More than 100 tons of man-made garbage were removed during the first week of work by the participants of the expedition of the Russian Geographical Society in Khatanga. They have already managed to clean up an area of over 8 square kilometers from pollution.
It took 16 dump trucks to remove heavy metal structures from the coast of the Khatanga River. With the help of the Khatanga commercial seaport, the collected garbage was sent outside the settlement to a temporary storage facility designated by the local administration for further processing.
During the week, the volunteers collected more than 100 tons of garbage. Photo: Polina Voronova
The work continues. Volunteers from 16 regions of Russia are participating in yet another stage of the All-Russian ecological expedition of the Russian Geographical Society to clean up the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation from man-made pollution "Arctic: Spring Cleaning (Krasnoyarsk Territory)".
The expedition is conducted jointly with the government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory with the support of the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Emergency Situations as well as the Siberian Academy of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia.
An expedition is hard work. Photo: Polina Voronova
"Arctic: Spring Cleaning" is a large-scale project to attract the attention of the younger generation to solving the environmental problems of the Arctic territories. It will provide new opportunities for socio-economic development, including ecological, ethnographic, and educational tourism, and will help in the formation of a multifunctional research, educational, and tourist-educational cluster in Khatanga.
It is assumed that the expedition will work in Khatanga until mid-August 2024. In addition to directly cleaning the territory from man-made pollution, RGS volunteers are engaged in scientific work, geobotanical studies of the coast to assess the environmental situation. The project participants also listen to scientific lectures and take part in cultural events.
The first stage of the expedition took place in 2023. In two weeks, volunteers cleaned up more than 3 km of coastline, collected more than 200 tons of man-made garbage that had been accumulating for decades.
As part of the expedition, a new project of the RGS was also implemented: the launch of the volunteer movement "Arctic Volunteer". Environmental teams will be quickly formed from among its participants to work throughout the Arctic zone of the country.
The expedition is supported by the Presidential Grants Fund.