The winners of the All-Russian grant contest «Baikal: Conservation Instructions» have received their grants.
Lake Baikal Foundation organises this contest to draw attention of the media to the issue of lake Baikal conservation and support the environmental journalism.
On the 10th of June the winners of the All-Russian journalist contest, that have been chosen by the Expert council chaired by Andrei Palamarchuk, Editor in Chief at National Geographic Russia, have been awarded with grants on the writing of articles about lake Baikal and the Baikal natural area. The total grant funding is 700 000 rubles. 8 authors have been shortlisted. Their applications differed over high level of novelty, originality and feasibility of the described idea.
The journalists-winners in 3 thematic nominations of the contest are:
The management of the Baikal natural area:
— Ekaterina Mereminskaya / freelance author
— Natalia Paramonova / MIA «Rossia Segodnya»
— Egor Scherbakov / Vostochno-Sibirskaya Pravda
Treatment facilities in the Baikal natural area:
— Anna Geroeva / freelance author
— Svetlana Gorbacheva / Baikal24
Scientific research and applications in the Baikal natural area:
— Oleg Galikaev / freelance author
— Tatiana Melentieva / Verblud v ogne
— Anastasia Troianova / Plus-one.ru
In sum, we have received 40 applications. The Expert council mentioned a high level of the grantees’ summaries and difficult choice of the winners. The members of the Expert council also expressed their readiness for collaboration with authors after the end of the contest. All authors are united with their willingness to shed the light on the challenges of the Baikal natural area and contribute to conservation of the unique ecosystem.
The journalist contest aimed at identifying and support of the authors, who are ready to write and publish materials on management of the Baikal natural territory and to tell more about scientific potential of Baikal.
Soon the most interesting part is waiting for the grantees – field visits to Baikal, communication with experts and acquiring of new knowledge about the Baikal natural territory. According to the authors’ plans, in the federal and regional media we will see materials on the following topics: microplastic pollution in Baikal, issue of the treatment facilities installment, future development of Baykalsk, management strategy for the area by the federal institutions and regional authorities, interconnection between wellbeing of the Baikal endemics, climate change and anthropogenic influence and other essential topics.
The key partner – BAIKALSEA Company, media-partner is AKSON.