Marina Petrovna Rikhvanova is a Russian

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

and leader of the Baikal Ecological Wave (BEW) organization which protects Siberia's

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

from ecological damage. Lake Baikal, the world's biggest reservoir of

fresh water Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salt (chemistry), salts and other total dissolved solids. The term excludes seawater and brackish water, but it does include ...

, is currently under threat from

industrial pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause harm. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the component ...

. In 2008, Rikhvanova was awarded the

Goldman Environmental Prize The Goldman Environmental Prize is a prize awarded annually to grassroots environmental activists. History Awardees are named from each of the world's six geographic regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Islands and Island Nations, North America, an ...

.Brave Environmentalist Wins ‘Green Nobel’
/ref>

History

Rikhvanova's concern for the Lake Baikal dates to her years in college, when she wrote a paper on environmental threats posed by a pulp and a paper mill in Baikalsk that had been dumping contaminants into the lake since the 1960s. The mill dumped thousands of tons of pollutants into the lake, including

dioxin Dioxin may refer to a number of different substances. Most notably: * 1,2-Dioxin or 1,4-dioxin, two unsaturated heterocyclic 6-membered rings in which two carbon atoms have been replaced by oxygen atoms, which gives the molecular formula C4H4O2 ...

, which has appeared in Baikal fish and the fat of Baikal seals. From 1982 to 1990 she worked at the Institute of Biology at ISU, from 1990 to 1993 at the Limnological Institute of the Siberian Branch of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

. In 1993, he was the initiator and leader of the Baikal Ecological Wave projects aimed at

environmental education Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating discipli ...

, informing, publishing the Volna periodical magazine and sustainable development. From 2002 to 2006 she was the coordinator of the international public campaign "Baikal is more expensive than oil." As a result, in 2008 she was awarded the Goldman Prize as a representative of Asia for her contribution to the conservation of Lake Baikal. Through the award, she supported 9 projects of social entrepreneurship of Baikalsk residents in 2009, when the Baikal Pulp and Paper Plant was closed for the first time. When Rikhvanova co-founded a

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

called Baikal Ecological Wave in 1990, she targeted the mill. Rikhvanova organized demonstrations, petitions and meetings, all aimed at bringing an end to the mill's pollution of Baikal. Last year, Russian authorities ordered the Baikalsk plant to switch to a closed water treatment system that eliminated any wastewater discharge into the lake.In Russia, environmentalist's concern runs deep for Lake Baikal
/ref> In 2006, Putin decided to reroute an oil pipeline that would have been built within a half-mile of Baikal, near a fault line. This followed protest rallies by thousands of Russians in the streets of Irkutsk. Rikhvanova has paid a price for her advocacy. Russian police have raided her offices and seized her organization's computers. In 2008, a group of Russian youths attacked a tent camp Rikhvanova had organized to protest a proposed uranium enrichment center in

Angarsk Angarsk ( rus, Ангарск, p=ɐnˈgarsk) is a city and the administrative center of Angarsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located on the Kitoy River, from Irkutsk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: History Ang ...

, about 50 miles west of Baikal. From 2008 to 2014, she coordinated projects aimed at the sustainable development of the settlements of Baikalsk, Bolshoy and Maly Goloustnoy. Since 2014, he has been providing eco-consulting to businesses on implementing environmental principles and improving economic and environmental efficiency, for example, reducing waste management costs.

References

External links

Saving the Sacred Sea: Russian nuclear plant threatens ancient lake
Russian anti–nuclear power activists Russian environmentalists Russian women environmentalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Goldman Environmental Prize awardees {{International-dev-stub