Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment sums up preliminary results of the National Ecology Project

The Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia discussed the preliminary results of the implementation of the national project “Ecology” during the meeting of the public expert council.

The meeting was attended by First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of Russia Konstantin Tsyganov, Chairman of the Public Expert Council on the national project “Ecology” Rashid Ismailov, employees of the department, experts, scientists and businessmen, the website of the Ministry reported.

“The national project is very diverse, it includes the elimination of objects of accumulated damage, development of specially protected natural areas, work is being done to improve the ecological condition of lakes, reservoirs and rivers across the country, infrastructure for the management of waste of hazard classes I-II and much more,” said Konstantin Tsyganov.

He added that today certain results have already been achieved. For example, during the three years of the federal project “Improvement of the Volga” 70 treatment facilities have been put into operation. This has reduced the volume of polluted wastewater flowing into the river by 1.5 times.

During the meeting the participants were told about granting subsidies to the regions for purchase of containers for separate waste collection within the framework of the federal project “Integrated Solid Waste Management System”. By the end of 2022, 43 Russian regions will be able to purchase more than 77 thousand waste bins with these funds.

Rashid Ismailov noted that the practice of such meetings proved the effectiveness of public and expert monitoring.

The National Ecology Project is aimed at effective management of production and consumption waste, including:

• Elimination of all unauthorised dumpsites within city boundaries identified as of 1 January 2018;
• A radical reduction in air pollution in major industrial centres, including a reduction by at least 20% of total emissions of pollutants into the air in the most polluted cities;
• improving the quality of drinking water for the population, including in settlements not equipped with modern centralised water supply systems;
• environmental rehabilitation of water bodies, including the Volga River, and preservation of unique water systems, including Lake Baikal and Lake Teletskoye
• Preservation of biodiversity — including through the establishment of at least 24 new specially protected natural areas.

Preservation of the environment is necessary, but especially against the backdrop of climate change caused by human activity. The “green” trend has become global in recent decades, and Russia does not deviate from the general set goal here — reducing greenhouse gas emissions, caring for nature, incl. restoration of forests, cleaning of rivers and reservoirs, etc.

Cover photo: Wikimedia Commons