#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. A new stage of the all-Russian complex expedition Arctic: General Cleaning, organized by the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) together with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
“We are continuing what we started. Hatanga has always been an outpost of great geographical discoveries. For almost 400 years it has been very active in organizing high-latitude expeditions; the ethnographic originality has still been preserved in the settlement. In 2026, the residents of Hatanga will celebrate the anniversary. This settlement with a unique history, nature and cultural heritage is worthy of new heights – it is the Russian gateway to the North Pole. Our task is to brightly and positively present the Krasnoyarsk region to the whole country. It is important that our expedition involves volunteers, scientists, bloggers, historians from all over Russia – we intend to show that the Russian Arctic is worthy of new development”, said Igor Spiridenko, chairman of the Krasnoyarsk regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society.
This year, RGS volunteers will be engaged not only in cleaning, but also in scientific work, geobotanical research of the Hatanga coast in order to assess the state of vegetation and the overall environmental situation. The guys will also attend a course of lectures, and they will attend cultural events. It is expected that the next stage of the expedition will take place in Hatanga until mid-August 2024.
Expedition leader Galina Idiatullina expressed confidence in success and noted the importance of the volunteers’ mission to preserve the Arctic’s unique ecosystem.
Let us remind you, Arctic: General Cleaning is a large-scale project to attract the attention of the younger generation to solving environmental problems of the Russian Arctic. In addition, after clearing the territory, local residents will have new opportunities for socio-economic development, including environmental, ethnographic and educational tourism. The project will create conditions for the formation of a multifunctional Arctic research, tourism and educational cluster in Hatanga, reports the Taimyr administration’s press service.
The expedition’s first stage took place in 2023. In two weeks, volunteers cleaned more than three kilometers of coastline and collected more than 200 tons of man-made waste.
In addition, within the expedition’s framework, a new powerful project of the Russian Geographical Society was implemented – the volunteer movement Arctic Volunteer was launched. Its participants will quickly form environmental teams in the future to organize work throughout the Arctic zone of Russia.
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Text: Maria Ivanova, Photo: press service of the Taimyr administration
