ARKHANGELSK, November 6. /TASS/. Arkhangelsk will host for the first time a national scientific conference - Natural, Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Solovetsky Archipelago - in September 2027, Director of the Academician Laverov Federal Research Center for Integrated Arctic Studies (the Russian Academy of Sciences' Urals Branch), Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Ivan Bolotov told TASS. The event will be dedicated to the 600th anniversary of the first monastic settlement in the Solovetsky Archipelago.

"The unique Solovki Islands attract researchers from different regions of Russia. Not only Arkhangelsk and Karelian scientists are working in the archipelago permanently. There also are working also our counterparts from the Russian Academy of Sciences and universities in Moscow and St. Petersburg: the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, the Institute of Geography, the Institute of Archeology, the Institute of the History of Material Culture, the Lomonosov Moscow State University, and others. We plan to bring together this wide community: Arkhangelsk will become a hub where will meet experts on the Solovki from different regions," he said.

Since 2003, researchers have discussed several times results of field work at the scientific conference, dubbed Problems of Monitoring the Natural Environment of the Solovetsky Archipelago, which took place in Arkhangelsk, but the tradition was interrupted to resume in 2027 under the auspices of Russia's Ministry of Science and Higher Education. The event now has a wider range of issues on agenda. The upcoming conference's program will cover both natural science and technology, as well as historical, cultural and spiritual aspects.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko oversees the Solovetsky Archipelago's conservation and development. Since 2023, the scale of comprehensive scientific research in the Solovki has been growing in order to monitor the natural environment's conditions there. The Ministry of Science and Higher Education's three institutions have been working actively to calculate the maximum anthropogenic load on the archipelago. Those institutions are: the Academician Laverov Federal Research Center for Integrated Arctic Studies, the Karelian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Lomonosov Northern Arctic Federal University. Scientists from these and many other Russian scientific institutions will discuss results of the Solovki research.

The conference organizing committee is co-chaired by Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Chairman of the Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Viktor Rudenko, Russia's Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education Denis Sekirinsky, and the Arkhangelsk Region's Governor Alexander Tsybulsky.

Comprehensive research of the Solovki

The conference will address a wide range of issues related to the natural environment, the dynamics of islands' flora and fauna: the changing composition, abundance and diversity of plants and animals, recreational activities, and man-made accidents. A recent emergency situation occured as diesel fuel spilled during excavation near the Blagopoluchiya Bay embankment, the federal research center's director said.

The forum participants will also discuss the monastic heritage and the ambiguous history of the Soviet period, will touch upon the Neolithic archaeological research.

The Solovki Islands still remain the ecological cleanliness standard in Russia's European North. The archipelago does not have polluting industries. The existing pollution is mainly related to long-range atmospheric relocation and local sources. Scientists believe that the ongoing large-scale monitoring will favor preservation of the Solovetsky Archipelago in an intact state.

"Visitors go to the Solovki for the pristine, unique island nature; they travel to visit holy sites and various natural areas. Within a few hours, visitors can find themselves in the tundra, in the taiga, and in the mixed forest areas. The archipelago in its current form is the result of rational monastic nature management. Initially, these were swampy islands. The monastery was creating a system of man-made canals to dump excess water into the sea. The monks have created unique meadows where agriculture was developing and which have been preserved to this day. They also have created a botanical garden. This is a vivid example of rational use of natural resources that has been thought out for centuries. This is an example of ensuring high productivity of ecosystems that do not disrupt the island landscape, but rather improve it," the research center's director said in conclusion.