The goal of the project is to determine the zones of influence of the company and assess the current state of the biodiversity of ecosystems, according to the company's website. Among the key tasks are a defining current biodiversity situation, identifying local indicator and endangered species, and pinning down any potential biodiversity threats posed by the Company’s production facilities.
To do this, Nornickel attracted scientists from tthe Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and cover the exploration, mining, production, transport, logistics and energy facilities of Nornickel’s Norilsk, Kola and Trans-Baikal divisions. The study will involve a number of leading research institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch: the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, the Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Central Siberian Botanical Garden and the Institute of Biophysics of Krasnoyarsk Science Centre.
The studies will be carried out at the exploration, production, transport and logistics and energy facilities of the Norilsk, Kola and Trans-Baikal divisions of Norilsk Nickel.
Based on the results of the study, the company will be able to develop a biodiversity impact management system and develop biodiversity conservation and monitoring programs. In addition, such work will make it possible to identify and implement priority measures necessary for the conservation of biological diversity.
“The new study will be unprecedented in scale and make a substantial contribution to science, while also building a foundation for a corporate system to manage biodiversity impact,” said Stanislav Seleznev, Nornickel Vice President for Ecology and Industrial Safety.
This large on-site biodiversity research exercise is a follow-up to a major joint project launched by Nornickel and the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch in 2020, the Great Norilsk Expedition. By initiating a grand environmental study across its footprint, Nornickel gets an opportunity to both learn about the current state of the environment and work out ways to reduce the Company’s impact on it.
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