On Olkhon, a severe fire destroyed more than 700 hectares of pine forest, turning a living grove into ashes. The fire, which broke out in two places, killed part of the local fauna, and only rain helped save the island from even greater damage. Now the national park is trying to preserve what remains, a checkpoint has been set up at the ferry crossing to control tourists, and forest recovery is estimated to take at least 70 years.

The pine forest turned into a scorched wasteland. The most powerful fire on Olkhon destroyed 700 hectares of forest. Everyone tried to fight the fire together — foresters and local residents alike. Nature prevailed. How to preserve what remains.
In spring, blooming wild rosemary delighted the eye in this pine forest. In summer, ripe lingonberries were just begging to be picked. And now there is nothing here. This is a dead forest. It was destroyed by fire.
The result of the June fires. The forest caught fire in two places on the island at once — near Khuzhir and near the village of Elga. There had not been such a blaze of the fire element on Olkhon for six years. More than 700 hectares of pine forest burned down. And everything living in it. Here, for example, are the remains of a bird’s nest. By the way, it is here that capercaillie nest. During the fire, a significant population of this species perished. The only pair of eagles on the island survived by a miracle. The fire passed them by.
The rain put out the fires. If not for it, says Vitaly Ryabtsev, deputy director of the Pribaikalsky National Park, the damage to nature would have been greater. There are five forest rangers on Olkhon. They physically cannot cover the entire territory. In addition, there is an influx of tourists here in summer, and everyone needs to be watched. The cause of the recent fires was human activity. Such huge blazes could have been extinguished from the air, as before. But for this purpose, the park was allocated only 500,000 rubles for the entire season. That is enough for only seven hours of flight for one helicopter.
To preserve what remains, the national park organized a checkpoint at the Olkhon ferry crossing. Now every visitor must tell the staff where on the island they are heading and for how many days. This will at least help control the flow of tourists. And the burned forest will not recover for at least 70 years.