in the preliminary list of areas protected by the Ramsar Convention.
In total, there are 35 international-level wetland sites on Russian territory. There are 1926 similar sites in the world, and they are located in 160 states. The Ramsar Convention is dedicated to the habitats of waterfowl, but the Vasyugan bog system is valuable not only from this point of view.
Natural filter
The area of the swamp system is comparable to the territory of some European states. Switzerland occupies 4.1 million hectares, and the Vasyugan swamps 5.5 million hectares. Wetlands are spread over the territories of Tomsk, Novosibirsk and Omsk regions and annually expand by 0.8 km2.
Peat reserves are more than 1 billion tons with a depth of up to 10 meters. It is a natural greenhouse gas filter. Thanks to peat reserves, the swamp absorbs toxic elements from the atmosphere and accumulates carbon dioxide. The Vasyugan bog alone contains 12% of the carbon reserves of the entire West Siberian region. Up to 10 million tons of carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere per year.
At the same time, bog vegetation releases up to 4 million tons of oxygen per year. Endangered, rare and valuable plant species grow here, and there is a large stock of medicinal herbs. From wild plants, there are many cloudberries, blueberries, cranberries.
The Vasyugan bogs are a source of fresh water: there are 800 thousand lakes here, rivers flow from the bogs. Rare animals live on the territory of wetlands: peregrine falcon, reindeer, osprey, golden eagle, white-tailed eagle, gray shrike. There are many hazel grouses, wood grouses, squirrels, sables, elks, partridges, black grouses. Wolverine, otter and mink are less common.
Territory under special attention
The exploitation of gas and oil fields endangers the flora and fauna of the region. Also, parts of launch vehicles launched from Baikonur fall on these territories. They contain residues of heptyl, which is an environmental hazard. The territory needs special attention and protection.
In 2006, 10% of the area of the Bolshoi Vasyugan bog was included in the state landscape reserve. In 2007, it was included in the provisional list of UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites.
Honorary Citizen of the Kargasok District of the Tomsk Region, head of the network of phenological observers V. G. Rudskiy came up with the idea of creating a virtual museum dedicated to the Great Vasyugan swamp, and the project was implemented. A peat museum has also been opened in the Tomsk region.
