“Ecovolunteering in Russia has made great shift in the last five years”

Photo: ANO “Garden of Memory”

Since 2017, which was declared the Year of the Environment in Russia, the development of the eco-community in general and eco-volunteering in particular has progressed greatly.

I personally know hundreds of eco-volunteer organisations from Kamchatka to Kaliningrad: some of them are officially registered as NGOs, others work as volunteer associations: they are engaged in separate waste collection, tree planting, organising events to exchange things and counteract fires.

At the national level, the Dobro.ru portal, which collects a database of volunteers, helps. Through it, eco-activists can apply for a project, get a volunteer booklet, participate in eco-activities and get marks, which then add points to their USE. According to Rosmolodezh, there are around 170 thousand eco-volunteers in these databases.

The “Russia — Land of Opportunity” project is also actively developing volunteering activities. It recently launched a new project, Ecosophy, which was created to teach eco-skills and eco-volunteering. Twelve thousand participants have already joined it.

Cover photo: ANO “Garden of Memory”