The parties agreed on a partnership in the field of environmental initiatives of business and the non-profit sector. An All-Russian competition for journalists reporting on preserving the Baikal Natural Territory and Lake Baikal will be the first pilot joint project in 2021.
The aim of the competition is to develop and popularize environmental journalism, which contributes to continuous and broad coverage of environmental issues of both global and local significance. It is important that the subject of such journalism can be not only problems, but also achievements in the field of environmental protection.
«Lake Baikal is included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List. The state of the lake and its features are of interest to the general public far beyond the borders of our country. We regularly receive questions about the future of Lake Baikal from citizens of Norway, Portugal and Canada. When the Foundation joined the World Water Council, the request for various thematic publications about the lake has acquired special significance for us,» comments Anastasia Tsvetkova, CEO of Lake Baikal Foundation. «We intend to solve the problem of high-quality coverage of issues related to the management of the Baikal Natural Territory, national priorities in the construction of wastewater treatment plants and, of course, to find a way to tell about the unique potential of Lake Baikal for scientific discoveries. This can only be done in close cooperation with the media and we see the development of this cooperation through the strengthening of environmental journalism.»
In March 2021, the regulations on the competition will be published and we’ll begin to accept applications for the competition. The competition will be held taking into account the best practices of existing Russian and international media competitions. The key principle is non-interference of the organizers in the editorial policy. The BAIKALSEA Company will act as the general partner of the competition and well-known experts in the field of environmental journalism will be involved.
CEO of BAIKALSEA Company Ruslan Kokovin: «Cooperation with Lake Baikal Foundation is the realization of the for BAIKALSEA Company’s mission — we take care of your health, bringing you the purest Baikal water and preserving Lake Baikal. For many years, the BAIKALSEA Company has been advocating for the preservation of the unique nature of Lake Baikal. By our example, we show that it is possible to place a production facility and connect it to treatment facilities that meet all the requirements. Our production is connected to the central treatment facilities of the city of Moscow. In Irkutsk, our production is planned and located in such a way that it does not damage the natural surroundings. Separate waste collection and complete disposal is implemented at all facilities of BAIKALSEA Company. The company also stands for compliance with environmental laws and stricter legal requirements for protection of the unique lake. We support the idea of the competition, as we see that today there is not enough coverage of the real problems of preserving Lake Baikal. Important issues, including the complete absence of treatment facilities on Lake Baikal that comply with legal regulations, are often left aside. We hope that together with the Foundation and the expert community involved, we will be able to contribute to the current and reliable knowledge about the state of the lake ecosystem and to form a strategic position on the development priorities of the Baikal region.»