2018

The BBT project at Holy Nose is completed
07/27/2018
The other day, the BBT project "Test Path" was completed.
Venue: Svyatoy Nos Peninsula, Trans-Baikal National Park.
The participants were from Irkutsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vladimir, Khabarovsk Territory, Yekaterinburg, as well as Germany and Austria.
The guys bathed in the Barguzin Bay and in the hot springs of Zmeevaya Bay, went to a field bath, rode a boat on the Chivyrkuy Bay, and of course climbed the plateau of the Holy Nose!
At work: two shoulders of a serpentine made 259 meters long! Also, the corridor of the existing path was cleared - about 4 km, 5 drainage structures were made.
Thanks to the guys for their dedicated work! It was a difficult project - I had to walk 4 kilometers uphill and back daily.
Now the plateau of the Holy Nose has become a little more accessible thanks to your work!
The project was supported by the Presidential Grants Fund.

"Way to Peschanaya-2 Bay" started
08/01/2018
On July 30, the project "Way to Peschanaya-2 Bay" set off. The guys have to build a new section of the trail, have a great time on the shore of Lake Baikal!
The project is supported by the Presidential Grants Fund of the Russian Federation

Northern project launched
08/01/2018
The team of the northern project "Path to Lake Frolikha" set off on an adventure!
Volunteers will repair and equip the trails on the territory of the Frolykhinsky nature reserve, which is part of the FSBI Zapovednoe Podlemorye.
The project is supported by the Presidential Grants Fund of the Russian Federation.

The final project of this summer has started in Hamar-Daban!
08/08/2018
The final project of this summer has started in Hamar-Daban!
With the support of the Presidential Grants Fund of the Russian Federation

Discussion of national paths in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation
08/27/2018
On September 6, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation will hold a round table on the theme "Creating National Trails as a Factor in the Development of Natural Tourism in Russia".
At the round table, the Executive Director of the Great Baikal Trail Association Eleanor Yeryomchenko will make a report "Problems of the construction and arrangement of paths in Russia using the example of the Great Baikal Trail".
Venue: Moscow, Prospekt Mira, 119 All-Russian Exhibition Center, Pav. 75, a conference room.
Also in the program of the event is the presentation of the routes "The Green Ring of Moscow", "The Road to the Lavra", "The Great Crimean Trail", "The Great Sevastopol Trail". After the speeches, a general discussion is planned.
Everyone is welcome.

BBT project in Northern Baikal
08/30/2018
In August, the Frolykhinsky Zakaznik reserve, part of the FSBI Zapovednoye Podlemorye, on the Northern Baikal, hosted the project "Path to Lake Frolyha".
Needless to say, without exception, all the volunteers were impressed by the North of Lake Baikal? Not a thousand hungry mosquitoes, which could be saved only by a mosquito net, nor cold summer nights in autumn, nor even traces of impressive bear paws regularly found on sandy beaches, became an obstacle. All this seemed a mere trifle compared with the crystal clear water of a mountain lake, stunning views of the Barguzinsky ridge, fabulous August starfalls and warm Baikal sunsets.
About the work done. Although most of the time the project participants were repairing the trail to the local waterfalls, they also managed to work on the very trail by which the project was named - on the popular tourist route leading from the cozy Baikal Bay of Ayaya to the picturesque mountain lake Frolikha.
On the path to the waterfalls, the guys installed a ladder and a railing on a steep rocky climb and built a bridge over a stormy stream, which spreads heavily in the spring and in prolonged rains (as happened last July). They cleared the trail, uprooted a large number of stones and built many different structures (bridges, ghats, turnpikes) to make the path to the waterfalls more comfortable.
On the trail from Ayaya Bay to Lake Frolikha, the volunteers put the gati in the swamp and installed the necessary railing on one of the difficult ascents.
Many thanks to the friendly and experienced (for half of the participants this was not the first BBT project!) Team of volunteers for an unforgettable two weeks!
Thank you, friends, for your excellent work, support and useful tips, for your guitar songs, delicious dinners with a smell of bonfire and a wonderful mood!
The project was supported by the Presidential Grants Fund.

