Ingush activists tell about tree felling in "Erzi" Reserve

The Construction of the road on the Chechen-Ingush border began in August with tree felling in the "Erzi" Nature Reserve, and the result of this construction will be the destruction of monuments, historians and activists assert.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Chechen-Ingush border agreement raised the issue of the fate of the "Erzi" Reserve. Environmentalists fear that the territories handed over to Chechnya will be excluded from the reserve, because Ingush activists have already reported on felling trees in the section of the reserve that now belongs to Chechnya.

The construction works in the "Erzi" Reserve began back in August; trees were cut down for the road from the Chechen side, said Yakub Gogiev, a member of the historical-geographical society named "Dzurdzuki".

Locals had made their living by collecting wild leek in the reserve for sale.

"Of course, this is illegal, since the wild leek (ramson) is in the Red Book, but many locals, mostly from Ingushetia, simply live by it," Mr Gogiev has added.

The authorities of Ingushetia knew about the construction in the reserve, but did nothing, Tanzila Dzaurova, a historian and an activist, has noted. According to her story, as a result of the construction of the road in the reserve, many monuments will be destroyed.

Ruslan Parchiev, chairman of the Ingush organization "Union of Genocide Victims", also wrote about deforestation in the reserve.