MURMANSK, May 16. /TASS/. Environmental volunteering in the Arctic regions develops in tourists, visiting the Murmansk Region, caring attitude to the Northern nature, Natalia Sidorina, the organizer of the volunteer campus in the village of Nickel in the Arctic told TASS.

"Every year we hold a volunteer campus in Nickel, which attracts eco-volunteers from across Russia," she said. "We try to give more details about the Arctic to students from the south, because to them the Arctic is something superior. It is very important that the volunteer campus favors the formation of responsible tourism. The ecology volunteers, who visit the Arctic, in particular the Murmansk Region, after our classes, being tourists, can understand clearly that the Arctic nature cannot recover as easily as it does in more southern latitudes."

The ecology volunteers, who have visited the Arctic, further on teach their friends and families more responsible attitudes to nature. "They are completely different tourists - more responsible visitors. They would not throw away anything, as they have collected waste with their own hands, realizing the Arctic nature is simply unable to "digest", for example, discarded paper. The paper would not decompose, it just freezes up and remains there until the next season, then again it gets frozen and stored, and so on endlessly," she said.

The volunteer campus will be held in the village of Nickel, bordering Norway, from July 23 to August 4 - for the fourth time. The volunteers will clean up urban spaces, including the Kolosjoki River crossing the settlement. The event attracts interest from volunteers all over Russia. "Every year, we have about 200 applications, and the competition is 7 applicants per one place. We pay for travel, accommodation and meals for participants from other regions. We also provide meals to residents of the Pechenga District, from whom we can see a great response every year. Most importantly - we provide everyone with necessary equipment and outfits," she said in conclusion.

The volunteer campus organizers believe this is a modern way to draw attention to the lack of workout and leisure locations in Nickel. The project's main goal is to unite caring people to make Nickel an attraction for local residents and tourists by arranging post-industrial activities in that industrial village.

About Nickel

The village of Nickel in the Murmansk Region is located in the Pechenga District, 7 km from the border with Norway and about 200 km northwest of Murmansk. In 2020, the Norilsk Nickel Company stopped the smelting plant in Nickel - it was the company's oldest asset. The shutdown is part of Norilsk Nickel's comprehensive environmental program to cut significantly the environmental impact at all production sites.