Volga Day to be held on May 20 by Coca-Cola and UNESCO

In 2011, the holiday will be celebrated for the fourth time in various Volga cities, as well as in the framework of the 13th International Scientific and Industrial Forum "Great Rivers-2011", on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair.

The Living Volga program, developed and implemented by UNESCO and Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia, is held mainly in the territories of biosphere reserves located in the Volga River basin. Its mission meets the requirements of sustainable development, as set out in the Seville Strategy, and the Biosphere Reserves Regulation. The programme can also be seen as a positive experience on the ground in implementing the Madrid MAB Action Plan. The initiative also contributes to the International Decade for Action “Water for Life” and strengthens UNESCO’s leadership role in the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. The program provides for further actions to raise awareness of biological resources and understanding of the importance of the aquatic and wetland ecosystems of the Volga, as well as the principles of sustainable development among local authorities and the public.

To date, the World Network, established by UNESCO, includes 564 biosphere reserves in 109 countries. In particular, 39 biosphere reserves have already been created in the Russian Federation, of which 11 are located within the Volga River basin.

A seminar on this topic will be held on May 19. Its organizers: the Russian Committee for the UNESCO Program “Man and the Biosphere” (MAB), the UNESCO Chair of NNGASU “Environmentally safe development of a large region – the Volga basin”, the Office for International and Interuniversity Cooperation of NNGASU, with the support of the UNESCO Office in Moscow within the framework of the UNESCO/Coca-Cola HBC Eurasia program “Living Volga”. And it will begin at 10.00, in the Presidential Hall of the Nizhny Novgorod Fair.

Source:"In City N."