Youth environmentalists from Murmansk want an oil-free Lofoten

The largest ever Summer Environmental Camp took place this August in Henningsvær (more than 250 participants). The camp was initiated by youth environmental organization Natur og Ungdom.

The issue of oil drilling around areas off Lofoten, Vesterålen and Senja has been largely disputed over the last 10 years. The decision is to be taken already in 2010, thus upcoming elections to Norwegian Parliament in September 2009 will have a great impact for oil industry development in this area. In this regard the camp organizers invited the representatives of different political parties in Norway to have a debate.

The volunteers from environmental organizations ”Priroda i Molodezhj” (Murmansk) and “Aetas” (Arkhangelsk) being indifferent to the destiny of Nordland coast came to support their Norwegian counterparts.

 -The Northern territories are so beautiful and fragile that it is unacceptable to destroy them or expose to additional risks, - says Vitaly Servetnik, the chairperson of “Priroda i Molodezhj”. Today there is no country in the world possessing the whole complex of research studies and technologies which enable them to explore Arctic recourses entirely safely.

All three organizations have been good friends for many years. Twice a year they meet each other to discuss common Activity plans. There is also an information exchange between organizations on a constant basis.

The Norwegians also support “Priroda i Molodezhj” taking part in their actions, seminars and summer camps. Once they managed to gather and bring to Murmansk 16 signatures of mayors in Norwegian provinces against prolongation of the first reactor on Kolsky Nuclear Power Plant.

The cooperation between Natur og Ungdom and Priroda i Molodezhj started 10 years ago. Together they’ve applied several times for funding from the Norwegian Barents Secretariat. In the beginning the Russian environmentalists learned a lot from their counterparts. But today they become more and independent, cooperating with Norwegian friends on a parity basis.

The organization has several success stories to tell. One of them is about wind energy. PiM are proud of their initiative to establish Governmental Working Group on Wind Energy in Murmansk. In December 2006 they’ve organized round table which gathered business representatives, government authorities, environmentalists, scientists, NGOs and other stakeholders to discuss possibility of using wind energy in Murmansk Oblast.

A document stating that by 2020 the wind energy in Murmansk Oblast should constitute at least 20% of all energy was signed by the former governor Yury Evdokimov. Already in January 2007 a Working Group on wind energy was introduced in Murmansk Oblast Government.

Much attention is given to public awareness-raising. Mostly PiM activists work for youth and civil servants. One of the distributed brochures was even titled as “a manual for Children and Ministers”. Often PiM members are invited to give lectures in school, universities, libraries and other city organizations.

In order to attract public attention PiM members make bright protest actions which usually provoke different reaction. PiM is an open organization, news and photos are published and updated on their web-site, they also cooperate with magazines and periodicals.

This year a student from Oslo University made a film about PiM. His thesis was devoted to youth activity in the North. Thus he decided to shoot a film about “Priroda i Molodezhj” since he considers it to be a bright example of active living position. The CD will soon be sent to Murmansk and the author says he wants to make a sequel.