The recent Benthic survey shows recovery for echinoderms and shelled molluscs in Vilyuchinskaya Bay, April 2022, following the 2020 toxic single-celled algae destroying the marine environment in Avacha Bay. Kamchatka researchers in the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, KSTU and divers from Kamchatka RGS completed “Monitoring of qualitative and quantitative indicators…
Arctic Floating University expeditions in 2022
Successful Russian researchers will be heading off soon. The first expedition will be around Novaya Zemlya between June 24 — July 11, 2022 and the second expedition around Franz Josef Land between July — August 2022: https://narfu.ru/en/research/expeditions/fu/expedition-2022/ The expedition’s scientific program has seven main areas: human adaptation to the Arctic, studies of historical and cultural…
Silent soldiers of the environmental protection: the issues and challenges of the Russian peatlands.
Peatlands are a key element of environmental sustainability and have a special place in the context of climate change. However, their importance is still underrated in Russia. We discussed the current challenges with Dr Tatiana Minayeva, the leader of the Russian peatland restoration project at Wetlands International. How did you become professionally involved in climate change…
Riddled with doubts – climate change conversations in Russia
The effects of climate change in Russia have become more apparent in the past years, and policymakers are recently active in addressing the issue. Yet, a lot of Russians think climate change is bad, but do not see it as a serious problem either recognize the role of human activity. Kokorin discusses the reasons such…
Green shoots not yet visible in the forestry economy
Forest companies are the chief exploiters of forest resources, and their actions may have a major impact on the global sustainable development. Russian companies have a special place in this regard as Russia is the most forested country in the world and the forest industry there has a global impact. Researchers from the University of…
Will European Russia run out of water because of climate change: Maria Sidorova
In the laboratory of hydrology of the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Maria and her colleagues found out which regions of the European territory of Russia in the future will most of all suffer from a lack of water. The corresponding data was published in a separate chapter of the printed…
How to stop drilling holes through indigenous rights in the Russian Arctic
Liobov Sulayandziga discusses the issues between indigenous people of the Russian Arctic and extractive industries. She looks at the authentic communities in four Arctic regions: Komi Republic, Sakhalin, Sakha Republic and Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Area She concludes that indigenous opinions are often ignored in areas where resource extraction is prioritized. The communities receive significant opposition from…
Idols and rabbits in the Urals – designing Arctic ecotourism
Researchers from Ural State University of Architecture and Art proposed an innovative approach for developing tourism in Russian Arctic destinations where holidaymakers commonly avoid travelling. Tough climate, remoteness and non-existing hospitality services make it a challenge to tempt any tourist. Attracted by wilderness, endangered fauna, melting icebergs and glaciers, vanishing indigenous cultures, endangered mega-fauna has…
Nothing goes to waste: sustainable practices of re-use among indigenous groups in the Russian North
Do the main inventions in current environmental sustainability practices always come from the metropolitan research centres? Could they also be of ‘non-Western’ origin? To answer and challenge these questions, Siragusa and Arzyutov explored waste practices among two indigenous communities in the Russian North – Nenets and Veps as part of ethnographic fieldwork since 2009. They highlight…
Human fatprints in the Arctic snow
Anthropogenic pollution of the Arctic atmosphere is of great interest due to the vulnerability of the Arctic ecosystems, as well as the processes of global transport and industries under cold climate conditions. Researchers from Lomonosov State University (Moscow) and Lomonosov Northern (Arctic) Federal University brought the first results on snow pollution in the least explored…