Marina Rikhvanova

Last updated

Marina Petrovna Rikhvanova is a Russian ecologist and leader of the Baikal Ecological Wave (BEW) organization which protects Siberia's Lake Baikal from ecological damage. Lake Baikal, the world's biggest reservoir of fresh water, is currently under threat from industrial pollution. In 2008, Rikhvanova was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize. [1]

Contents

History

Rikhvanova's concern for the Lake Baikal dates to her years in college, when she wrote a paper on environmental threats posed by a pulp and a paper mill in Baikalsk that had been dumping contaminants into the lake since the 1960s. The mill dumped thousands of tons of pollutants into the lake, including dioxin, which has appeared in Baikal fish and the fat of Baikal seals.

From 1982 to 1990 she worked at the Institute of Biology at ISU, from 1990 to 1993 at the Limnological Institute of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences [2] .

In 1993, he was the initiator and leader of the Baikal Ecological Wave projects aimed at environmental education, informing, publishing the Volna periodical magazine and sustainable development [2] .

From 2002 to 2006 she was the coordinator of the international public campaign "Baikal is more expensive than oil." As a result, in 2008 she was awarded the Goldman Prize as a representative of Asia for her contribution to the conservation of Lake Baikal. Through the award, she supported 9 projects of social entrepreneurship of Baikalsk residents in 2009, when the Baikal Pulp and Paper Plant was closed for the first time [2] .

When Rikhvanova co-founded a non-governmental organization called Baikal Ecological Wave in 1990, she targeted the mill. Rikhvanova organized demonstrations, petitions and meetings, all aimed at bringing an end to the mill's pollution of Baikal. Last year, Russian authorities ordered the Baikalsk plant to switch to a closed water treatment system that eliminated any wastewater discharge into the lake. [3]

In 2006, Putin decided to reroute an oil pipeline that would have been built within a half-mile of Baikal, near a fault line. This followed protest rallies by thousands of Russians in the streets of Irkutsk. [3]

Rikhvanova has paid a price for her advocacy. Russian police have raided her offices and seized her organization's computers. In 2008, a group of Russian youths attacked a tent camp Rikhvanova had organized to protest a proposed uranium enrichment center in Angarsk, about 50 miles west of Baikal. [3]

From 2008 to 2014, she coordinated projects aimed at the sustainable development of the settlements of Baikalsk, Bolshoy and Maly Goloustnoy [2] .

Since 2014, he has been providing eco-consulting to businesses on implementing environmental principles and improving economic and environmental efficiency, for example, reducing waste management costs [3] .

Related Research Articles

Environmental movement in the United States Organized environmental movement in the US

The organized environmental movement is represented by a wide range of non-governmental organizations or NGOs that seek to address environmental issues in the United States. They operate on local, national, and international scales. Environmental NGOs vary widely in political views and in the ways they seek to influence the environmental policy of the United States and other governments.

Environmental movement Movement for addressing environmental issues

The environmental movement, also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists advocate the just and sustainable management of resources and stewardship of the environment through changes in public policy and individual behaviour. In its recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the movement is centered on ecology, health, and human rights.

Lake Baikal Freshwater rift lake in southern Siberia, Russia

Lake Baikal is a rift lake located in Russia situated in southern Siberia between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and Buryatia to the southeast.

Selenga River in Mongolia and Russia

The Selenga or Selenge is a major river in Mongolia and Buryatia, Russia. Originating from its headwater tributaries, the Ider and the Delger mörön, it flows for 992–1,024 kilometres (616–636 mi) before draining into Lake Baikal. The Selenga therefore makes up the most distant headwaters of the Yenisey-Angara river system.

Environmentalism Broad philosophy, ideology and social movement concerning environmental wellbeing

Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the impact of changes to the environment on humans, animals, plants and non-living matter. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecologism combines the ideology of social ecology and environmentalism. Ecologism is more commonly used in continental European languages, while environmentalism is more commonly used in English but the words have slightly different connotations.

Pulp mill

A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or fully chemical methods. The finished product may be either bleached or non-bleached, depending on the customer requirements.

Mithi River River in Mumbai, India

The Mithi River is a river on Salsette Island, the island of the city of Mumbai, India. It is a confluence of tail-water discharges of the Powai and Vihar lakes. The river is seasonal and rises during the monsoons. The overflowing lakes also contribute to the river flow, which is stopped by a dam at other times. During this season, the gutter is a favourite with anglers, who can catch large fish that have escaped from the lakes. Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport is located right next to the section of river at Andheri (E).

Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation is an Ojibwe First Nations band government who inhabit northern Kenora in Ontario, Canada. Their landbase is the 4,145 ha English River 21 Indian Reserve. It has a registered population of 1,595 as of October 2019, of which the on-reserve population was 971. As of October 2020, the community had a population of approximately 1,200. They are a signatory to Treaty 3.

Uruguay River pulp mill dispute Dispute between Argentina and Uruguay; resolved by the ICJ in 2010

The pulp mill dispute was a dispute between Argentina and Uruguay concerning the construction of pulp mills on the Uruguay River. The presidents at the time were Néstor Kirchner (Argentina) and Tabaré Vázquez (Uruguay). As a diplomatic, economic, and public relations conflict between both parties, the dispute also affected tourism and transportation as well as the otherwise amicable relations between the two countries. The feud was unprecedented between the two countries, which have shared historical and cultural ties.

Leila (Lee) Botts was an American environmentalist known primarily for her work related to conservation and restoration of the Great Lakes. She founded two non-profit organizations, directed a subagency of the U.S. Department of the Interior in the administration of President Jimmy Carter, authored or co-authored a number of books and reports on environmental issues, served in the administration of the late Chicago Mayor Harold Washington, and co-produced a documentary film called Shifting Sands: On the Path to Sustainability, on the history of the Indiana Dunes region.

Environmental issues in Brazil include deforestation, illegal wildlife trade, illegal poaching, air, land degradation, and water pollution caused by mining activities, wetland degradation, pesticide use and severe oil spills, among others. As the home to approximately 13% of all known species, Brazil has one of the most diverse collections of flora and fauna on the planet. Impacts from agriculture and industrialization in the country threaten this biodiversity.

Index of environmental articles Wikipedia index

The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, includes all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth.

Environmental effects of paper Overview about the environmental effects of the paper production industry

The environmental effects of paper are significant, which has led to changes in industry and behaviour at both business and personal levels. With the use of modern technology such as the printing press and the highly mechanized harvesting of wood, disposable paper became a relatively cheap commodity, which led to a high level of consumption and waste. The rise in global environmental issues such as air and water pollution, climate change, overflowing landfills and clearcutting have all lead to increased government regulations. There is now a trend towards sustainability in the pulp and paper industry as it moves to reduce clear cutting, water use, greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel consumption and clean up its influence on local water supplies and air pollution.

The Dryden pulp mill in Dryden, Ontario has been producing one pulp product called Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft (NBSK) since 2007 when it was purchased by Domtar from Weyerhaeuser for about US$520 million. As demand for their products decreased in 2009, hundreds of workers were laid off.

Environmental issues in Russia

Many of the issues have been attributed to policies that were made during the early Soviet Union, at a time when many officials felt that pollution control was an unnecessary hindrance to economic development and industrialization, and, even though numerous attempts were made by the Soviet government to alleviate the situation in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the problems were not completely solved. This shows that the Soviet government was really trying to help back in the 1960, 70 and 80. By the 1990s, 40% of Russia's territory began demonstrating symptoms of significant ecological stress, largely due to a diverse number of environmental issues, including deforestation, energy irresponsibility, pollution, and nuclear waste. According to Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Russia is currently warming 2.5 times faster than the rest of the globe.

Edwin Gariguez

Edwin Gariguez is a Filipino religious leader and environmentalist. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2012, for his voicing of protests on behalf of indigenous communities against large scale mining projects in the Philippines. Edwin Gariguez was the former executive secretary of National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA), the humanitarian, advocacy and social development arm of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Zakamensk Town in Buryatia, Russia

Zakamensk – – is a city of a regional significance in Russia, administration center of Zakamensky district of the Republic of Buryatia. Since 2015 the city has an honorary international title "The city of Labor Valor and Glory"

Waste management in Kazakhstan is an important concern within the country, considering the billions of tons of industrial waste produced yearly, the currently less-than-optimal state of solid waste management, and existing toxins remaining from both pollutants and Kazakhstan's historical position as the USSR's testing grounds for rockets and nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan has very few services for recycling solid waste, and waste management is currently dealt with using regional programs.

Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice, formed in 1997, is a multiracial grassroots organization based in San Francisco that works with low-income and working class urban, rural, and indigenous communities. It runs campaigns in the United States to build grassroots networks, and advocate for social justice.

Charles Remington Goldman is an American limnologist and ecologist.

References

  1. Brave Environmentalist Wins ‘Green Nobel’
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Марина Петровна Рихванова". Экохакатон в Иркутске (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-05-25.
  3. 1 2 3 4 In Russia, environmentalist's concern runs deep for Lake Baikal