«DECISION-MAKING ISSUES»

STATE NATURE RESERVE FINANCING IN 2001: SUMMARY

The records of state nature reserves under the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) show that the total budget in 2001 for the entire system of reserves amounted to 348,192,000 rubles* (versus 265,223,000 rubles in 2000) and came from various sources (see Table 1).

Table 1. Sources of financing for MNR state nature reserves in 2001 and 2000

For the structure of the reserves' own earnings, see Table 2.

Table 2. Structure of state nature reserves' own earnings in 2001 (versus in 2000)

In 2001, 54 state nature reserves received foreign grants. The main grants came from the Global Environmental Facility (68% of all the grants), the World Wide Fund for Nature (11%), and U.S. government agencies (10%).

Grants received from Russian sponsors amounted to 5,266,000 rubles (versus 7,782,000 rubles in 2000). The involvement of various types of sponsors is shown in Table 3.

Table 3. Russian sponsors' involvement in financing state nature reserves in 2001

There is no "typical" nature reserve in Russia since each reserve has its own profile and specifics. The indices given here are simply to satisfy our own statistical curiosity.

In 2001, the average annual budget of a reserve was around 3,665,000 rubles (versus 2,949,000 rubles in 2000). The reserves with the largest and smallest budgets in 2001 are given in Table 4.

Table 4. Reserves with largest and smallest budgets in 2001

Of 95 reserves, 57 had budgets below average.

In 2001, 86 (versus 88 in 2000) reserves received money from the budgets and non-budgetary funds of federal bodies and municipal funds. The reserves with the most income from these sources are shown in Table 5. The regions that assisted their local nature reserves the most and least are shown in Table 6.

Table 5. Reserves with the most income from regional
and local budgets and non-budgetary funds in 2001

Table 6. Regions that provided the most and least financial support to MNR state nature reserves
from regional and local budgets and non-budgetary funds in 2001

In 2001, 88 reserves (versus 85 in 2000) earned income independently. The reserves that earned the most are listed in Table 7.

Table 7. Reserves that earned the most independently in 2001

In 2001, 54 reserves received foreign grants (versus 74 in 2000). The reserves with the highest income from foreign grants are listed in Table 8.

Table 8. Reserves that received the most support from foreign grants in 2001

In 2001, 47 reserves received financial support from Russian sponsors (versus 56 in 2000). See Table 9.

Table 9. Reserves that received the most support from Russian sponsors in 2001

Overall, the financing of reserves in 2001, as compared to financing in 2000, can be characterized as follows:

• Financing of reserves from the federal budget increased significantly (by 79%). This is the first time in recent years that the share of federal budget money in the total reserves budget increased (by 17%);
• Financing from regional and local budgets and non-budgetary funds increased by 10%. However, the share of financing from this source in the total reserves budget decreased by 2.5%;
• Reserves’ own earnings increased by 24%. However, there was a slight decrease of the budget share of reserves’ earnings (0.5%);
• Foreign grants decreased significantly (39%). This is the first time in recent years that the share of foreign grant funds in the total budget decreased (by 13.3%);
• Financing from Russian sponsors also decreased significantly (by 32%); the budget share also decreased (by 1.4%).

V. B. Stepanitsky,
Manager of Federal Projects,
WWF

*Average weighted $ rate was 1 USD=29.15 rubles in 2001; 1 USD=27.6 rubles in 2000

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