MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. A full report on results of the expedition, organized by the Russian Academy of Sciences' Siberian Branch, to survey the nature around Siberian and polar mining and processing enterprises will be available in spring, and early results will be published in December, Nornickel's Vice President on Ecology and Industrial Security Stanislav Seleznev told TASS on Tuesday.
"We have decided to take a comprehensive approach, because our industrial assets are located in the country's various regions," he said. "We wanted to have one contractor that could use unified approaches to taking measures everywhere - this is how we have approached the Russian Academy of Sciences. It is next to impossible to carry out the work within one season, as all seasons matter. We have started with spring, and then will continue working for a year. We expect from them some early results in December, but the total report will be available in spring."
Nornickel's representative rendered the opinion of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which stresses such an expedition, similar comprehensive studies of the huge territories had not been conducted since the Soviet times. Over recent decades, certain companies have studied the nature exclusively 10-20 km around their industrial assets.
The basic biodiversity survey continues the work, which the Norilsk Nickel Company (Nornickel) and the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Siberian Branch began in 2020. Since the Great Norilsk Expedition this work has extended into another three regions. The survey’s purpose is to identify Nornickel’s impact zones and to assess biodiversity in areas of Nornickel’s operations. The research results will be used in building out a corporate biodiversity management system and biodiversity monitoring and conservation programs.