NEW YORK-
A top travel magazine has honored the work of a Siberian biologist, Marina Rikhvanova, who opposed construction of an oil pipeline near Lake Baikal, the world’s largest body of fresh water.
Conde Nast Traveler magazine feted Rikhvanova Oct. 16 at an awards gala at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan. Rikhvanova, who lives in Irkutsk, was a co-founder of the Baikal Environmental Wave, according to the magazine, and helped form a coalition of scientists, regional leaders, and local citizens against the pipeline.
Her story will appear in the magazine’s November issue.
The magazine gives its environmental award annually “to recognize otherwise little-known heroes whose environmental good works benefit locals and travelers alike. Marina Rikhvanova is remarkable for her determination, courage, humility, and enormous contributions to both the people, tourism, and the wildlife of Siberia.”
Earlier this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that the pipeline be moved 25 miles north of the lake.
“If there is even the smallest, the tiniest chance of polluting Baikal, then we must think of future generations. We must do everything to make sure this danger is not just minimized, but eliminated,” Putin said at the time.
Officials had originally proposed routing the pipeline within 875 yards of Baikal, alarming environmentalists who said the lake’s unique ecology could be destroyed in the event of a rupture. Ecologists had warned that the pristine lake was located in a seismically active zone with strong earthquakes occurring every two decades, significantly increasing the risk of an oil spill.
Reaching more than 5,300 feet at its deepest point, Baikal contains one-fifth of the world’s fresh water and up to 1,500 unique species of plants and animals. It has been designated a World Heritage site by the United Nations agency, UNESCO.
