The results of research conducted by Norilsk Nickel and the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences as part of the Large Scientific Expedition were presented today in Norilsk. The presentation was held in the conference hall of the Ayka sports hall with the assistance of the Public Chamber of Norilsk, Severny Gorod reports.
The purpose of the research was to identify the anthropogenic impact on the environment and biodiversity in the areas where Norilsk Nickel enterprises are located.
The obtained data will help the company to develop a corporate system for managing the impact on biodiversity and a program for its conservation and monitoring.
The studies were carried out in the Murmansk region, Trans-Baikal and Krasnoyarsk territories.
In her speech, Elena Sharoikina, Chairman of the Commission of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation on Ecology and Environmental Protection, emphasized that the problem of biodiversity reduction is ubiquitous.
“This is a big problem, and I am glad that serious scientific work is being carried out in Russia and we can work out the necessary steps together so that biodiversity not only does not decline, but can develop,” the agency quoted her as saying.
The head of the Big Scientific Expedition, Director of the Institute of Systematics of Animal Ecology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Viktor Glupov, noted the uniqueness of the expedition.
“It is difficult to remember such a wide coverage of territories, like our expedition, in recent history. In the Trans-Baikal Territory, studies were carried out on an area of about eight thousand square kilometers, in Norilsk - more than 30 thousand square kilometers,” said Viktor Glupov.
In his speech, he spoke about the impact of human activities on the environment over the past 50 years, observations and preliminary conclusions of scientists regarding the state of animal and insect populations, and water bodies of the Norilsk industrial area.
“It is interesting that during the collection of material, we were faced with the fact that these zones are not continuous, they are highly fragmented, due to the fact that there is a certain, let’s say, urban agglomeration here, it also affects the ecosystem,” shared the head of the Big Scientific Expedition. “Therefore, next year we are adjusting a number of studies”.
According to him, the impact on certain types of plants and animals "is not as great as it should be."
The same hares and some birds are highly adaptive. There are, of course, indicator species that are very fragile and very sensitive to any pollution. But in general, biocenoses turned out to be very resistant to emissions, except for cases when they are directly on the territory of a working metallurgical enterprise, Viktor Glupov continued. "It's not conducive to bird nesting, for example."
Glupov also noted Norilsk Nickel's Sulfur Program, saying that soon "almost 80 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions will go away".
“This will lead to serious positive consequences,” said the head of the Big Scientific Expedition.
The presentation of the results of the Large Scientific Expedition has already taken place in Transbaikalia. After Norilsk next week, the presentation will take place in Murmansk, and on December 12, the results of the Big Scientific Expedition will be considered at the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation in Moscow, the agency reports.
Biodiversity research is a continuation of the fruitful work of Norilsk Nickel and the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which started in 2020 with the Great Norilsk Expedition.
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