Baikal Watch was formed in 1990 after a series of exchange expeditions
taken by North American environmentalists to the Lake Baikal region of
Siberia. The goal in forming this non-profit project was to develop a
network of international activists who could:
- Act responsively to the needs of the emerging Russian environmental movement.
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Act
to enhance the performance of local environmentalists by offering them
access to information, expertise, and financial support.
Mission
Baikal Watch is a non-profit environmental organization dedicated to the preservation of Lake Baikal and the Siberian frontier.
Background
Since
its inception, Baikal Watch has helped draw the attention of the world
to the problems of Lake Baikal and Siberia. With the publishing support
of Sierra Club Books, and with the artistic contributions of Peter
Matthiessen and Boyd Norton, it has produced its own acclaimed book on
Baikal, a photo-album-journal which has sold over 60,000 copies in 15
different languages. At the same time, Baikal Watch has assisted with
the production of numerous films for television on Baikal (which have
appeared on American, English, Korean, and Russian TV), as well as
dozens of newspaper and magazine articles on the lake and its
environment.
Using this added publicity, Baikal Watch has developed a system for
promoting Siberian ecotourism, where benefits accrue to local
communities, both ecologically and economically. Within this program --
and in close collaboration with local Russian representatives -- Baikal
Watch has set up international programs for supporting the national
parks and nature reserves in Russia. To date, Baikal Watch has
organized over 70 tours, leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars in
profits in the hands of the financially-strapped national parks and
nature reserves in Siberia. Plans are under way to fund local activists
as they form a Baikal Ecotourism Board, a board which will work to
attract and cater to ever greater numbers of ecotourists.
The success of these ecotours has convinced some local officials that a
pristine and protected Baikal may bring greater economic benefits to
all. As an example of this, when local governments around Baikal began
strongly suggesting that the parks open their territories to
international trophy hunting, believing that this may provide a useful
source of immediate income for the protected areas in the region,
Baikal Watch gathered together all its ecotourism colleagues to lobby
against this suggestion. It convinced local officials that a natural
Baikal, full of wildlife, will attract large numbers of tourists in the
long run, and translate into increased incomes for both parks and local
communities. In the end, the threat to cancel all our annual ecotours
was sufficient -- the Baikal Association of Protected Areas has
continued to extend bans on hunting on their lands with each successive
year.
With the help of Baikal Watch, the lake and its greater Siberian
surroundings have attracted the attention of many leading global
institutions. Baikal Watch has been responsible for leading and
advising groups ranging from the World Bank, Parks Canada, the US State
Department, and other governmental and NGO groups. Each of these groups
has invested their expertise and financial assistance in the region,
granting over 10 million dollars to programs that protect nature at
Baikal. With Baikal Watch's assistance, they intend to distribute even
greater sums in the future.
In the interest of supporting the local environmental movement in
Russia, Baikal Watch has provided extensive technical and financial
assistance and training to a network of over 500 environmentalists from
throughout the former Soviet Union. One result of this is that the
local network of leading environmental groups (such as the Baikal
Center for Ecological and Citizen Initiatives, the Baikal Wave, and the
Baikal Fund) are now providing valuable support to smaller grass roots
groups as they develop and strengthen their very important programs of
environmental education and advocacy. These groups are now tackling
some of the most difficult problems facing Siberia, including the
resolution of pollution issues at the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Plant, as
well as the acute public health problems surrounding the gold and
uranium mining regions located to the east of Baikal.
Where is Lake Baikal?
"This huge, old, beautiful lake, surrounded by wildness, is a world
treasure, a world heritage. But right now the world needs to come to
Lake Baikal's rescue."
-- David BrowerBaikal Watch is a project of the Earth Island Institute (EII)
