Lessons from insect conservation in Russia

Abstract

Insect conservation in Russia has a long history, but it has been developing partly independently from the conservation tradition of the Western world, and consequently it is characterised by certain peculiarities. While this means that in many aspects the Russian conservation system is lagging behind the accomplishments of other countries, some of its solutions could possibly serve as good examples to be followed elsewhere. We summarise the main features of the Russian conservation-oriented activities and regulations to protect insect fauna, focusing on both their achievements and failures. In particular, we consider entomological microreserves, which represent a unique type of protected areas made of small fragments of land totally excluded from human economic activity, and devoted to the conservation (often active one) of specific insect groups. We also discuss the drawbacks of the expert assessment approach to select insects for the inclusion in the national and regional Red Data Books, which in Russian legal system entails protected status of the species. Finally, we outline the rationale of sozological analysis [the analysis of conservation value], which offers a useful alternative, allowing much more objective selection of insect species of conservation concern, based on numerous basic criteria reflecting both the status of the focal species and their societal values.