The distribution of grants among the participants of the All-Russian grant competition for journalists "Baikal: instructions for conservation"

On 10.06.2021, the provision of grants to the participants of the All-Russian competition of journalists "Baikal: instructions for conservation" was completed. The purpose of the Competition is to attract the attention of the media to the problems of preserving Lake Baikal and to promote the development of environmental journalism.

The winners of the Contest plan to publish articles in three thematic areas "Management of the Baikal Natural Territory", "Wastewater Treatment Facilities in the Baikal Natural Territory", "Research and Development in the Baikal Natural Territory". In particular, the journalists participating in the Competition intend to understand the problems of pollution of Lake Baikal with microplastics and nanoplastics, the ways of transforming Baikalsk after the closure of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, endemic diversity in the Baikal natural territory, the prospects for new scientific discoveries as a result of the installation of the Russian neutrino telescope Baikal-GVD.

In total, 770 thousand rubles were transferred to the winners. The exact amount of the grant for the author of each application was determined based on the complexity of the work and the provided estimate for the fieldwork.

The result of the Competition will be 8 publications on the difficulties of managing the Baikal natural area, treatment facilities and anthropogenic impact on the endemic world of Lake Baikal in federal and regional media.

The organizer of the Competition was the Lake Baikal Foundation for the Support of Applied Environmental Research and Development. Anastasia Tsvetkova, General Director of the Fund for Support of Applied Environmental Research and Development "Lake Baikal", spoke about the idea of the Competition:

“Having supported scientific research in the field of conservation of water resources and biodiversity in the Baikal natural territory for several years, observing the coverage of problems in the field of sustainable development of Lake Baikal, we saw a need for an increase in quality analytical materials about the lake, available to everyone. Journalism grants are an excellent tool that allows you to support authors interested in covering socially important topics without sacrificing the principles of journalistic ethics. The attention of the media to our Contest confirms its timeliness. Most of the applications were submitted in the category "Management of the Baikal Natural Territory" and testifies to the authors' desire to look comprehensively at the cause-and-effect relationships of environmental challenges and ways to address them. Special attention should be paid to the immersion of the authors at the stage of applications in the endemic world of Lake Baikal, which constitutes its unconditional value as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site and requires continuous study."

The general partner of the competition was BAIKALSEA Company. Chairman of the Supervisory Board of BAIKALSEA Company Maxim Surnin also highly appreciated the idea of the competition, noting the acute lack of coverage of the real problems of the preservation of Lake Baikal:

“As a manufacturer of national brands of natural Baikal water, BAIKALSEA Company stands for the preservation of the unique nature of Baikal. By supporting the competition, we make our contribution to the formation of relevant and reliable knowledge about the state of the lake's ecosystem and contribute to the creation of a strategic position on the development priorities of the Baikal region. Lake Baikal is a Russian treasure. Therefore, the use of its resources must be carried out under strict control and in strict accordance with environmental legislation,” noted Maxim Surnin.

REFERENCE

BAIKALSEA Company is a producer of Baikal water in the premium segment, a leading producer of bottled water from artesian springs: natural water "Baikal Pearl", medicinal mineral water "Baikal Reserve" (BAIKAL RESERVE), as well as deep Baikal water BAIKAL430.