Cleanup to continue at Russian Arctic National Park
© RIA Novosti. Ramil Sitdikov

Cleanup to continue at Russian Arctic National Park

Cleanup operations will continue this summer at Russian Arctic National Park to mitigate any environmental damage, reports the Arkhangelsk Region Government website. In late December 2016, the park management company, Arctic Consulting Service Ltd, signed a 12-month contract.

"The Arctic cleanup program will continue after a break. It is also Ecology Year and the 100th anniversary of establishing Russia's nature reserve system. The state is emphasizing the importance of preserving the unique polar ecosystem," the Park's Acting Director Alexander Kirillov said.

Plans include cleaning up polluted sections of the Franz Josef Land Archipelago through 2017, and a simultaneous geo-ecological survey will provide an update on current environmental-impact levels.

Cleanup operations were conducted on Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land from 2012 through 2015, with experts removing over 42,000 metric tons of waste and reclaiming 349 hectares of polluted land.