Lake Baikal

Imagine a lake as vast as the sea and as deep as a canyon, endowed with unique flora, fauna and people. This is Russia’s Lake Baikal- the world’s oldest and deepest lake - situated in southeast Siberia. For centuries, Lake Baikal has been considered sacred by many different cultures. The name “Baikal” comes from the Buryat word for “big reservoir, like a sea” and “Baigal” in the Mongolian language means “natural.” The Buryat and Evenk indigenous peoples of the area are traditionally nomadic and embrace their Asiatic heritage, with emphasis on raising and exporting cattle. Olkhon Island, the largest island in Lake Baikal, is inhabited mostly by indigenous populations and is still considered an especially sacred place in the region. Legend holds that the island is also the birthplace of the Mongolian emperor Ghengis Khan.

Report by Kirstin Henninger
Thanks to Gary Cook for reviewing the text.

History

For millennia, the Lake Baikal region has been inhabited by various indigenous populations, particularly in the taiga (subarctic coniferous zone). Some tribes hunted, others fished and others engaged in a combination of the two. In 1643, Russian explorers first made contact with indigenous populations such as the Evenk and Buryat, yet the area did not experience much Russian influence until the end of the 19th century, when the Trans-Siberian Railroad was built. In the 19th – 20th centuries, the Evenk people mostly inhabited the taiga east of Baikal, and are considered by archaeologists to be the most ancient settlers of the area.Today, the majority of the area’s population is Russian, but the Buryat and Evenk peoples make up 35% of the local population, maintaining their pastoral traditions alongside their neighbors, the Soyot people, who herd reindeer (caribou).

With a depth of 1.2 miles (1,637 meters), Lake Baikal is not only the deepest lake but it’s also the world’s largest lake in volume, containing 23,000 cubic kilometers of water. This amounts to 20% of the earth’s supply of unfrozen fresh water! The lake is estimated to be over 20 million years old, and because of the lake’s depth, it would take 400 years for all of the water in Baikal to drain out through its only outlet, the Angara River. Seventy percent of the 1,700 species in the region are found nowhere else in the world, including the nerpa, the earth’s only freshwater seal.

In the 1950’s, Stalin moved to ensure that strategic national industries like coal would not be threatened by foreign invasion. It was during this time that the government built the Baikalsk Paper and Pulp Mill, despite organized protests by local inhabitants, introducing an era of industrial pollution. Although the protests were ignored, many credit these activists as founders of the environmental movement in Russia, which has only begun to emerge from muted repression nearly twenty years after the end of Soviet Rule.

At the fall of the Soviet empire, the public health system collapsed. As a result, traditional shamanism and medicine, as practiced among indigenous peoples, has seen a dramatic resurgence, as well as Tibetan Buddhism (practiced widely among the Buryats). The most significant Buddhist site in all of Russia lies in Chita, just east of Baikal, and was once threatened by a proposed gold mining operation. In 1999, the site was protected by the creation of Alkhanai National Park, thanks to a successful opposition campaign, and is now frequented by tens of thousands of devotees every summer.

Today, there are three national parks and nine reserves around the Baikal as well as 16 towns and 50 industrial enterprises. While only one industry, the Baikalsk Paper and Pulp Mill, is situated right on the lake’s shores, other enterprises in the surrounding area include 3 hydroelectric dams, aluminum smelting and other chemical industries. Today, the average income of households in the area is approximately US$50 per week, primarily generated through subsistence farming, cattle herding and hunting.

In 1996 two international reports were prepared with recommendations for sustainable development in the region, including ecotourism. In December 1996, UNESCO named Lake Baikal a World Heritage Site, placing 3.15 million hectares under international protection. In the late 1990s evidence of dioxin, PAHs, DDT and other organochlorines that can cause birth defects in humans and animals were found at elevated concentrations in some species of birds and in nerpa seals in the Lake Baikal area. In 1998, the third in a series of US-Russian meetings on dioxin was convened in Baikal under the partnership project, Uniting to Reduce Dioxin Levels in Human Beings and the Environment. The workshop outlined many different recommendations for government and NGOs to work on total elimination of emissions of dioxin and dioxin-related materials. Although the government has been unable to implement many of these recommendations, there is still hope that the situation will improve as various industries shut down near the lake.

