ARKHANGELSK, June 5. /TASS/. Specialists will conduct a new geo-ecology assessment of waste on the Franz Josef Land Archipelago, the Russian Arctic National Park's Director Alexander Kirilov told an ecology conference in Arkhangelsk.

"We need to assess the waste, to see once again where it is, and where not, because in the global climate change, who knows what may happen. We may see new waste, that appears as the ice melts away," he said.

The previous survey was conducted in 2017, while its results, outdated now, are important for technological maps. "Our application has been filed with the Ministry of Natural Resources. The geo-ecology studies are, so to say, the first stage of the cleanup. We won't manage it this year, as it is already summer, and the work requires lengthy approvals, and a vessel. The study is carried out, of course, when there is no snow. The contractor will be chosen in a competition," he said.

The assessment is planned on the Rudolf, Hoffmann, Graham Bell Islands and, in some parts of the Hayes Island. A certain part of the archipelago's territory is outside the park, and economic activity continues there. "We have found that people living on the archipelago's islands, that are not inside the park, have again created a landfill around their habitat," the park's director said.

The territory of Franz Josef Land has become a pilot site for addressing the accumulated environmental damage in the Arctic. The Arctic cleanup began in 2012 from the Alexandra Land Island. Missions have been planned for six islands: the Alexandra Land, Hayes, Hooker, Rudolf, Hoffman and Graham Bell, and works have been organized on the Severny Island of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. Between 2012 and 2017, more than 50,000 tons of waste have been removed from the park. Those were waste products from military facilities and polar stations: fuel barrels, construction materials, household garbage, abandoned equipment, debris of buildings and structures. Works have been completed on the Alexandra Land, Hooker Island and the Hayes Island. As of 2017, about 89.5% of polluted territory was cleaned, and about 9,000 tons of waste remained on the archipelago.

The Russian Arctic National Park is Russia's northernmost and largest protected natural area, which includes the Franz Josef Land Archipelago and the northern part of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago.