Today, the first ornithological route in Tatarstan was
opened on Lake Kaban. It will include six viewpoints with binoculars, audio
guides with a library of bird singing sounds, a feeding device and navigation.
Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of the city, and Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman
of the Board of Sberbank, accompanied by Sofia Khokhlachyova, an ornithologist
and a member of the Russian Union for the Birds Protection, as well as
schoolchildren from the City Children's Ecological and Biological Center,
attended the route.
Aigul Latypova, head of the Directorate of Parks and Squares of the city,
met the visitors and thanked Sberbank for supporting the initiative to
implement the project. A.Latypova noted that such routes are available in the
territories of specially protected natural zones of the country, but the first
in the urban environment.
According to the Mayor of Kazan, the city improvement program pays great
attention to the organization of a green ecological framework. Alexander Vedyakhin
called Kazan one of the most beautiful cities in Russia and admired the
improvement of the city embankment.
“Of course, we are happy to develop this ecological project together,
where schoolchildren and adults can see what the birds around them look like.
It's great that we can help people see this beauty. In general, about 20 routes
and trails will open in Tatarstan, and with the support of our partner 2Gis
they will be mapped,”- he said.
Sofia Khokhlachyova said that there is a wide variety of birds on Lake
Kaban: reed warbler, coot, eared owl, hissing swan, mallard, gray heron - a
total of 20 species.
“The idea of creation such a route appeared not accidentally – we
received a request from residents and guests of Kazan. People are interested in
exploring the birds around. We studied birds by systematic observation, during
which we recorded the species and number of birds, their status – nesting or
migratory,”- she said.
The stands with photos and information about the birds are located along
the route.
“There is an information about the birds and how to take care of them,
because the route also runs through nesting sites. People can scare birds, therefore,
measures are prescribed that a person can take in order not to harm the birds.
The route will be particularly interesting from April to October,”- S. Khokhlacheva
said.
The Mayor of Kazan noted that the project will be implemented together
with schoolchildren of the Children's Ecological and Biological Center. Ilsur Metshin
talked to them and learned about their impressions. Young ornithologist Artur
Degtyarev told the head of the city that on the route they met a mallard, a
large grebe, a river tern, a lake gull and heard a reed warbler.
When developing the embankment of Lake Kaban, great attention was paid
to the careful attitude to the flora and fauna. The concreting of the shores
was abandoned, and pedestrian paths were laid over the water. More than 12 thousand
plants were planted along the lake, including shrubs and trees – willows,
reeds, apple trees and other species. For double cleaning of the lake with the
help of plants and stones, 17 cascades were made for lake self-purification.