Round table in the Public Chamber
09/14/2018
On September 6, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation (www.oprf.ru) held a round table in Moscow on the theme "Creating National Trails as a Factor in the Development of Natural Tourism in Russia", which was attended by representatives of government departments and structures, public organizations, specialists and scientists.
At the round table, the Executive Director of the Association of the Great Baikal Trail, Eleanor Yeremchenko, made a report "Problems of the construction and arrangement of paths in Russia using the example of the Great Baikal Trail".
Authors and performers of such projects as The Green Ring of Moscow, The Road to the Lavra, The Great Crimean Trail (Alexander Sovetov), The Great Sevastopol Trail (Alexander Zheleznyak), The Great Valdai Trail (Marina) also spoke at the event. Gritsun), the mountain park "Ruskeala" (Anton Yushko), "Rutrail" (Denis Doropei) and others.
Recall that at present, trails in Russia do not have a legislatively fixed status. Taking into account world experience in this matter, the adoption of a federal law on trails is necessary. For this, the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation meets for the second time and, following the results of discussions, makes proposals to the Government and a number of Ministries.
Thanks to En + Group (www.enplus.ru), thanks to the sponsorship of which BBT Association specialists have the opportunity to participate in events held in other cities.

BBT Autumn Project Completed
09/14/2018
The autumn BBT project on Olkhon Island has completed.
The project took place from September 3 to 12, an international team of volunteers was engaged in clearing and arranging the Klyuchik I and Klyuchik II springs located in the territory of the Baikal National Park (baikal-1.ru).
The project was attended by representatives of Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as England and the USA.
More than 700 meters of the spring channel was cleared, two new sources were found, several bags of old garbage were collected, and a dam for drinking to the cows was dug.
In addition to the spring, one day was allocated to help local residents in arranging the playground - they had to dig a dozen and a half holes, install heavy wooden blocks, paint game elements and collect small dangerous garbage from the territory.
In addition to work, volunteers also rested, walked around Khuzhir, played games, danced Yokhor. On a day off, everyone together went on an excursion to the north of the island to Cape Khoboy.
Volunteers returned from the project with good impressions, Olkhon and Baikal impressed everyone.
Thanks to the guys for their participation and good work, and we are waiting again at BBT!
The project was supported by the Bencharovs Estate (Khuzhir village) and En + Group (www.enplus.ru).
By the way, following the results of this year's projects, a new issue of Vestnik has already been created

BBT workshop in Ulan-Ude
09/25/2018
We invite you to a meeting with BBT in Ulan-Ude!
On October 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the final report seminar of the Association of Supporters of Eco-Development, Leadership and Tropology Development "Big Baikal Trail" entitled "Environmental Protection in the Context of the Development of Ecological Tourism" will be held.
The event will be held in the cafe of the hotel "AYAN HOTEL", st. Grandmother, 164.
Direct stop, buses No. 19, 28, 32, 40, 70, 71, 92, 132, 137.
The seminar is supported by the Presidential Grants Fund of the Russian Federation and is a reporting event for the 2018 season. Speakers of the BBT Association are scheduled to give speeches on the results of summer projects, new environmental educational projects and corporate volunteering, as well as on the participation of BBT Association staff in events on the creation of National Trails.
The BBT Association invites organizations working with volunteers, representatives of relevant ministries, researchers, environmental activists to participate in the seminar.

Results of summer projects
09/25/2018
The season of our summer projects is over, all volunteer teams did a great job and returned safely to civilization ????
In total, over 2 summer working months, BBT volunteers were:
- Built 1218 meters of a new trail;
- 2700 meters of trail repaired;
- 9175 meters of the trail cleared;
- Repair work has been done on the Bolshoi Koty-Bolshoy Goloustnoye trail;
- Built 45 meters of gateways in marshy areas;
- 56 stone steps and 5 wooden steps were added, one staircase made of wood with a railing;
- 2 new bridges were built and 1 existing was repaired;
- Built 6 structures of stone and wood (turnpike, if someone remembers what it is ????
- Installed 5 water barriers;
- Railings in 3 places on steep ascents and descents;
- Built and expanded 7 viewing platforms on the trail;
- Closed 1 natural trail;
- Equipped 1 parking (table and benches);
- Collected several large packages of garbage from the coast of Lake Baikal.
We thank our SPNA partners for cooperation:
Baikal Reserve,
The protected Baikal region,
The reserved Podlemorye.
We also thank the En + Group for many years of support for our organization and the Presidential Grants Fund for supporting summer projects.
We thank the organized groups for work and contribution to BBT: Baikal Calling, foreign students of the SRAS program (School of Russian and Asian Studies) and the Siberian Health group.
And, of course, most thanks to our wonderful volunteers of the season 2018! You are the best!
Let me remind you that the Vestnik following the results of this year is already available on our website.

