The environmental situation of Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal lies in Eastern-Siberia, Russia. It is a unique Lake in many respects and has been on the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site list since 1996. Changes in the environment in and around the Lake have increased concerns regarding the quality of the environment and the need to know more about specific threats and their impact on Lake Baikal. The main questions this report tries to answer are: What changes have occurred in Lake Baikal since 1941? Which sources of pollution are most seriously affecting Lake Baikal? What is the situation concerning logging around Lake Baikal? This report summarises diverse sources of information, giving an overall impression of the natural wealth of Lake Baikal and of the threats to its environment, identifies information gaps, gives an indication of the seriousness of the threats and suggests several measurements in order to improve preservation of the Lake. Lake Baikal is generally still intact, but under serious threat. Baikal water quality is deteriorating: toxic substances continue to accumulate in the food chain; numbers of a particular type of zooplankton, seals and several types of fish are in decline; phytoplankton species composition is changing and its biomass is increasing; In addition the temperature of the upper water layer above the thermocline is increasing. These changes are the result of both natural and anthropogenic factors, sometimes inter-related. Although the resources of Lake Baikal have undoubtedly been exploited over a long period of time, recorded over-exploitation began at the end of the 19th century when populations of sturgeon and omul were overfished. Sturgeon has never recovered, while catch of omul and other types of fish now requires the imposition and rigid enforcement of strict limits and regulations. Between 1887 and 1916 construction of the Trans-Siberian railway increased human settlement along the southern Baikal shore. During World War II even more industrial activity and an attendant population came to be located in the Baikal region. This created an increase in levels of chemical and other pollution. The number and size of settlements around the Lake both grew, as did the number of vessels navigating the lake and river systems. This was accompanied by increased use of biological resources from the Lake and its surroundings (see Appendix 1). At present, about 80,000 people live in the immediate vicinity of the Lake and about 2 million people dwell in the catchment area. Impact on the Lake was further increased by the construction of a hydropower station in Irkutsk in 1959. This increased the water level of the Lake by around one meter. The opening of the Baikal’sk Pulp & Paper Mill in 1966 and the Selenginsk Pulp & Carton Mill in 1973 at the Selenga River further increased the environmental impact. The population of the capital of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude, located on the Selenga River, grew to 390,000 inhabitants. The increased population and industrialisation was not supported by infrastructural improvements in e.g. wastewater treatment capacity. The smaller settlements along the Selenga River also grew and agriculture activities intensified. Many industrial cities developed, too, along the Angara River, the only river flowing out of Lake Baikal. These developments began to have appreciable impacts on air quality around the Lake, due to the direction of prevailing winds. Finally, influence of global warming is increasing. The combination of sources located in the catchment makes the Selenga River the largest pollution inflow into Lake Baikal. Arguably, however, the Baikal’sk Pulp & Paper Mill can be considered the most important single point source of polluting materials. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and particularly since the current administration came to power, enforcement of environmental regulations has weakened from an already poor and inadequate baseline and the scale of illegal practices appears to have increased. Logging per se does not form a major direct threat to Lake Baikal itself. Forestry management practices are far from satisfactory, as in most parts of Russia. Clear-cutting is common practice. Wood from the Baikal region supplies not only local demand but also exports to countries such as Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. This raises serious questions about the long-term sustainability of the local industry. In general the (allegedly illegal) export of raw materials from Russia is on the increase, while the export of semi and fully fabricated products with a value added component is in decline. New plans, to exploit gas reserves from the Selenga Delta, which will lead to drilling, production activities in the area and chemical usage, are for now on hold. The construction of oil and gas pipelines from Siberia to China, which will pass close to the Lake, could lead to environmental disruption and degradation. There are plans to import radioactive waste from South East-Asian countries along routes that pass close by the Lake and through its catchment. So, anthropogenic impact on Lake Baikal might further worsen. This must be counteracted or very carefully controlled in order to preserve the environmental properties of this unique lacustrine ecosystem and to prevent potentially devastating and irreversible changes.