TASS, March 19. The environmental assessment indicator, developed after the Great Scientific Expedition, will be used at nature reserves on the Taymyr Peninsula, the Norilsk Nickel Company's Vice President for Ecology and Industrial Safety Stanislav Seleznev told TASS.

"Scientists have developed an indicator to assess the environment's conditions. It is a rather complex integral indicator that evaluates the populations of various species of animals, plants, and the composition of chemicals in the environment," he said. "We want to use this indicator over the next few years to assess conditions of the environment in nature reserves [on the Taymyr]. If in a few years it can be proved this indicator is calculated correctly, we will suggest using it to assess the environment throughout the country."

Right now, he continued, specialists determine the environment's conditions often by the population of one particular species, which is not always correct. The company's representative did not rule out launching a pilot project in the country's other locations: the national environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, has demonstrated interested in the new indicator.

The Great Scientific Expedition continues the work of the Norilsk Nickel Company (Nornickel) and the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch, which began in 2020 on the Taymyr Peninsula. Further on, it was expanded to the Kola Peninsula, the Krasnoyarsk Region's north and to the Trans-Baikal Region.

Some scientific results

One of the tasks the expedition was facing was to identify the company's impact zones and to assess the state of ecosystem biodiversity in areas of Norilsk Nickel's assets. The vice president stressed: the scientists note those are the most extensive observations conducted in the post-Soviet time. "The conclusion the scientists have made is that the company's impact is limited to the sanitary protection zones, set to us by the state regulations. This means the state-regulated sanitary protection zones have been set quite correctly. Therefore, the company's impact on the environment is local and specific, within those sanitary protection zones <...>. Another interesting observation: the species composition of plants and animals remains, that is, they feel comfortable within 3 km from the enterprises, moreover since hunting is prohibited in those zones," he said.

During the expedition, scientists discovered on the Taymyr a new weevil beetle species. "We have organized a poll in the company, and the majority has voted for its name, which will be translated into Latin. The beetle will be called "putoranchik" to mark a unique place on the Taymyr - the Putorana Plateau," the company's representative said.

Results of the Great Scientific Expedition will be used in building out a corporate biodiversity management system and biodiversity monitoring and conservation programs. According to the vice president, the research and the cooperation with the Academy of Sciences' experts will continue in the future.

The Nature Reserves of Taymyr is the largest protected area in Russia, created in the spring of 2013 as a merger of three northern reserves in Siberia - Putoransky, Bolshoy Arctic and Taymyr. Its area is almost 12 million hectares.