Workshop held in Ulan-Ude
10/02/2018
The reporting final seminar of the Association of Advocates for the Development of Eco-Education, Leadership and Tropology "The Big Baikal Trail" entitled "Environmental Protection in the Context of the Development of Ecological Tourism" was successfully held on October 2 in Ulan-Ude.
BBT experts talked about:
• Results of BBT summer projects
• Results of BBT winter projects
• Results of the autumn project for the restoration and clearing of springs
• New educational projects, including "With a backpack along the trail"
• The history of BBT, trail construction technology and pre-design work
• Problems of national trails in Russia
• Types of environmental volunteering
• The work of the BBT Association on a grant from the Presidential Grants Fund
Our friends and partners spoke about their projects in Buryatia:
• Rajana Rygzynova, representative of the FSBI Zapovednoe Podlemorye, shared the results of the Ecodemia project, which took place this year on the territory of the Trans-Baikal National Park
• Maria Sukneva - representative of BBT-Buryatia, shared the results of summer work camps in the Republic
• Julia Alekseeva (Buzina), a general researcher, spoke about her experience of volunteer environmental projects in Baikal
The seminar was held with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund of the Russian Federation and is a reporting event for the 2018 season.
A total of 32 people took part.
We are grateful to Svetlana Tsybikdorzhieva for the provided accommodation and a platform in the cafe of the AYAN HOTEL hotel.

Come to the BBT reporting workshop in Irkutsk!
10/16/2018
Friends,
October 26 in Irkutsk will host a large BBT reporting seminar "Environmental Protection in the Context of the Development of Ecotourism".
At the seminar, we will talk about the results of the past season, share the results of BBT projects and tell important news, which we have accumulated a lot.
We will be glad to see your favorite volunteers, dear friends, partners and just interested in the activities of the Great Baikal Trail!
The meeting will take place on Friday, October 26, from 17 to 20 hours in the space "Boiling Point" at Irkutsk, st. 5 Army, d. 2/1, 6th floor, stop "Chkalova" (formerly "Consumer").
The seminar is supported by the Presidential Grants Fund and is a reporting event for the 2018 season.

Reporting workshop in Irkutsk
10/29/2018
On October 26, the reporting seminar of the Big Baikal Trail Association was held.
A report on the results of the field season of 2018 was made by Natalia Ivanova, Head of the Leadership and Tropology Department. The executive director of the organization, Eleanor Eremchenko, spoke about the results of projects implemented under the Presidential grant of the Russian Federation. Olga Mikhaleva, head of the department of educational programs, gave a presentation of visiting programs, and also spoke about the new program "With a backpack along the trail".
Our partners also spoke at the seminar - Daria Musikhina presented the projects of En + Group; representatives of the "Give the planet life" organization spoke about the great work of this summer; Elena Weber also spoke about the work of the Siberian Association of Interpretations.

ASI internship
11/01/2018
An internship at the ASI School of Communications and Innovation was held in Moscow, among 13 participants from NGOs from all over Russia, from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad, was Roman Mikhailov, head of the development and public relations department of BBT Association.
The internship took place from October 22 to 26. During the week, the participants visited leading non-profit organizations, editorial offices of magazines and radio stations, visited the office of the largest crowdfunding platform Planeta.ru in Russia, met their Moscow colleagues, and studied communication trends.
As part of the internship, participants attended the conference "Why the future of social journalism?" In the Blagosphere center, dedicated to the 24th anniversary of the Social Information Agency. The event opened with a lecture by Vladimir Pozner, after which the guests visited round tables and master classes where experts discussed social journalism issues, the need for specialized education for journalists, told how NGOs and charitable foundations publish their news on glossy magazines.
The internship was organized by the Social Information Agency under the project "Media Support for Civil Initiatives" using a grant from the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society provided by the Presidential Grants Fund.

Watering the swamps
11/01/2018
BBT team leaders Roman Chubakov and Roman Mikhailov, as part of the development of Cross-Volunteering, took part in a practical seminar on watering fire-hazardous peat bogs.
On October 27 in Moscow, the seminar participants studied the theory: what you need to know to flood the swamp and how to plan this process. And on Sunday, October 28, the group worked in the Artyomov swamp of the Gorokhovets district of the Vladimir region, where several dams were built.
In the 60-70 years of the last century, many swamps were drained for economic use. This process leads to the disappearance of swamps - an important water filter on the ground. In addition, dry peat bogs are a potential source of fire. Therefore, it is important to return the water back to the swamps.
Our gratitude to Greenpeace Russia and the Directorate of Protected Areas of the Vladimir Region for organizing the seminar, to the expert from Germany Frank Edom for useful information.
At the seminar there were also representatives: Society of Volunteer Forest Firefighters, Volunteer Corps of Baikal, Volunteer Firefighters of Kuban.

