Henkel company supported the Trash Free National Parks project in the Pribaikalsky National Park. The first recycling point will open on the Saraisky beach, the Olkhon Island, already this year.
Lake Baikal Foundation has been implementing the Trash Free National Parks program since 2019. The Pribaikalsky National Park is already the third specially protected natural area where sustainable practices of reducing the waste generation and the system of separate collection with subsequent transportation for recycling are replicated.
The Olkhon Island is an attraction site for travelers from all over the world and a priority area for reducing the anthropogenic pressure on the endemic flora and fauna. That is why the introduction of the system of responsible waste management in the national park starts with the Saraisky beach. There, visitors will be able to hand over clean packaging for recycling: plastic, glass, metal. The instructions at the recycling point will help to correctly sort waste fractions. The separately collected materials will be transported for further treatments to Irkutsk and then to recycling plants.
The responsible tourism is not limited to separate waste collection. To ensure the systematic approach of the project and to introduce as many people as possible to the main principle of ecotourism – «Leave no trace» – a series of lectures and workshops will be held in the national park for visitors and local residents of any age, as well as for representatives of the tourism industry of the region and small businesses from the service sector. The events will be organized with the participation of the Give a Life to our Planet Foundation.
The support for the project was provided as part of the national action ProNature, held by Henkel from April 15 till June 15, 2021.
The scale-up of the program is possible owing to the partnership with the World Around You Foundation.