Pressure from both industry and tourism is increasing quickly on the Khibiny, the mountains located in the central parts of the Kola Peninsula. Now, environmentalists call for the quick introduction of protection measures. The establishment of a natural park in the area could help save the vulnerable area from destructive influence, several environmental organizations say.
The issue was on the agenda in a conference in Kirovsk, a mining town located on the foot of the mountains, last week. There, environmentalists called on regional Governor Dmitri Dmitriyenko to quickly help give the area status as natural park, MBnews.ru reports.
A resolution adopted by the conference participants, among them a wide range of representatives of research, environmental organizations and regional authorities, reads that Governor Dmitriyenko should approach the federal Ministry of Natural Resources with a request to create a natural park in the Khibinys. As a temporary measure, the governor and his administration should reserve the land in the area thus preventing further deterioration of the local environment.
A subject of special concern among the environmentalists is the planned development of the Partomchorr apatite deposit, a field located in the northern part of the mountains. The development of this field, will inevitably require the development of new infrastructure and have significant impact on local environment. The Partomchorr field holds as much as 750 million tons of apatite ore, Hibiny.ru reports.
Read also: New apatite mine opens in 2012
The license to the Partomchorr field is owned by the Northwest Apatite Company, a subsidiary of the Akron company. This company also owns the licenses to the Oleny Ruchey, another local field which currently is under development.
In addition comes the pipeline from the Shtokman field, planned laid between Teriberka on the Barents Sea coast and Volkhov in Leningrad Oblast. Also this installation could end up running through the Khibinys.
Read also: Environmentalists fear for Khibiny mountains
The quickly developing tourism in the area is another subject for concern. The construction of new tourism facilities and infrastructure gradually destructs nature, the environmentalists say.
