The internet café in Irkutsk was jammed with backpackers gripping their Lonely Planet Guidebooks and emailing home stories adventures through Russia. They’ve come to visit Lake Baikal, the oldest and deepest lake in the world containing 1/5th of the earths unfrozen freshwater reserve. The number of tourists to Lake Baikal, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, has grown significantly over the past few years (growing from 50,000 visitors in 2000 to 250,000 by the end of 2004.

Tourism is somewhat of a mixed blessing for Baikal: on the one hand, injecting much needed rubles into the surrounding communities, but on the other hand, leaving a deep footprint on the fragile watershed and ecosystem. It is a careful dance between man and the land. One organization working to ensure the sustainable coexistence between lake, community and its visitors is the NGO, Great Baikal Trail (www.greatbaikaltrail.ru) which is building an extensive trail systems around the lake and promoting ecotourism.

Along the banks of the Angara (Baikal’s only outbound river), I had the opportunity to sit down with members of Great Baikal Trail (GBT). GBT’s model focuses on leveraging volunteer man-power through two week camps and working vacations – similar to Habitat for Humanity. When the ground is frozen and covered in snow, GBT focuses on environment awareness raising and educational programs – working with local schools, businesses and organizations. For GBT participants, it’s an opportunity to not only explore Baikal’s most protected areas, but to go beyond tourism and ensure the lake and its habitat will be around for generations. As a result of its efforts (constructing 385 KM in the first 3 years), GBT was named top volunteer organization in Russia. They are making a real, tangible difference. They are making “it” happen.

Thinking about GBT and Baikal, I am reminded of New York’s Adirondack wilderness. Set aside as “forever wild” under the State’s constitution, the Park is the most legally protected land in America (as well as the largest in the continental US). Yet the Adirondacks are not all “wild;” just over half of the land is protected public land, while the other half is privately owned – including a number of towns and villages, including Lake Placid. A network of well maintained trails, winding up and around the high peaks – combined with all the other fittings of a thriving outdoor recreational industry – are making cohabitation between forest, stream and economy possible. Not only possible, but profitable. Let’s hope that the Great Baikal Trail will help Baikal to remain “forever wild.”

To learn more about the Great Baikal Trail, visit www.greatbaikaltrail.ru.

To learn more about eco-tourism and World Heritage Sites visit: www.friendsofworldheritage.org

>From Ulan-Ude, happy trails.

-S-