New grant for BBT
11/06/2018
Hooray, we did it!
The project "We Preserve Nature, Working for People" of the BBT Association won a grant from the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society, provided by the Presidential Grants Fund.
The grant amount - 10.7 million rubles, will be directed to the organization's work for the coming year. This is the largest Presidential grant won this fall in the Irkutsk region.
2 million will go to payroll and taxes. The remaining money will be used to develop voluntary projects to preserve the nature of Lake Baikal and to transfer the experience of BBT in training specialists, working with volunteers and arranging trails. Also in the plans are new full houses, signs and information stands for nature reserves and national parks.
An inventory of existing BBT paths will be undertaken.
As part of the transfer of experience, there will be a series of visits by BBT specialists to other regions of the Russian Federation.
We thank all the friends and partners who supported us and shared our experience!
And, of course, many thanks to the team and experts of the Presidential Grants Fund for their trust!

BBT at the Higher School of Economics!
11/16/2018
Roman Mikhailov, Head of the Development and Public Relations Department of the BBT Association, discussed with HSE representatives the project for creating a social video for BBT.
The BBT application was competitively selected in the Lime Accelerator project.
Of the seven selected applications, five are the main and two additional. BBT was lucky to be among them.
The organizers plan to release the video on November 26, while it is known that it will be 30 seconds.
We wait!
Thanks to Guzella Gennadievna, Eleanor and Anastasia for the meeting!

Winter projects 2019
11/19/2018
In Irkutsk, today the thermometer showed -25 degrees Celsius, which means that it is time to announce our winter projects.
This year there are two again:
"Snow of the Baikal Reserve" (p. Tankhoy) in February
"Island in Ice" (Olkhon Island) in March
We are waiting for you at Baikal! Sign up!

BBT and corporate volunteering
12/03/2018
BBT Association employee Roman Mikhailov took part in the VII Moscow international forum "Corporate volunteering: business and society", organized by the Association of Managers.
This event, which is the largest expert platform in Europe on this topic, was held on November 28, 2018 at the international multimedia center MIA "Russia Today" (Moscow, 4 Zubovsky Boulevard).
Within the framework of the Forum, we managed to communicate closely with representatives of the Ecological Center "Reserves", Dmitry Ioffe ("Clean Games"), Rustam Zakiev (Rusal), and, of course, with our great friend Daria Musikhina (En + Group).
BBT has the task of promoting corporate environmental volunteering, establishing links with corporations, attracting more resources to create the Great Baikal Trail.
The purpose of the forum in 2018 was to summarize the experience of corporate volunteering in Russia over the past years, discuss possible ways to develop and strengthen intersectoral business-society-government partnerships within corporate programs, identify and develop technologies for involving employees of institutions and organizations in volunteer work. The program included speeches by the world's largest experts, master classes and thematic sections.
Next year, at the VIII Forum on corporate volunteering, an environmental volunteering section is expected, at which our BBT Association will try to take an active part.

15 years of BBT!
12/03/2018
Officially, the Great Baikal Trail turned 15 years old! An impressive age for a public organization.
It was very nice to see all the guests, of whom there were more than 100 people! Friends, partners and volunteers for all the years of BBT's work shared the joy of the evening with us.
For a long time we were an Interregional public organization, in the summer of 2018 we expanded - we reorganized ourselves into the Association of Supporters of Eco-Education, Leadership and Tropostructure Development "Big Baikal Trail", which accepted congratulations on the fifteenth anniversary.
A detailed history can be found at: https://greatbaikaltrail.org/istoriya/
We express our deep gratitude to our partners of En + Group Company for the fact that such a holiday could take place, for the opportunity to rent a room and organize excellent catering. We were delighted with Daria Musikhina, a specialist in sustainable development of En + Group, who was able to personally attend the celebration.
We hope to see you in the same great company on our 20th anniversary!
See you on the trail, thank you all!

