Russian Geographical Society organizes Arctic Volunteer movement
ST. PETERSBURG, June 20. /TASS/. The Russian Geographical Society (RGS) will organize a new movement - Arctic Volunteer, which will unite volunteers and specialists, engaged in the Arctic ecology cleanup, RGS's Deputy Executive Director Sergey Korlykhanov told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
"For the current year, we have set an objective to organize the Arctic Volunteer movement," he said. "We have taken as an example the Khatanga village in the north of the Krasnoyarsk Region."
"The task there is to clean the village and the area around it," he continued. "This year, we will invite to that mission 60 volunteers, 50 research experts - we will clean 60 square kilometers: we will begin this year, and will continue next year."
The first teams are due to leave for the Taymyr between August 1 and August 15, he told TASS. At the same time, the Defense Ministry's ecology platoons will be examining old military camps. Applications from volunteers may be filed with RGS up to June 25. The applicants will undergo a competition: the organizers will prefer specialists aged 18 to 35 with experience in volunteer movements, as well as in biochemistry, ecology, geo-botany, zoology, soil sciences and related disciplines, who are ready to work in harsh climate and physical conditions. Before leaving for the mission, the volunteers will study methods of complex scientific research of pollution analysis, methods to determine how to eliminate pollutants, and approaches to practical cleaning of the Arctic.
"This yea, we will actually have a reconnaissance: we will conduct an analysis, will break the territory into squares, will find out where we do clean and where not, which scientists we need, and so on," RGS's representative said. "Next year, we will organize a permanent summer camp, and we will begin receiving applications for it shortly. There will be a few shifts, about a hundred <...> volunteers in each - in addition to the scientists and the military."
The volunteers who take part in this project will be the first participants in the new movement. Its purpose is to make a community of those interested and competent. "We do not need to create any new public organization. There are a lot of people in the country's different regions who are not indifferent to the Arctic, who are engaged in research, or have been on environmental expeditions and have gained necessary skills. But they mostly act separately, in small groups. Our task is to bring all these people into an up-to-date database (at the first stage - up to 1,500 people), to have them meet each other, to organize their experience exchange, to train new participants in the movement, to maintain the scientific standard of expeditions," he said, adding in future the participants would form up environmental detachments to organize work throughout the Russian Arctic zone.
The project is financed from the Krasnoyarsk Region's budget, funds of the Russian Geographical Society and its partners, and it is also supported by the Presidential Grants Fund. Investments for next four years are planned at 5 billion rubles ($59 million), he told TASS.
About forum
The 26th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is Russia’s showcase annual economic and business event. It was held on June 14-17. The theme in 2023 was: "Sovereign Development as the Basis of a Just World: Joining Forces for Future Generations." TASS was the event's official information partner.
Photo by Denis Kozhevnikov/TASS
