PRESERVING STURGEON FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

This was the motto of the organizers of a training seminar for students from various schools across our country

A few days ago, secondary school N11 in the city of Sumgayit hosted a theoretical and practical training seminar as part of the environmental education program of the humanitarian and environmental agency "Saniya". The topic of the training was "Let's Save the Sturgeon Returning Home", held with the support of the Democracy Commission of the US Embassy. We were warmly welcomed by the school principal, Ofeliya Babayeva, who showed us to a rather well-equipped training center, where we met the students...

The program leader and director of "Saniya", Elchin Sardarov, told the students about the scientific, economic and medical value of the most ancient fish species - sturgeon, which are more than 300-350 million years old, and about an endangered species - the beluga, which is included in the IUCN list. As is well known, both black caviar and the fish itself are highly valued on the world market. Isinglass obtained from the swim bladder of sturgeon is the best clarifying agent for grape wines, and a product obtained from the notochord is used in restoration work. A very valuable medical preparation - antiheparin - is obtained from the testes of males and is used in surgical operations on the cardiovascular muscles.

The students were presented with a booklet-manual, "Your Impact on the Sturgeon", which sets out the students' goal - preserving the land and the quality of life in order to preserve the sturgeon - and contains information about sturgeon, tips on carrying out personal action plans, and actions to reduce the risks to sturgeon life and the degradation of the quality of life.
It is worth noting that the kids from the 8th and 10th grades of the school are quite well "versed" in environmental protection and are aware of their role in the further progress of our Homeland. As the eighth-grade girls - Medina, Elya, Zhalya, Maryam and Fidan - told us: "Our goal is to preserve the biological diversity of our country. We must protect sturgeon, since no other family of fish has such commercial importance as they do. To do this, we need to fight poaching, move the city sewage outlets farther away from the shores of Sumgayit, install treatment facilities and ban the construction of hydroelectric power plants on the rivers where sturgeon go to spawn."
"To preserve sturgeon, protect the rivers and the sea from various kinds of pollution and fight poaching, it is necessary that, alongside the country's Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, the Khilly and other fish hatcheries, and the anti-poaching department of the Water Police, students and parents and Caspian communities actively get involved in educational work on protecting water bodies and spawning grounds from household and industrial pollution, and on explaining and preventing the illegal catching of sturgeon," E. Sardarov said, addressing the students and teachers.
According to E. Sardarov: "To make this educational work more effective, together with our partner the Khilly hatchery and members of the "Saniya" educational environmental network - school teachers, environmental NGOs and eco-journalists - we will prepare a joint action plan to strengthen work in this area".
The development of the partnership is viewed positively, and new forms of cooperation in environmental education on sturgeon protection are being sought, by Rauf Hajiyev, head of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources department for the restoration and protection of fish stocks in water basins, Zaur Salmanov, director of the Khilly sturgeon hatchery, and Farhad Mammadkhanov, head of the anti-poaching department of the Water Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan.
At school N11, the "Saniya" program leader E. Sardarov and E. Orujov, a methodologist and head of the "Caucasus" eco-club at Baku school N86, held environmental quizzes and games with the students, practical work cleaning up the Sumgayit boulevard and coastline, lessons on pitching and taking down a tent, and more. The students were told about a competition for the best essay and drawing on the theme "Protecting Sturgeon". The prize for the winners will be a trip to the Khilly Sturgeon Hatchery in Neftchala.
Deputy Director for Academic Affairs Olga Badalova and biology teacher Valentina Levtina expressed their gratitude for the useful and interesting information about sturgeon and the quizzes, and noted the importance of developing partnerships in environmental information and education of the public on sturgeon protection. School N11 has prepared display boards and a script on sturgeon protection and will be glad to take an active part, together with other schools, in the competition and the tour of the hatchery. The biology classroom was given a symbolic gift - an aquarium. The students all promised to raise beautiful fish by our next visit. http://zerkalo.az