#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. During the Great Scientific Expedition (GSE), researchers developed an environmental assessment indicator and intend to implement it in the Taimyr reserves. The indicator assesses different animals and plants species’ population state and the composition of chemical substances.
“We want to use this indicator over the next few years to assess the state of the environment in reserves. If in a few years it turns out that this indicator was calculated correctly, we will propose to use it to assess the environment throughout the country”, Stanislav Seleznev, Nornickel’s vice president for ecology and industrial safety, told TASS reporters.
Rosprirodnadzor federal environmental organization is also interested in the developed indicator. Now, as a rule, to determine the state of the environment, only one species’ population is often assessed, and this is not always correct.
Let us remind you that the GSE is a joint project of Nornickel and the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences, which started in Taimyr in 2020, and then covered the Kola peninsula, Trans-Baikal region and the north of the Krasnoyarsk region. This is one of the largest studies in the post-Soviet space.
One of the scientists’ goals is to determine the company’s impact areas and assess the state of biodiversity of ecosystems in the regions where Nornickel operates. Scientists have come to the conclusion that the company’s influence is limited to those sanitary protection zones established by the state.
“Therefore, the company’s impact on the environment is local and targeted, within sanitary protection zones. The second interesting observation: the species composition of plants and animals is preserved, that is, within a radius of three kilometers from enterprises they feel comfortable, especially since hunting is prohibited in these zones”, emphasized Stanislav Seleznev.
The GSE research will form the basis of corporate programs for the conservation and monitoring of biodiversity. The joint work of the company and scientists will continue.
Earlier, we wrote that during the expedition, scientists discovered a new species of weevil. The beetle was named putoranchik in honor of the Putorana plateau.
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Text: Angelika Stepanova, Photo: Nikolay Shchipko