Russian Conservation News #18, Samples articles and excerpts: Bulletin Board: Highlighting upcoming conferences, events, and new publications Siberia's Lake Chany Biosphere Reserves in Russia Nikitin Wins a Battle as War Continues

The following appeared in RCN #18 Voice from the Wild (Letter from the Editors) In our last Voice from the Wild we focused on the critical financial and social woes plaguing Russia today and the heavy toll that this has taken on conservation efforts, especially on the system of Zapovedniks. We wrote that the coming months would, indeed, be difficult for conservationists, protected areas managers, scientists, and many others in the environmental field. Our predictions, unfortunately, have been on mark. As winter is nearing an end, so are the Zapovednik's last resources. Both financial and human resources are being rapidly exhausted as increasingly more has to be done with increasingly less to keep the Zapovedniks afloat. Sadly, even though many Zapovedniks are on the verge of going under, the Russian government seems completely apathetic to their fate. Today, the 1999 federal budget passed by the Duma and the Council of the Federation has allocated tenuous funds for the Zapovedniks. This year they will receive 40 percent below the minimal amount required to support them. The financial strangulation of the Zapovedniks may be easily traced in figures: in 1993, only 2.1 percent of the total federal budget was allocated to funding for ecological programs, including Zapovedniks. This year, that figure has shrunk to a shocking 0.1 percent. Despite the difficulties caused by the economic crisis, enthusiastic authors throughout Russia and northern Eurasia continue to write to us, wishing to share their experiences, knowledge, and struggles. We have reports from two regions, the Black Sea and the Caucasus, that NGOs are strengthening their cooperative efforts in conservation to create regional environmental networks. Although these networks may be informal, they signal the continued interest and commitment to conservation at the grassroots level. In this issue of RCN, as in many others before it, we bring you stories that well illustrate the determined resolve and dedication of individual conservationists working against so many odds to preserve and defend Russia's environment. Perhaps the most striking story in this issue is the account of Alexandr Nikitin and Grigory Pasko. While Nikitin has received wide international attention and support, Pasko's case is less known but equally disturbing. These two men disclosed shocking accounts of the disposal of radioactive wastes by the Russian military in the Barents Sea and the Seas of Okhotsk and Japan. In reporting the facts that point to their own government's environmental atrocities, Nikitin and Pasko faced charges of treason and espionage and have paid the consequences in jail. Their cases show us, once again, the critical role which Russia's environmentalists play in forming, testing, and defining Russia's fledging &emdash; and sometimes faltering &emdash;democracy.

View the entire Table of Contents Subscribe Now!

Home

Top