National parks and nature reserves
Russia currently has the largest set of protected areas in the world, with different statuses, including 41 national parks including more than thirty UNESCO-listed biosphere reserves. The purpose of these areas is to protect natural environments and their biodiversity: taiga, tundra, and habitats of endangered plant and animal species. The Sikhote-Aline Biosphere Reserve created in 1936 is home to the Siberian tiger. In 2018, the country announced the creation of the largest nature reserve in Russia, covering 6 billion hectares. This is the New Siberian Islands Nature Reserve, which is the largest wetland in the country. The loss of biodiversity and the degradation of natural environments are also due to past and present human activities. Lake Baikal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In addition, hunting in many areas, especially in wintering sites, is a problem, as well as global warming, which results in the displacement of certain species.
The Zabaikalsky National Park, located on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal, is also a place of scientific research. It allows visitors to discover a wide variety of environments, including natural and cultural heritage such as the Uzhkani Islands, Cape Tourali, and hot springs
The Pribaikalsky National Park, located on the western shore of Lake Baikal, includes water collecting basins from rivers and a mountainous relief. Here again, the fauna, flora and landscapes present are exceptional, as are the geological and hydrological forms, such as the Shaman's Rock on the island of Olkhon. The headwaters of the Angara River are a stopover site for migratory bird populations. Olkhon Island, which is accessible to visitors, is a nesting site for certain species of birds. The Circum-Baikal train line, popular with tourists, is a picturesque way to discover part of the park.
The Tounka National Park, west of Lake Baikal, consists mainly of mountains, some reaching over 3,000 metres in altitude. The landscape is composed of taiga and mountain tundra, crossed from west to east by the Tunkinskaya Valley. The park includes a vast array of rivers, glacial lakes and mineral hot springs.
Alkhanai National Park. Located in eastern Siberia, it is home to Mount Alkanai, a mountain sacred to the Buryats, Mongols, Buddhists and shamans. Place of pilgrimage and tranquility, it also welcomes tourists. The natural environment consists of magnificent landscapes of mountains, forests, waterfalls and springs. The park is also home to cultural sites.
Anyuyski National Park. Located in Eastern Siberia, in a sparsely populated area, it is of significant ecological interest as a continuum between the Sikhote-Alin mountains and the low, floodable plain of the River Amur. It is a remarkable wetland, hosting many endemic species. The park is also home to the Amur tiger and other threatened species.
Other sites include the Bikine National Park, habitat of the Siberian tiger, and the Chikoi National Park, south-east of Lake Baikal, which protects the ecosystem of the Chikoi River. The magnificent and wild Kamchatka Peninsula is home to several protected areas, including the South Kamchatka Nature Park in the Russian Far East and the Nalytchevo Nature Park, with its sublime landscapes of volcanoes, seas and mountains, and polar bears.
The Valdai National Park is also classified as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Very popular, this park located in central Russia preserves an ecosystem of lakes and forests.
Sochi National Park is the second park created in the country in 1983. It has 48 tourist routes between the Caucasus and the Black Sea.
The National Park of Leopard's Land, an amalgamation of several nature reserves, is home to some of the world's most endangered cat species.
The Saïliouguem National Park protects the Altai environment and one of its most famous guests, the snow leopard.
A heavy environmental liability
The Soviet period indeed induced an important pressure on the environment and natural resources. The choice of intensive and irrigated cotton farming thus impacted the water reserves of the lakes and contributed to the drying up or even disappearance of fragile wetlands such as peat bogs. The extraction of resources such as gold, aluminium and other minerals has led to severe pollution of the environment: water in rivers, lakes and seas, soil, air and consequently contamination of the food chain. Coal mining and gas burned in large flares, in addition to air pollution, play an important role in global warming. The development of nuclear power during the Soviet era also left uranium waste that is sometimes poorly managed, not to mention the tonnes of uranium sent by France in the 1990s, some of which was sent for enrichment and some of which was stored in the open air as waste. Indeed, according to a survey published in 2009, nearly 13% of the radioactive materials produced by the French nuclear fleet have passed through the Tomsk-7 atomic complex. More recently, in August 2019, an explosion at a nuclear base near Nyonoksa killed eight people and released nucleotides into the atmosphere. In December 2019, Russia has just commissioned the first floating nuclear power plant, the Akademik Lomonossov, in the waters of the Chukchi peninsula. Able to supply electricity to a city of 100,000 inhabitants, is this a concrete action in the fight against global warming or a potential "floating Chernobyl"?
