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At the third newsletter
This newsletter is the third to provide information about the PRISM project.
This issue will address several activities, which took place between January and June 2004, including a visit of biodiversity experts to the Netherlands, a Remote Sensing image training course in Syktyvkar, a training course in fish telemetry in Utsjoki, Finland. Full reports of these activities will become available as PDF documents at the website in due course.
Preparatory meetings for PRISM phase 2 were organised to assure future funding. The partners for water programme will continue and a call for projects is expected in September 2004.
Readers who want to be put on the mailing list of this newsletter please contact us at PRISM@riza.rws.minvenw.nl. Back numbers are available through the website, at www.prism-pechora.nl.
Mennobart van Eerden,
General project manager
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Our Russian project manager
As the PRISM project continues its implementation phase, it is more than appropriate to highlight the role of our Russian project manager, Vasili Ponomarev. Working as the Deputy-Director for Science at the Institute of Biology, Komi Science Centre, the main Russian partner organisation of the PRISM project, he is the invaluable focal point for the Russian and Netherlands partners alike. Besides, he is one of the leading fish biologists with long-term experiences in and extended of the Pechora basin. Vasili - thanks already for your efforts in supporting the PRISM project!
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Training course in fish telemetry
Between 16-21 March 2004, Professor Jaakko Erkinaro of the Finnish Game & Fisheries Research Institute organised a training in fish telemetry methodologies in the field station in Utsjoki, Finland. From Russia, Alexander Zakharov and Vasili Ponomarev (Institute of Biology, Komi Science Centre) were present, from the Netherlands Bram bij de Vaate, Andr© Breukelaar (RIZA) and Tim Vriese and Gerard de Laak (OVB) participated. They were joined by Jaakko Erkinaro, Jari Haantie, Eero Niemel¤ and Petri Karppinen (Finnish Game & Fisheries Research Institute) and Jorma Kuusela (River Tenojoki Fisheries Research Station).
Activities during the week included: stock assessment of young Salmon by means of electro-fishing - theoretical and practical experiences in Finland; methodologies for fish telemetry - implantation of radio tags, monitoring of migration with various stationary and portable receivers, discussion of Netherlands and Finnish experiences; acquaintance with methods - equipment and software - for the semi-automatic determination of fish age through the number & size of fish scales.
Special attention was paid to the planning of pilot telemetry activities in the Pechora basin in 2004-2005 - selection of tagging & receiver equipment in accordance with the peculiarities of the Pechora river basin and Atlantic Salmon biological features.
 
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Socio-economic studies continue
The PRISM cluster covering the analysis of past and present socio-economic developments in the Pechora basin is executed by a team of experts of the Institute of Socio-economic & Energy Problems of the North, part of the Komi Science Centre, headed by Tamara Dmitreva. The economy of the Pechora basin strongly depending on natural resources, it is the first task to analyse the past and current use of these resources, problems hindering effective and sustainable resource management, and to determine the industrial and social potential of the basin.
Currently, the team works in several directions -economy of the forestry sector, agriculture, natural energy sources (oil, gas) and minerals. Additionally the demographic situation is analysed, while also insight is obtained on the opinions among the population on the use of nature and its resources. Use is made of statistical data on the level of municipalities and enterprises, interviews were held with local government authorities, agencies for nature use and conservation, and managers of enterprises. Visits were paid to the municipalities of Sosnogorsk, Izhma, Usinsk, Pechora, Inta, Vorkuta, Troitsk-Pechorsk and within the Nenets Autonomous Region.
Curently the work is being rounded-up , a report was finalised in June 2004. The report describing the demographic and economic structure in the Pechora basin, an evaluation of the attitude of the population on the policy on use of natural resources, and statement on possibilities for sustainable development of the Pechora basin.
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Training course on Remote Sensing image classification
Between16-24 May 2004, the Remote Sensing image classification training was given in Syktyvkar by Hans den Hollander (Department of Ecological Geo-Information, Rijkswaterstaat AGI- Advisory Service for Geo-information & ICT). Ten Russian specialists with different background and employer were instructed on the principles of making a supervised landscape classification using a Landsat satellite image. The training also included a one-day field visit to a forest area near Syktyvkar, to collect ground-true information on present landscape types, and geographical coordinates for the geometric correction of the satellite image.
In general, the participants were enthusiastic and motivated to start using the knowledge obtained in their own field of speciality. Specialists of the Institute of Biology, Komi Science Centre - Leonid Rybin, Vladimir Shanov and Sergei Makarov - in the near future will start with a landscape classification of the region visited during the 2003 field expedition to the upper Pechora area. They will get the support from the members of the field team - Theo van der Sluis, Svetlana Degteva and Harald Leummens.
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Project meeting on biodiversity, land use and forestry modelling
Theo van der Sluis, Irma Jorritsma (Alterra) and Mennobart van Eerden (RIZA) organised a PRISM Cluster B progress meeting in Wageningen and Lelystad between 27 May and 2 June 2004. The meeting aimed at discussing implementation progress so far and planning of the work still to be done.
Biodiversity databases are close to completion, a few data from the Pechora upstream field work periods still need to be included. A database for the Pechora delta area is currently being prepared. Agreement was reached about the classes of the multi-scale land unit classification table. Methods for the integrated assessment of biodiversity were presented by Theo van der Sluis. Svetlana Degteva presented two reports recently completed by staff of the Institute of Biology, Komi Science Centre - "vegetation development & succession" and "land use in the Pechora upstream area".
The forestry modelling is gaining momentum - the parameterisation is completed and test runs of the model are envisioned to start soon. Work is continuing on defining the relationship between forest structure and integrated biodiversity for individual land units.
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