Ecology/Environment/Wilderness in Russia

The relationship Russians have with nature is beautiful and intimate. “Environment” is not a word here, not a word in the dictionary, not word under a non-democratic system. Ecologia and piroda, however, say it all. The first is the study of nature, the second is nature itself; we don’t work at a natural history museum, we work at a musei pirodi, where all aspects of the outside world come together in rock displays, stuffed animals, diagrams and models, bones and live animals. Our host family, which runs LAT, never evince any interest in the political issues—they merely love the world outside (well, Igor despises Greenpeace, arguing it does more harm than good in Russia, which is true). The version of nature here doesn’t inspire the sort of sleeve-worn, nalgene environmentalism that thrives stateside; it’s an automatic lifestyle (none of this may be good). They don’t treasure it they live in it. They take it for granted.

The natural uncertainty principle says we can’t hear a tree fall in the forest if we haven’t knocked other trees down to get there. What nature means here (defined by groups like the Laboratory for Active Tourism, FIRN, the Museum of Nature) hinges on the wildness of the forest, on a very Siberian appreciation for nature that cannot imagine urban life without an appropriate balance of wildlife, without the retreat to more primeval scenes, an edginess of a whole different sort. An edginess to take the edge off beer damp, dirt-caked, blood-stained city life. Along with a general, deep rooted antipathy to “business strategy,” this philosophy is not conducive to the eco-tourism that keeps so much of Eastern Europe afloat and that has come to define the American national park system. The tension between preservation and appreciation, between appreciation and tourism, between the old and the new, keeps the park pretty but poor. It’s anyone’s guess how many visitors our eagerly-anticipated brochure will bring to the park; but it’s also unclear how they’ll manage to pay for a new brochure. And if they can, still unclear is how the park could afford to clean up all the trash that all those new visitors would bring.