Risks related to global warming
According to the World Meteorological Observatory, between 1976 and 2014, temperatures in Russia rose on average 2.5 times more than in the rest of the world. Trees act as carbon sinks, but anthropogenic activities generate greenhouse gas emissions, particularly gas and coal mining. Extreme events have increased in recent years: floods, storms, earthquakes, landslides, fires. Rising temperatures are leading to more severe droughts and larger fires. More than 15 million hectares of forest in Siberia were burnt down in the summer of 2019. What about the melting of the permafrost (or permafrost)? This permanently frozen ground covers about 50% of Russia, mainly in Siberia. It contains organic matter - and therefore carbon - trapped during the Pleistocene (Ice Age). As it melts, the soil releasesCO2. Exposed to the air, the organic matter will also be degraded by bacteria that will emit bothCO2 and methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. According to scientists, the contribution of melting permafrost to global warming could be between +1 and +7°C by 2100. When we know that the Arctic permafrost has already begun to melt, 70 years ahead of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) experts' forecasts, and that it also contains a huge stock of mercury, there is still cause for concern. In Siberia, melting permafrost is already causing landslides and floods, especially in the Yakutia region, where housing foundations are dangerously threatened. The permafrost could also release forgotten viruses and pose health risks of as yet unknown magnitude. The death of a child in Siberia in 2016 from anthrax is believed to be linked to the thawing of a dead reindeer carcass.
Environmental policies and actions: between denial and concern
Russia has ratified the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreements. In fact, few actions have been implemented, as the country includes the "carbon sink" effect of its forests in the calculation of its emissions. In 2017, however, it will be the world'sfourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases (4.7% of emissions). According to the Climate Change PerformanceIndex, a tool developed by the German NGO Germanwatch, Russia scores very low on its climate policy. According to an IPSOS survey for EDF published in 2019, 33% of the country's respondents dispute the impact of mankind on global warming. Some see it as a windfall, as the phenomenon could free up land for agriculture or open up a new route in the Arctic. Others, including scientists, indigenous peoples and associations, are working on concrete actions. For example, geophysicist Sergei Zimov and his son Nikita have created Pleistocene Park, a scientific research centre associated with the North-East Scientific Station (NESS). The idea is to recreate the Pleistocene ecosystem in order to protect the permafrost. More specifically, the idea is to make the tundra disappear in favour of a steppe environment. To do this, they have introduced bison, horses and other herbivores - if not mammoths - into the park to transform the vegetation. The work of these animals is to trample and feed on the tundra to help create grasslands, which absorb less heat from the sun and thus limit the melting of the permafrost. Part of the ambivalence of reactions is due to the different cultural influences that permeate the country. Cosmism (a philosophical-religious current that appeared in Russia in the 19th century) and Slavism tend to advocate respect for nature, while Westernization and Marxism have instilled a more productivist vision of nature, justifying its exploitation. Political currents, including during the Soviet period, were bathed in this dual attitude, creating the first protected areas, and at the same time sometimes dramatically exploiting natural resources, generating serious pollution and banning environmental protection associations. Progress has been made, such as the establishment of a management system for the Marmansk "nuclear dustbin" in the Barents Sea, a former nuclear submarine graveyard, the result of more than ten years of international cooperation. Efforts still need to be continued, particularly to combat climate change, deal with environmental liabilities, set up proper waste management and prevent pollution.
