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"DODO CLUB" CHILDREN'S PUBLIC ECOLOGICAL ORGANISATION" |
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The club was opened on the 10th of February, 1986. Its founder and continuous director is Mr. Malsurgenov Muaed Sefonovich, an English and French language teacher. A personal acquaintance and correspondence with the world famous zoologist and writer Jerald Darrell as well as close yearly contacts with the Darrell rare species flora and fauna reserve park (Canal islands, Jersey archipelago) became a stimulus for establishing the club. Pupils aged 9-16 (200 in total) of three schools of the settlement of Sarmakovo are members of the club. Each of them has a badge and member's card with an emblem of the "Dodo Club". Like-minded people from other regions and republics of the Northern Caucasus work in close cooperation with the club. Personal gifts from Jerald Darrell, posters, displaying animal and bird species, booklets, albums, books and yearly publications of the Darrell park (Dodo dispatch) are a special pride of the club. An emblem of the club displays a Dront bird, which became extinct at the end of the last century and had dwelled on Mascaren islands in Indian Ocean. The main activity of the club is ecological research and observation at the upper reaches of the valley of the Malka river, originating at the very foot of the Elbrus mountain. During these 14 years members of the Dodo Club have been on 50 research trips/expeditions in the upper reaches of the Malka river. Geological and archeological finds as well as scientific works on local lore and ecology are witnesses to such research. The club has its own museum rich in expositions of interesting finds. These are fossil prehistoric sea animals (dinosaur egg yoke, fish and unknown animals). The major discovery of the club is a finding of the place of origin of the Jenal tulip (Lat. pionis) on the mountain Jenal at the 1200m height. This endemic has been considered extinct for the last 15-20 years. Another discovery is that of a magnetic field 40 meters in diameter, which had been previously unknown in the region; the club has also discovered 2 new sources of freshwater at the foot of the Jenal mountain, which have been named Dodo and Princess Di. Among the last discoveries there has been that of a rarest officinal herb for treatment of burns and open wounds - "Herb of Ancient Motherland" (local name, no Latin scientific name available). The club has close ties with organisations in Russia as well as with foreign colleagues from the USA, UK, France, Italy, Germany and Czech republic. The club is a Full Member of UNESCO (the only one) in the Planetary society department, which unites 24 countries in the field of preservation of nature monuments and historic places, and also of the main ecological movement of Rome (Legambiente). The club has access to the Internet. Via the world wide web we receive a lot of requests from students, biologists, archeologists expressing their wishes to travel to the Caucasus for carrying out their scientific work, especially as concerns herbs and extinct flora and fauna. The club has received many invitations from the US, UK, France and Italy. Thus in 1996 10 of our activists made a 17 days trip to Italy where they stayed at the Children Recreation centre "Selvija de pini". Earlier in September and November of 1992 the settlement of Sarmakovo had hosted a French scientific expedition "Caucasus-92", which with the help of our club gathered abundant materials about the flora and fauna in the valley of the Malka river. They carried out Malka river water analysis of samples taken at various locations and came to the conclusion that the river is one of the most clear river in Europe. The expedition also resulted in a profound popular science film which was shown on TF1, a Parisian channel, in 1993. The members of the club carry out yearly observations of:
Also observations of:
As per the club's research results the water level in wells and springs decreased from 50 cm to 2 m for the period of 1995-2000. The number of sea gulls from the Caspian sea has increased noticeably. According to our observation pike disappeared in the Malka river, in 1997 the number of owls and eagle-owls dramatically increased in the neighbourhood of the nearby village of Kamlyukovo; cases of game shooting of herons, ringed in 1998, have been registered; as has the drying up of the Bolshiye Kuraty and Zhamankul rivers. Since 1996 one may notice a noticeable increase in animals on the alpine pastures. The eagle "White-headed sip", entered in the Red Data Book, has been noticed. Also peonies and Italian pines have been replanted onto the right side of the Malka river, which have successfully taken root in the place. The club is to climb the alpine mountain mass of the Kanzhal for laying a foundation of a new obelisk, where an historic battle of Kabarda and Crimean Khanate took place in 1708. A special committee on restoration of Equestrian sport section "Shagdy" is working, also to organise horse races on the republican level in honour of prince Ali-Bi-Al-Husseins of Jordan in the settlement of Sarmakovo. The club participated in the republican seminar of young ecologists under the auspices of the federation of children's organisations of KBR; people who hold similar views with ours from the town of Prokhladny were invited for an excursion; ecologically clean water and syrups were produced under the label of our club; production of booklets, brochures and posters was carried out. Club members actively participate in regional and All-Russia Olympiads (contests) on ecology among pupils. The club has won 16 prizes on such Olympiads; club members Galimat Kyarov and Agnessa Lafisheva became laureates of All-Russia Olympiads. This summer the club is to make trips on invitations from like-minded people with its travelling exhibition to Karachayevo-Cherkessk Republic, Republic of Adygeya, Stavropol region and the city of Krasnodar. The general sponsor of the club is "Sarmakovsky production group of enterprises", Limited Liability Company (Director - Muhamed Altudov). All merits and achievements of the Dodo Club became possible thanks to the support from "Sarmakovsky production group of enterprises", Limited Liability Company ("Sarmakovsky proizvodstvenny kombinat"). This year the club marks its 15th anniversary. On behalf of all the members of the organisation for this occasion an appeal to the president of KBR was sent with a request to support the idea of establishing a National park of the forest tract in Ekipzoko. M. Khaflze, General Editor of "Adyge Psalte " |
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