Doklad-Sochi-2014_EWNC-Eng

Recommendations

Info

Mzymta: the victim of the most expensive Olympic site224,503 trees, plants and bushes included in Russia’s Red Book before the start ofthe construction. This amount includes only plants that grew on the area of 147.3hectares given to Russian Railways for permanent use. Taking into account thatabout 40 hectares of forest land were given to Russian Railwaysfor temporary use(they had separate forest development plans), the total amount of Red Book speciesthat needed to be transplanted should have been more that 300,000 individualspecies. By 2009, when forest development projects for combined road constructionwent through state environmental impact assessment, vegetation, includingprotected species, of the assigned forest lands was practically destroyed.Forest began to be cleared for the combined road without environmental impactstudies or forest planningThis information is confirmed by the report given by the Head of Federal Servicefor Supervision of Natural Resources (Rosprirodnadzor), Vladimir Kirillov, at ameeting, which took place on March 4, 2010 in the city of Sochi. He said RussianRailways had permission to take 46 species and 242,561 individual speciesincluded in Red Book of Russia and only 53,125 individuals of red-listed specieswere transplanted. 1346
Sochi-2014: independent environmental reportIf statements on compensation planting of 70,000 individual plant species arereliable, Russian Railways planted at best 4 times fewer rare species than itdestroyed during construction works.There is also a striking difference between de facto planted species and recommendationsby the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the RussianFederation, “Methodology for Rehabilitation of Rare and Threatened Plant andAnimal Species Negatively Impacted by the Construction of Olympic Sites.” 14According to this document, available on the website of the State CorporationOlympstroy, the following species should have been transplanted from the areaimpacted by the road construction: herbaceous species: about 888,000 individualspecies, arboreal and shrubby species: about 222,000 individual species. Recommendationsstate that the following species must be cultivated in nurseries andrepatriated: herbaceous species: 976,000 individual species, arboreal and shrubbyspecies: 244,000 individual species.As a result, the real volume of compensatory measures conducted by the StatePublic Corporation Russian Railways was dozens of times fewer than assumedby the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation.Destruction of the Mzymta River Valley and a Loss ofFishAt least 1.5 million tons of gravel were illegally taken from the Mzymta Riverin the 2007-2010 period and it used for construction of the combined road. 15 InMarch 2009, the Minister of Natural Resources, Yuri Trutnev, requested the ProsecutorGeneral’s Office to stop gravel removal from Sochi riverbeds. 16 In a periodof 10 months in 2009, twenty-one criminal actions were filed against violatorswho illegally removed gravel from rivers. 17 From 2010 to 2013, at least 26 criminalsentences were passed for taking gravel from the Mzymta River. 18This method of construction led to the degradation of natural landscapes and theprofile of the Mzymta riverbed; and, as a result, it led to increased risk of floodsand beach erosion. 19 Several floods damaged the construction site and equipmentin January and November 2010, 20 March, 21 and September 2013. 22 In spring2013, they also had to evacuate about 700 workers as a result of flood in a constructioncamp. 2347
Page 1 and 2: EnvironmentalWatchon North Caucasus
Page 3: Table of contentsSochi. Ten years w
Page 6: Sochi. Ten years without justiceThe
Page 11 and 12: Sochi-2014: independent environment
Page 21 and 22: Imeretinskaya lowland: an area ofun
Page 29 and 30: Mountain cluster: the a story of a
Page 47: Sochi-2014: independent environment
Page 53 and 54: “Green” Standards for OlympicCo
Page 59 and 60: Zero Waste: Zero Successes on theWa
Page 79 and 80: Environmental Destruction forthe Sa
Page 83 and 84: “If they come and start - flaunti

Doklad-Sochi-2014_EWNC-Eng

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?