Hi, I am Mikhail from St. Petersburg in Russia. More precisely, I live in a suburb of St. Petersburg called Gatschina city, which is green and pretty. I represent my organisation, an NGO (Non-Governmental Organisation) called “Society of Friends of Gatchina Park”. We deal with environmental issues, especially connected with city’s recreation zones. Because Gatchina Park is not only a cultural place – a cultural historical legacy – but also we are proud of the green parts and corners of our beautiful forest.

Are Russians especially interested in nature or do they stick to their flats and TVs like it widely seen in Western Europe?

First I should say that Russia is not such a rich country. Of course we desire to have some vacations for example at the Mediterranean Sea, in Greece, Africa or other exotic regions. But most people can’t afford to travel that far. That’s why many young people like to go cycling or hiking in nature areas not too far from the cities. But generally speaking the most popular Russian outdoor activity is fishing. Tourism, especially eco-tourism is widespread within Russia. Because our country is so large, it is possible to find any place for any taste: mountains, sea, forests…

Russia is such a big country and still has vast natural areas. Is there really a need for your society of being engaged in the protection of a national park?? Is it endangered?

The nineties were really hard in terms of social security and economic situation in Russia. People were concentrated on the vital needs of their families. That is why public attention to environmental issues and, for example, our parks was not and is not so obvious. Now we just take the first steps compared to experience of European countries. Of course we should think globally but act locally in step-by-step activities. That’s why we do many things the practical way, and that’s why we are not so deeply involved in the international movement for sustainable development. At the moment we are only working for our national park, maybe not so ambitiously, but we are realists in terms of the possible effect. And our steps may be local, but effective for our small community. Any green spot not so far from the city is under risk, you know. Because there are many people, we make garbage, noise, pollution… Unfortunately Russia is still an industrial society on its way to a post-industrial one. The only one thing we need to do is raise awareness and make our culture more or less environmental oriented, sustainable oriented. For this we have to adapt the international term of sustainable development for Russian people in accordance to daily life motivation of ordinary people.

I have a very delicate question: a lot of people in Western Europe heard in the media that the Russian government restricts NGO work. Do you have bad experience with the government or can you still work freely?

It depends… Yes, you are right. And I think that western mass media are more honest when we are speaking about Russia. If you are trying to take part in the political process of course you are risking something. But as we say in Russia about the relation between the authorities and the NGOs: the only thing we expect from authorities is not help, but just permission to follow our mission.

And they give you the permission?

Environmentalists –80% yes. Now we are free to do almost anything in Russia - for green projects. But don’t critisize giant state institutions or the Russian army, for example. Generals belive that military pollution and damage are the most confidential information. Sometimes it’s really risky for environmentalists. Some of them are already prosecuted – they are in prison as “spies”. When you are trying to take part in in real political processes, for example elections or an issue of very profitable nuclear waste storage in Russia, it is getting harder. That is the bad thing about our society in Russia.

Is there any connection to other European countries affecting your nature?

Not so far, but we really appreciate any kind of relations between our environmentalists and international associations, international NGOs. The only condition we have for cooperation: projects must be oriented at practical work.

What are the biggest environmental problems for Russia at the moment?

The biggest environmental problem is the lack of financial resources. For example if we were a rich country, if we had big profits, we could establish funds or reserves for the environment. Bur now our industry is trying to survive in the market competition. That is why money for environmental protection is often scarce. As long as we have tough market competition it is really hard to make our government responsible for our green future, you know. This is the problem. I have to add that factories technologies are often outdated and shabby, made in the USSR 30-50 years ago. There is extreme need to modernise our industry in order to make it more eco-friendly. I hope that oil profits – now we have major incomes from oil – should help us in terms of special budgets for environmental issues and modernization.

Isn’t this a very contradictory strategy, that oil, which pollutes the environment on the one hand, might also help you to finance environmental protection on the other hand?

It is just my consideration. It’s my idea that when we damage nature, we should re-invest it there. We should have a clear proportion between damage and input. That’s why I hope that our political leaders are clever enough to set up some special budget for the future. We can not live just today – we should see tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

Thanks for the interview.

Interview: Michael Huettner, eurotope.net team