Current Threats

Due to the Baikal’s depth, size and its surrounding protected areas, major ecological threats such as over-grazing and resource extraction exist at the watershed level and in surrounding areas. Upriver of the Selenga River, Baikal’s main tributary, there is a ‘free range’ approach to the grazing practices of most nomadic people, resulting in decimation of areas frequented by cattle. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of these people invested their only assets in cattle; some estimates show that in the 1990s, the number of cattle in some areas increased tenfold. This led to a tremendous nutrient overload and damaged the surrounding river ecosystems. Without attention to overgrazing, these areas quickly suffer from desertification and will continue to harm ecological resources and eventually harm the cattle and herders themselves.

Gold and uranium extraction also effect nearby ecosystems and populations. Although not a direct threat to the lake, hydraulic gold mining methods using arsenic and cyanide are tearing up riverbeds and producing toxins that directly effect fish populations and has exposed large numbers of people to radioactivity, often by unearthing gold that comes with radon. The town of Balei, in Chita Province, is considered by some to be more radioactive than Chernobyl because of its Soviet-era gold mines and the buildings that were built out of the mine tailings there. Though the worst buildings have been abandoned in Balei, life expectancy is still around 38-40 years of age.

Lake Baikal also experiences impacts from air pollution from coal fired power plants and industry located upwind and west of the lake. Coal production in west Siberia gives rise to acid rain, which then affects the lake and its flora and fauna. In 1996, the Chemical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences found 175 picogram per kilogram of dioxin in the fat of the Baikal nerpa, which was thought to come from atmospheric transport as well as effluent from the Baikalsk Mill. Dioxin is thought to have caused the deaths of many seals near the Baikalsk plant in 1997 in particular.

Oil and gas resources were located in western and central Siberia about 15 years ago. Although laws prohibit pipelines that would link to China or the Pacific to run through the Baikal watershed, plans for such a pipeline were under way and drew large protests from environmentalists. Perhaps as a result, in the fall of 2006, President Putin ordered that the pipeline be diverted north, away from Baikal’s watershed.

In many ways, Baikal’s ecosystem is blessed with several forests that are high on mountains and inaccessible to the logging industry, which is critical to mitigating erosion and desertification. On the other hand, there are forests in Siberia that will become more accessible if demand increases from China, who has illegalized logging in many of its own northern forests. At its latitude and with its climate, Siberia is not home to forests that regenerate quickly or easily, thus making the threat of increased logging more severe, not to mention the probability that most profits from logging in Siberia would go to the Chinese.

As the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper mill is the only large industry directly situated at the lake’s shores, it has historically been a target of activists determined to shut down or change the plant’s practice of directly polluting the lake. According to Baikal Watch, the plant is experiencing such financial problems, that it continues to downsize (it has lost _ of its employees in recent years, now employing 1000 people). At this rate, the business might very well close entirely, which would be a boon for the lake, but will be a challenge for the town’s infrastructure, whose sewage is connected to the mill’s system.

Preservation Efforts

The grassroots protest against the Pulp and Paper Mill over 50 years ago (at a time when such activism was illegal) is evidence of how much Lake Baikal is valued as a cultural and ecological resource. Aside from that effort, environmentalism in Russia emerged about fifteen years ago, and the growth and determination of the movement at Lake Baikal is impressive. Preservation efforts are aimed at diverting industry away from the area and building more sustainable sources for economical development, such as ecotourism. This strategy was supported by a World Bank study in 1995 to assess the economic potential of the lake; this survey determined that there is more value in preserving the lake’s resources than extracting them through industry.

Today, there are several non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) working to preserve and protect the resources of Lake Baikal and its surrounding areas. In the town of Irkutsk, the Baikal Ecological Wave works with other NGOs such as Baikal Watch, to educate the local public and put pressure on government decision makers to protect the wildlife at Baikal, especially the nerpa. They also promote research, education and direct action by locals to counter the polluting activities of the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Plant, which continues to release toxins such as dioxin into the lake.

Through NGOs such as Baikal Watch and Pacific Environment and Resources Center, United States activists and supporters have helped the movement to preserve Baikal. Started in 1990, Baikal Watch, a project of Earth Island Institute, has conducted training programs to build the capacity of hundreds of park officials as well as Russian and other former Soviet colleague NGO activist groups. In their campaign to save Russian National Parks, they have arranged numerous ecotours to benefit the parks and worked with the World Bank and Russian government agencies as they plan support programs to keep the parks alive during such difficult financial times in Russia. Other US-Russian collaborated efforts to preserve Baikal are the Tahoe-Baikal Institute, which has arranged exchanges between scientists and government officials from each country to visit both of these unique lakes to exchange information and experiences.

