The Environmental Council under the Government of Karelia was set up this year to secure environmental safety in the republic. It is headed by the leader of the Russian Ecological Society Rashid Ismailov. Olga Bakhmet, Director General of the Karelian Research Center RAS, is the Deputy Chairperson and a member of the Council.

In April, the Council met for its first session. Its participants — Head of the Republic of Karelia, representatives of the Karelian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, relevant institutions and businesses – discussed the conservation of forests, rehabilitation of water bodies, the tasks and prospects of the presidential national project Ecology in Karelia.

KarRC RAS Director General told about the work of Karelian scientists within the federal project проекта «Unified national system for monitoring climate-active substances». Since 2022, the Centre has been involved in the activities of the Russian national RITM Carbon consortium, which is implementing this project. The country is currently building a system for greenhouse gas monitoring, identifying carbon pools and fluxes, making forecasts and developing measures to mitigate the negative effects of global climate change. The project is supervised by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development.

— Forests, open mires and wetland forests cover extensive areas in Karelia. In theory, our ecosystems sequester more carbon than is released into the atmosphere. However, this information needs to be verified. We need reliable estimates of carbon dynamics in natural ecosystems to operate them in the international arena when discussing greenhouse gas fluxes. At the same time, we will be able to examine the forecasts of the situation in our republic: what will happen as a result of climate change and what response measures are needed, - Olga Bakhmet said.

In the first year of working within the consortium, Karelian scientists tested carbon estimation techniques in different ecosystems. In 2023, one of Russia's three intensive testing sites was established in the Kivach Nature Reserve, where a range of studies are being conducted to assess carbon emissions and pools in soil, ground and forest vegetation. A research site of about 2,000 hectares located near the village of Kindasovo is used to study carbon dynamics in mire ecosystems. Scientists also conduct research on farmland. Greenhouse gas dynamics is also assessed for northern water bodies, and these data are used to build models and forecasts in cooperation with the Voeikov Key Geophysical Observatory in St. Petersburg.

— These studies will provide a background for decision-making on a wide range of environmental and economic issues. To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we need techniques to not only lower these emissions, but also to sequester carbon from the atmosphere," summarized Olga Bakhmet.

Photos by Respublika Information Agency / Oksana Kusryashova