#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The Russian Geographical Society (RGS) has been cleaning up the Arctic for several years. This year it’s Hatanga’s turn, where at the end of summer the reconnaissance stage of the Arctic Big Cleaning project took place.
In August, 70 volunteers, together with the Defense Ministry employees and local residents, cleaned about three kilometers of the coastline – removing 200 tons of garbage that had accumulated for decades. According to representatives of the Russian Geographical Society, Hatanga represents “one large site of accumulated environmental damage”: the entire coastline and tundra around are strewn with scrap metal and rusting containers with oil products. Garbage can be processed locally or transported to the mainland by sea.
“There is a waste incineration complex here, but there is tundra around, which takes a long time to recover, and of the options – burn or recycle – we tend to the second”, Igor Spiridenko, the expedition leader and the Russian Geographical Society’s Krasnoyarsk regional branch head, told TASS.
The Russian Geographical Society is not just interested in the revival of the village and the development of its scientific and tourist potential. By November 2023, on behalf of Russian president Vladimir Putin, a list of supporting settlements in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation – cities and villages with raw material and infrastructure potential – should be compiled. By July 2024, a master plan for their development for ten years should be developed. According to Igor Spiridenko, Hatanga can receive such a status, which will give impetus to its development.
“We have a new airport, a powerful runway, about 300 flight days a year – unique weather conditions. In two years, Hatanga will celebrate its 400th anniversary, which will attract considerable money from the budget of the Krasnoyarsk region. If we manage to work all this out, we can declare Hatanga as one of the Russia Arctic zone’s strongholds”, TASS quotes Igor Spiridenko.
Let us remind you that the Russian Geographical Society is preparing a trip through Hatanga to the epicenter of the Popigai astrobleme for diamonds. For the first time, a group of tourists from different cities of Russia traveled by air along the route Hatanga – Severnaya Zemlya. However, the main tourism project of the Russian Geographical Society is routes through Hatanga to the North Pole.
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Text: Elena Popova, Photo: Denis Kozhevnikov