Increased pressure on Russian Enviro Groups
Political attacks and pressure from governmental structures against Russian environmental organizations has significantly increased during the last months, according to a report issued by Friends of the Earth Norway.
- We are seriously worried over the latest development. The environment in the north is facing increased pressure with climate changes and more resource exploitation. Therefore it is essential to have a strong Russian environmental movement able to influence the politics and development in Russia’s northern regions, says Yngvild Lorentzen, head of International project department in Norges Naturvernforbund, the Norwegian branch of Friends of the Earth.
The Norwegian organization has actively cooperated with several Russian environmental NGOs since the establishment of the Barents cooperation in the early 90ties.
- We don’t need an environmental movement that are kept silent in important issues, says Lorentzen to BarentsObserver.
Read also: Another Russian warning against foreign NGOs
The report gives several examples of environmental NGOs that partly have been taken over different authorities and power-structures.
The All-Russian Society for Nature Conservation is one of the organizations that got new management in the spring of 2009. The new management has suggested changing the status of the organization towards a more commercialized activity, the report reads.
The nationwide organization consists of local and regional groups all over Russia. Several of the local groups have boycotted the process of formation of new statues, and have refused to meet the new management.
In January, Russian police raided the offices of Baikal Environmental Wave, a group that challenged Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s decision to reopen a paper mill that they claim is seriously polluting the Lake Baikal, reports AFP.
Also offices of other environmental groups in Russia have in recent years been searched by police and questioned about their activities.
Read also: Less hurdles for Russian NGOs
In 2005, the new law on NGOs activities in Russia was introduced by then President Putin. The law makes it much harder for NGOs, including environmental organizations, to operate due to a stricter regime on both official registration and accounting regulations.
As BarentsObserver reported in January this year, the State Duma recently adopted new amendments to the law. The amendments were initiated by Dmitri Medvedev in order to ease the strict NGO regulations.
However, the political opposition remains critical to the new amendments, claiming that NGOs be supported by tax exemptions in order to encourage their activity.
The cooperation between regional environmental groups within the Barents Region is one of the cornerstones in cross-border NGO contacts in the north.
With referance to the current pressure on Russian environmental groups, Yngvild Lorentzen in Friends of the Earth Norway says it is of high importance that Norwegian authorities continues to voice their support to the Russian environmental movement and raise these questions in bi-lateral discussions with Russia.