Results of the implemented Presidential grant
12/05/2018
Dear friends, we are pleased to offer you the final information on the past and implemented Presidential grant. Recall that from September 2017 to November 2018, the Interregional Non-Governmental Organization, and then its successor, the Association of Supporters of the Development of Ecological Education, Leadership and Troporestation "The Great Baikal Trail" worked on the implementation of the grant project "Preserving the Nature of Baikal through the Implementation of Effective Voluntary Projects".
Project activities began with the creation of a new site and the conclusion of cooperation agreements with the Specially Protected Natural Areas of the Baikal region. Descriptions of 2 winter projects and 10 summer projects were posted on the new site. After the start of the new year of 2018, we started preparing courses for the team leaders "Initial training of specialists in the construction and reconstruction of paths and in working with volunteers." Visual materials — posters and handouts — brochures were produced for the courses.
From February 5 to 14, we conducted a winter project "Baikal Railways" on South Baikal (Irkutsk, Circum-Baikal Railway, Slyudyanka, Baikal Reserve of the village of Tankhoi) and from March 5 to 14, "Island in Ice" on the largest island in Lake Baikal - Olkhon in Pribaikalsky national park. At winter projects, volunteers conducted educational classes with schoolchildren, developed new routes in the protected areas, worked on mock-ups of information stands, helped to conduct a music festival and renovated the school.
This year, 15 people studied at the initial training courses for leaders-leaders, 10 of them became assistants to the foremen on summer volunteer tropological projects. The theoretical part of the courses took place from March 22 to May 19. 113 class hours were read. The final stage in conducting the courses was a field practical seminar in the Baikal nature reserve "Volunteers as an important resource for nature conservation and assistance to protected areas". A section of the trail was built, the site for the Bird's Town exposition was cleared.
Traditional summer volunteer trail construction projects took place in the territory of 5 protected areas of the Baikal region. 10 two-week projects were carried out from July 2 to August 20. Volunteers lived in camps, worked on the construction of trails and structures, participated in the arrangement of the camp and spent time together on weekends. At the end of the project, each volunteer received a certificate, a bandana and a T-shirt, as well as an unforgettable experience and strong friendship with other volunteers.
The final events of the grant project were reporting seminars in the cities of Ulan-Ude (October 2) and Irkutsk (October 26). At the seminars, BBT employees spoke about the implementation of the grant project, and representatives of partner organizations shared their own achievements in organizing volunteer events.
Summing up the overall results of the implementation of the grant project, the following figures should be given:
- 358 people took part in the project activities
- Voluntary assistance was provided to 5 protected areas of the Baikal region
- 2 winter volunteer projects for the development of information stands were held
- 10 summer tropro-construction projects in the protected areas of the Baikal region were carried out
- 15 foremen and volunteers were trained
- 65 km of paths cleared, marked, built and reconstructed
- 3 seminars were held (two city and one field-practical)
- 1,500 copies of Vestnik BBT were printed
- 100 copies of methodological brochures were printed and distributed.
- 20 posters printed on banner fabric for courses

En + Group supports BBT
12/11/2018
The end of the year is time to take stock.
The success of the BBT Association was largely due to the support of our long-standing partners of En + Group.
They have been giving us the opportunity for 8 years:
- conduct reconnaissance before all field projects - travel to the area, make an inventory of the trail and tools, draw up a plan of work for the project;
- to purchase fuels and lubricants and other consumables for projects, making them much more comfortable and effective;
- give our volunteers memorable and useful gifts - t-shirts and bandanas;
- contain a decent and sufficient tool base;
- conduct educational field classes with children from village schools;
- print BBT handouts to popularize our activities, volunteering and ecotourism;
- procure the office to ensure the effective operation of the headquarters - the office of BBT;
- make business trips by region and country to share experience, promote ecotourism, participate in exhibitions, seminars, forums, conferences, etc .;
- provide training for BBT employees and volunteers.
We thank En + Group Company for many years of friendship and look forward to further fruitful cooperation!

Started a new grant
12/14/2018
On November 1, 2018, the BBT began comprehensive work on the project "We Preserve Nature, Work for People", supported by the Presidential Grants Fund.
The following events were held in November and early December:
to discuss the scope of work on volunteer projects,
the development of two courses on distance training of assistant team leaders and communicator-translators has begun
20 BBT projects announced for 2019 are being put on the site,
started a set of volunteers on them.
Our experts also began to develop a program for transferring BBT experience to the regions of the Russian Federation and a substantive discussion of the dates of visits has already taken place.

Project "Preserving Nature, Working for People"
12/26/2018
The BBT Association ends the working year of 2018, continuing to work on the implementation of the project "We Preserve Nature, Working for People."
Cooperation agreements were signed with all territories of the Baikal region, where the organization's projects will be held.
All volunteer projects for 2019 in Russian and English are displayed on the BBT website and there is a set of volunteers.
In all, preparations are underway for winter projects - one of them will be held in the Baikal Reserve, and the other on the island of Olkhon.
The project of the BBT Association "We Preserve Nature, Working for People" is carried out using a grant of the President of the Russian Federation for the development of civil society provided by the Presidential Grants Fund.