One of the best assets of Lake Baikal is that there are few roads and major development directly on the lake’s shores, so it holds great potential for developing ecotourism and drawing visitors to experience its uniquely remote beauty. In an effort to spur this process, Baikal Watch and various partners at Baikal have started to build the Great Baikal Trail, which entails 1000 miles of scenic trail, connecting 3 national parks and 4 nature reserves around the lake. (See details below).

How to Help

Although Lake Baikal was once a popular tourist destination for the Soviets and drew 4 million visitors a year, its tourist numbers are now number in the thousands each year. The potential for eco-tourism to positively impact the lake and surrounding communities is great, so the best way to directly help the future preservation of Lake Baikal is to visit as an eco-tourist and/or volunteer to help build the Great Baikal Trail.

So far, thousands of individuals and groups from colleges and organizations like Sierra Club have visited Baikal through ecotourism projects to enjoy the peacefulness of its natural areas and the local culture through homestays. Currently there is a network of 4 - 500 homestay families around the lake where visitors can stay and there are efforts to institutionalize these programs with the help of the national parks.

For more information, visit Baikal Watch’s special Friends of the Great Baikal Trail website. Also, a new website on ecotourism is accessible at www.earthisland.org/ecotours. Here you can find ecotours and other traveling opportunities in different countries, including Russia and Lake Baikal region.

Related Organizations Working to Protect Lake Baikal and Greater Siberia

• Biakal Watch – Non-governmental organization based in Russian and U.S, that acts as a resource to the emerging Russian government and works to enhance the performance of local environmentalists by offering them access to information, expertise, and financial support.
• Baikal Center for Ecological and Civic Initiatives - Non-governmental organization that facilitates cooperation between groups, individuals, and governmental agencies involved in environmental protection efforts in the Baikal region.
• Baikal Ecological Wave - Non-governmental group of “enthusiasts” organized to determine ways that citizens can act to protect the Lake Baikal region.
• Baikal Fund - Chita Branch - Begun in the late 1980s, this organization works to protect the Arakhley Lakes area in the Chita region of eastern Siberia (part of the Lake Baikal watershed).
• Baikal International Center for Ecological Research - International non-governmental organization housed at the Irkutsk Limnological Institute. The group arranges joint research among scientists from Russia and other countries in multidisciplinary studies of Lake Baikal’s ecosystem.
• China Biodiversity Network - Protecting biological diversity in China through education, conservation, and restoration, as well as through increased local awareness and action.
• Earth Justice Legal Defense Fund - Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, formerly the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, is a non-profit law firm that works to safeguard public lands, national forests, parks and wilderness areas; to reduce air and water pollution; to prevent toxic contamination; to preserve endangered species and wildlife habitat; and to achieve environmental justice.
• Ecojuris - Women Lawyers for Environment & Development - Russian environmental law firm consisting of specialists from the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Moscow Bar Association, and other leading legal institutions.
• Green Volunteers - Green Volunteers is a worldwide guide and information network to voluntary work in nature conservation.
• Lake Baikal Regional Ecological Tourism Support Center - Website that contains specialized information for those interested in the development of ecological tourism in the Lake Baikal region.
• Northwest Medical Teams International - Christian relief agency that provides those in crisis with volunteer medical assistance, humanitarian aid, and community development programs.
• Pacific Environment and Resources Center - Non-governmental organization that works to protect endangered ecosystems around the Pacific Rim through grassroots advocacy, environmental education, and law and policy analysis.
• Tahoe-Baikal Institute - Non-governmental organization that works to preserve Lake Tahoe in California and Lake Baikal in Siberia, as well as other significant and threatened natural areas around the world.
• The Baikal Federation for Sport Tourism and Mountain-Climbing - This coalition of ecotourism specialists at Baikal can offer environmental and cultural tours around Baikal to any interested groups or individuals from around the world. In addition, the Baikal Federation is bringing together other organizations to build the GREAT BAIKAL TRAIL, so as to attract more ecotourists to Siberia in the first place.
• Uniglobe Russian Travel - Travel agency with years of hands-on experience in the former Soviet Union. Ideal for diverse travelers “whether their purpose is business, vacation, humanitarian aid, or some very special venture.”

Resources

• Gary Cook, Director, Baikal Watch, Conversation, October 30, 2007
• “Combating Dioxin and Toxic Pollution in Lake Baikal”, 5/30/00. Baikal Watch.
• Comprehensive Data about Lake Baikal in Siberia
• “Everything to Know about Lake Baikal”
• Mark Mackinnon, “New battles loom over Russia’s great lake Plan to pipe water to a thirsty world pits entrepreneurs against ecologists”. The Globe and Mail (Canada), August 13, 2002.
• UNESCO World Heritage Centre