INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
For the Russian environment, 2023 might go into the history books as the year when the Kremlin effectively dismantled those groups that had
been the loudest independent voices on ecological issues and had the largest public support base.As part of a wider anti-Western stance,
present in the country since the Soviet collapse
Group, a project supporting Russian environmental defenders, told The Moscow Times
of the country's oldest environmental groups, Russian authorities added dozens of local and national NGOs and initiatives to the list of
with limitations and extra bureaucratic burdens
manager at Bellona who started volunteering for the organization in 2010, told The Moscow Times.When Bellona opened offices in Murmansk and
Bellona employee Alexander Nikitin was arrested in St
Petersburg and accused of treason, allegedly through the disclosure of national security information
island, around nine hours from St
Nature Reserve Management, was meeting with Emma Wilson of Friends of the Earth, an international network of environmental organizations
unease after the Soviet collapse but also of new beginnings.The mid-1990s saw a boom in charitable financing for environmental NGOs
worldwide, with a tremendous interest in Russia, Lisitsyn recalled
The country saw an influx of organizations including Greenpeace and the WWF.Bellona's sail boat Kallinika.Bellona InternationalIn 1996 he
joined Sakhalin Environment Watch (SEW)
He worked on projects to defend vulnerable Sakhalin forests and spawning rivers, ensure the strictest protection regime for natural areas
and force corporations like Shell to reroute underwater pipelines away from gray whale feeding grounds.Throughout this time, authorities
showed a willingness to cooperate with environmentalists: Lisitsyn was part of numerous public councils at government bodies and even
conducted joint operations with law enforcement agencies against poachers.Meanwhile, in the mid-2000s, Bellona embarked on an effort to
the state nuclear corporation Rosatom on proper disposal of hazardous radioactive waste in the north, which at times resulted in
environmental rights addressed hundreds of appeals annually.Vakhrusheva witnessed sustained growth of public interest in environmental
both [the Foundation] and us
but one can choose how to live in these times
Vostochny Wildlife Refuge.Dmitry LisitsynShe said she does not expect to come back any time soon, as working for an undesirable organization
is punishable by criminal prosecution.No longer involved in changing things for the better from inside Russia, Bellona turned into an
international environmental groups have been outlawed and individual activism has become a dangerous undertaking, one may wonder if there is
still a way to protect nature in Russia.Some Russian environmentalorganizations strive to keep up their conservation efforts, but the
defend a park, clean up a dumpsite, maybe even rein in a plant that irresponsibly emits pollutants
particularly welcome actions that lead to public outrage
Greenpeace, WWF and many others, Lisitsyn said he still has hope, as periods of stagnation and declining civil liberties in Russia are often
