You see, several years ago one could assume the issue with plots will be disputed - it doesn’t matter, whether they will be auctioned or conveyed for housing construction. It’s a pity that this question arose at all. What do you think, is it possible to relocate the collection as it was offered? It’s very important to preserve gene diversity, otherwise it will be harder for next generations to survive. If tomorrow, Heaven forbid, there will be some kind of catastrophe, only this collection will help us to restore the plant kingdom. Collection of plants is not less valuable than a collection of paintings, it`s your property, your cultural heritage! In any case it shouldn’t be lost. But I believe Vavilov`s collection is also the hermitage - only a small one. Sure, it is! For instance, when they speak about Petersburg, they mean firstly the Hermitage - it's a surprisingly great collection of paintings and artifacts, it`s the glory of your city. And you believe that collection is unique and still of some importance for the mankind? Especially taking into account the fact that you have every opportunity to make a significant contribution into biodiversity conservation - you dispose of a unique plant collection established by the outstanding Russian scientist Vavilov. To include the North-Western region of Russia into it would be quite logical.
Why? It`s a union of Nordic countries: Scandinavia, Baltic countries, Iceland. The importance of Russia here is very high -apparently the northern part of your country will be included into the association of the Nordic countries, because we have common problems. We were discussing problems of woody plant preservation and of course could not but raise the issue of biodiversity conservation. Peter, conference that you attended addressed problems of biodiversity conservation? Peter Tigerstedt, professor emeritus at the Helsinki University and participant of the Saint-Petersburg symposium organized and supported by the Nordic Arboretum Committee tells to «Fontanka» on importance of the Vavilov`s collection for science and problems of biodiversity conservation. Scientists - for some reason mostly foreign - keep worrying about the future of the unique plant collection. The next commission organized by the Russian Housing Development Foundation should announce its verdict on possibility of housing construction at these plots within two upcoming weeks. The future of the Pavlovsk experiment station and plant genetic resources collection established by academician Vavilov still hangs in the air. «Vavilov`s collection - it`s also the Hermitage. Comment on the conclusion of the expert group SPb