“We don’t want our sacred sites to become an environmental cesspool.”

—Nina Vecher, Republic of Buryatia, Russia

Protect Tunkinskii National Park / Russia - Victory

One-quarter of the world's frontier forests (large intact ecosystems) are in Russia, but they are now falling to the axe faster than in much of the tropics. To protect these boreal (taiga) forests, Russian environmentalists have created 99 nature reserves and 33 national parks, amounting to nearly 2% of national territory. Eighty percent of Russia's biological diversity is found in these protected areas. According to a report by the Taiga Rescue Network, Russian conservation laws are “rather good [but] there is a serious problem of their enforcement.”

A critical case in point: The Russian oil giant, Yukos, wants to build a Russia-China oil pipeline right through Tunkinskii National Park, in clear violation of the Law on Protected Territories. Founded in 1991, Tunkinskii National Park covers nearly 3 million acres in the Tunka Valley near the southern end of Lake Baikal in the Republic of Buryatia. It is nestled between the Khamar-Daban Mountains to the southeast and the mighty Sayani mountains to the northwest. The park protects a pristine taiga forest ecosystem dominated by Siberian pine, and over 200 mineral springs. Endangered species include the snow leopard, Siberian mountain goat, black stork, mountain goose, golden eagle and white-tailed eagle.

For the indigenous Buryats, Soyots and Evenks, who herd sheep and farm in the Tunka Valley, the whole region is sacred, and many consider pipeline construction an affront to their culture, history and beliefs. Yukos plans to build the pipeline within 200 meters of specific sites that are sacred to the Buryats, who suffered persecution under Stalin for their traditional practices of Buddhism and shamanism.

Joining the campaign to stop the pipeline are Tunka Valley tourism operators who bring over 10,000 people a year to the hot springs, famed for their healing properties. Pipelines in the National Park would spoil its natural beauty, and a single oil spill affecting the springs could destroy the region's growing tourism industry.

The Yukos pipeline would extend from Siberia's Irkutsk Region to the city of Daqing, China, a distance of 1,490 miles (2,400 km) –twice as long as the Trans Alaska Pipeline System. It would cross seismically active regions where fault lines run perpendicular to each other. Seismic activity, high mountain passes, extreme weather and geography pose serious challenges for pipeline construction, maintenance and security.

Other problems accompany the pipeline. A service road would be built through vast roadless wilderness areas, opening access for illegal hunting, fishing, mining and logging. Oil spills in the Tunka Valley could spread downstream toward Lake Baikal, the world's deepest lake (nearly a mile deep). Protected as a World Heritage Site, Lake Baikal is known as the “Galapagos of Russia” for its outstanding variety of endemic plants and animals, including the world's only freshwater seal, the nerpa.

For Russian environmentalists, there is even more at stake than protecting the Tunka Valley. Construction of the Russia-China pipeline through Tunkinskii National Park would violate at least three Russian laws: the Law on the Environment, the Law on Protected Territories and the Land Code. If Yukos can get away with flagrant illegalities in the Tunka Valley, the country's entire legal framework for conservation is vulnerable.

More information about this issue.

Make a donation for this campaign.

Write a letter for this campaign.

Campaign partner(s) and credits.