The fourth Russia’s Primeval Nature festival opened on 20 January 2017 at Moscow’s Central House of Artists as part of the Year of the Environment and the Year of Specially Protected Areas. The opening ceremony was attended by Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergei Ivanov, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky and other high-level officials.

During the ceremony, Mr Ivanov presented awards to the winners of the Camera Trap 2016 contest. The Bastak Nature Reserve, the Centre for the Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Tigers and Other Rare Animals and the Zhuravliny Nature Sanctuary were the winners in the Felines category with their unique photos and video clips.

An exhibition of wildlife photos by over 100 famous photographers is the main event of the festival. It also features a separate photo exhibition about Russia’s specially protected areas, including the youngest national park, Bikin.

Like last year, each day of the festival is dedicated to a separate theme related to Russia’s wildlife. One of them is the restoration of the population of Amur tigers, Far Eastern leopards and Persian leopards.

The festival will run at the Central House of Artists through 26 February. The full programme can be found at the festival’s official website.