Arctic pollution: Kazakh students partake in clean-up operation
According to the statement, students of the university partake in the expedition for the second time. It should be noted that the exhibition is organized by the Russian Geographical Society together with the Government of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. This year Kazakhstan was represented by Nurseit Abdrazakov and Roman Girichev.
Within a month volunteers from different countries cleaned up the territory of the island of Vilkitsky from technical waste including rusty equipment, tanks, different metal structures found near abandoned Soviet military bases. «In order to join the international environmental movement in the Arctic the guys passed interviews, psychological testing, medical examination and practical training near the city of Salekhard», the press service of the unversity reported.
According to the students, it was not easy to adapt to the subarctic climate, they got used to the polar day, low air temperature, strong winds and fogs with visibility of up to 100 meters. But the main danger was represented by polar bears which periodically occurred at the field camp.
«The main purpose of our trip is to clean-up the island and save flora and fauna. This year we set a record as we collected about 200 tons of scrap metal and dismantled about 20 abandoned buildings. Everything is being done in order to include the island in the list of specially protected natural territories», said Roman Girichev. The guys brought exclusive exhibits from the Arctic for the museum of the university.
Over the entire period of the Green Arctic project about 200 volunteers from different regions of Russia, Bulgaria, Germany, Austria, Israel, Ukraine, China, Chile, and Kyrgyzstan participated in it.
