Although the Regional Government of the Russian Republic of
Karelia had approved the creation of the national park in August
2002, the Federal Government's authorization was required as the
final seal of approval. On the 4th of December, the Government of
the Russian Federation published the decision no 1654 dated 30th
November 2006, to make the national park a reality.
"This is a significant victory for Greenpeace and the
environmental movement in Russia, but it also symbolizes the
immense tenacity required to win these campaigns," said Oliver
Salge, Forests campaigner, Greenpeace International, "We've
campaigned on this issue since 1995, but when large corporate
budgets are weighed in the balance, it often takes a long time for
justice to be served."
Greenpeace started a campaign to save the last ancient forests
on the Russian Finnish border in 1995. For years the Finnish paper
giants Enso (now known as Stora Enso) and UPM Kymmene have used
timber from Russian forests as cheap raw material to fuel their
mills, with devastating impacts on the forests. It took several
months of campaigning and non-violent direct action in the forests
and at the Finnish mills before the paper companies agreed to sign
a logging-moratorium at the end of 1996, which was eventually
enforced in January 1997. However, since the area was not
officially protected, it took constant monitoring by Greenpeace and
other environmental groups to prevent the granting of logging
concessions. Greenpeace proposed the creation of a national park in
the area, a demand that received the support of the Karelian
government in 2002. However, the decision remained pending at the
Federal Government level for four years.
"It has been a protracted struggle, but one that we hope will
serve as an example for other European countries too. It's high
time that other countries, especially Finland, take similar action
to save their last remaining ancient forests," concluded Salge.
For further information, please contact:
Oliver Salge, Forests campaigner, Greenpeace International: +49
171 603 5531
Alexey Yaroshenko, Greenpeace Russia forest campaigner: +7495
926 5045 (ext 300)
Namrata Chowdhary, Greenpeace International Communications: +31
646 1973 27
Pictures and video available from Greenpeace International:
Franca Michienzi, Photo Desk, Greenpeace International, +31 (20)
718 2058
Video: Maarten van Rouveroy, Video Producer, Greenpeace
International,+31 6 4619 7322
To locate the Kalevalski National Park on Google Earth, please
enter the following coordinates: 65 03 12 N, 30 11 30 E