"Your Majesty, Oak!"

Svyatogorsk, 17/07 - 31/07. 2002

In July, 2002 in National Nature Park "Svyati Gory" jointly with its authorities we organized a volunteer research workcamp called "Your Majesty, Oak!". Participants from the USA, Italy, Finland, Russia and Ukraine lived and worked together for two weeks on the bank of Siversky Donets river 50 meters away from one of the oldest oak-groves in Europe.

This workcamp, though, was just a small part of a serious research project.

The project "Your Majesty, Oak!" was realized with the financial support of the Royal Netherlands Embassy.

How it all started…

Active members of "MAMA-86 Artemovsk" and Ecololgical and Cultural Center "Bakhmat", being well informed about a serious problem of old oak-groves degradation in Ukraine and all over Europe, have been trying to make their contribution in solving this problem. On the other hand, they were aware of the situation in the National Nature Park "Svyati Gory": lack of both financial and human resources made it impossible for the authorities of the Nature Park to tackle the oak-groves problem. And, last of all, enthusiasm and desire of self-realization by doing something useful of young members of the working group on volunteering SVIT (Solidarity, Volunteering, Initiative, Tolerance) gave rise to an incredible idea to organize an international voluntary research workcamp in the National Nature Park "Svyati Gory". So, SVIT's experience and keenness on workcamps, Nature Park authorities' professionalism, MAMA-86's experts and support plus the grant received from the Royal Netherlands Embassy allowed us to get started.

First steps…

…so uncertain, but so exciting!!!

Sitting at the library sneezing from the dust, searching on the Internet, talking with specialists let us learn so much about oak trees, their diseases, vermin, current state, etc, etc, etc.

Then looking for international and Ukrainian volunteers who would agree to participate in the project started. It was pretty difficult to create a really international group because of a big number of young people from Ukraine willing to participate in the project and a few applications from abroad.

We had to make two preparation visits to Svyatogorsk. Everyone involved had his/her own purpose. Our leading expert was absorbed in talking to the specialists in the Nature Park and examining the working site. It was quite difficult to define several square hectares to research, as there are over 39,000 hectares of forest territory, the biggest part being occupied by oak-groves.

Camp leaders were busy with choosing an appropriate territory for the campsite with all the facilities needed and not very far from the research territory.

By the end of the second prep visit everything seemed ready: the campsite looked perfect to us, several hectares of oak-groves that attracted our expert most (and, of course, advised at the administration of the National Nature Park) were described and mapped and everyone was looking forward to the beginning. Participants from Russia, Italy, Finland and Ukraine were heading to Artemovsk to meet there, get into the minibus hired for the campers and set off. People of different ages, from different countries, with different experience and different expectations finally gathered together to start the camp.

How we lived

As soon as we arrived to Svyatogorsk, we started to set the tents and prepare our accommodation. We had several tents and a big hall at our disposal. The hall was originally planned as a place to store our food and stuff and to hide in case of rain. But a couple of participants chose it as their lodging. The rest shred the tents and slept in the open air.

There was a kitchen with stoves and sinks, toilets and showers with water heated by the sun. Besides, there was a concrete ground with a roof where we had some meals, open-air parties and meetings. What else did we need if there was such an incredible beauty around us?

In general, we had everything necessary to live, work and have fun for two weeks. The volunteers cooked for themselves. It turned out that everyone had some abilities to cook. We tasted different kinds of dishes by different nationalities, but mostly Italian and Ukrainian.

How we worked

Before getting to work, the Nature Park authorities invited us to get acquainted and to have an excursion along the eco-path with the description of the National Nature Park "Svyati Gory" territory, rare kinds of plants and animals and problems they were facing.

The next day the work started. The main task of the camp participants was to collect as much information about the state of the ancient oak-groves as possible. We had to explore the areas selected for the research, count and describe all the oak trees growing there (their height, circumference, crown spread, state of health, plants growing round an oak), put everything on the maps. The expert selected parts of the oak grove in such a way that we could embrace territories that are in different conditions: naturally growing old oaks (near the path, with a big recreational pressure, influenced by cattle pasture, with the grass being cut annually, with hewing), artificially planted oaks, etc.

Every participant was given a notebook to put all the information collected. The volunteers were encouraged to keep their notes accurately and in detail, including drawings if necessary.

Every day we worked on a different area. Usually the group split into small teams of two or three, armed with tapelines, ropes, devices for measuring height and started.

Every day two or three people were on duty. They stayed in the camp, cooked, washed the dishes and looked after the campsite. We worked from Monday to Friday and on weekends we had days off.

How we had fun

On Saturdays and on Sundays the group tried to make as many excursions as possible. Svyatogorsk is a very interesting place in terms of history, architecture and, of course, NATURE.

Probably, the most remarkable place to visit is an ancient monastery called "Svyati Gory" (in translation "Holy Mountains") built on a huge chalk cave. We had a guided tour over the sacred places: the cave, the Joann-recluse's tomb, a very nice small and secluded monastery that was destroyed and is currently under construction. Besides, we visited a hermit's cave that was built by him in the chalk rock.

Apart from excursions, everyday free time activities included swimming in the river, sports, singing songs to the accompaniment of the guitar and all sorts of games.

Study part and Intercultural learning

The study part covered two aspects mainly. The first one was related directly to the work we were doing. It included getting some knowledge on forest developments and ways to improve it, facts about the oak-groves, the current state of the oaks in Ukraine and the possibilities to renew the existing oak-groves and, of course, theory and practice on making trees inventory and mapping. The second aspect was a natural one and lied in discovering the country. Both the foreigners and the Ukrainians learnt a lot of new things about history of the region by way of excursions and guided tours.

Intercultural learning being a usual phenomenon included the most usual things: facts about the countries of the participants, international kitchen, foreign languages, songs. Ukrainian toilets in the forest also seemed to be an element of intercultural learning. Some volunteers saw such a thing for the first time. :-)

Problems

Probably, as in most camps, we faced some problems. Mostly, they were related to language - not all the participants could speak English fluently. Besides, those who didn't understand Russian sometimes felt excluded as Russian speakers prevailed in the camp. It was really difficult for the group-leaders to solve this problem as well as it was difficult for the foreigners to endure such a situation. Well, something to learn for the future.

One more problem to be mentioned is sort of opposition between the scientists on the one hand and "ordinary" participants on the other hand. Both sides treated the camp and everything that was happening around in a completely different way. The experts were so carried away by the activities, being so serious and ready to work day and night that they completely skipped the other elements planned for the camp. The rest of the group, including the camp-leaders, having something else to do apart from the work, suffered from such discrepancy. Though by the end of the first week the common sense gained the upper hand and the group little by little became more flexible and tolerant towards each other.

Happy end

Sooner or later everything comes to its end. Our camp was successfully finished and volunteers were ready to get back home to their everyday life and their usual environment. Hopefully, everyone was aware of the contribution s/he made in the project and in nature protection in general. We will miss each other and remember each other for a long time. Hey, people, you can be proud of yourself!!! Now our oaks will definitely feel better.