II.Baikal and Kamchatka Receive World Heritage Status
III. The Bee--Leftist Petersburg: From "Apple to Anarchists"
V. The First Conference Of Social Organizations in Tyumen Oblast Took Place on December 5-6
I. According to Preliminary Results 87 Percent of the People of Kostroma Oblast Voted Against Construction of a Nuclear Plant
Under Russian law, the issue of construction of all atomic energy facilities must be decided by the people in a referendum. The first such referendum took place on December 8 in Kostroma oblast, where it was proposed to complete the construction of a nuclear power plant that was halted in 1991. The referendum was preceded by a vigorous election campaign by the regional social movement In the Name of Life and Greenpeace. Over the course of several weeks a specially equipped campaign bus crisscrossed the oblast, covering around 1,500 kilometers.
According to the coordinator of Greenpeace's anti-nuclear campaign Eduard Gismantullin, the results of the vote confirm that people do not want to live with "the peaceful atom."
Environmentalists hope that the Kostroma referendum will be the first step on the road to a complete rejection of nuclear energy. From their point of view, Russia today does not need new nuclear power plants because the country has an enormous potential for energy conservation. According to the Energy Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia can save up to 45 percent of the energy it consumes, which is several times more than the energy provided by all the nuclear power plants in the country.
Further information may be obtained by phone from Greenpeace at 251-9073 or 978-3950
II. Baikal and Kamchatka Receive World Heritage Status
On December 6 the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO decided to include two Russian territories, the Lake Baikal Basin and Volcanoes of Kamchtaka, in the World Cultural and Natural Heritage Registry. This creates greater opportunities for the development of these regions and the conservation of their unique environments.
Greenpeace Russia began work on a World Legacy project in 1994. Exactly one year ago UNESCO included 3.2 million hectares in the Komi Republic, which made it possible to save it from the barbaric logging by the French company Yuet Holdings and stopped a gold mining project in the northern part of Iuvid Va National Park. The government of Switzerland has earmarked several million dollars for the development of these territories.
According to experts from Greenpeace, the inclusion of Baikal, which contains 20 percent of the world's supply of fresh water and the likes of which do not exist elsewhere, in the World Heritage Registry will make it possible to stop the Baikal Cellulose and Paper Combine that is threatening the existence of the lake. According to Roman Pukalov, the coordinator of Greenpeace Russia's Baikal project, "now no self respecting company will buy cellulose obtained at the expense of the destruction of a world heritage."
Volcanoes of Kamchatka includes both active and extinct volcanoes and the Kronotskii Reserve with its unique valley of geysers and its surrounding nature, as yet untouched, where all types of volcanic activity may be seen. In the deep canyon of Geyser River, known worldwide as the Valley of Geysers, are concentrated numerous hot spouting and flowing springs, and mud volcanoes.
Volcanoes of Kamchatka is the home of native and threatened species, including the bald eagle (the symbol of Kamchatka), the Kamchatka bear�, and others. Moreover, from summer to late winter you can observe a unique phenomenon here: the migration of millions of salmon from the ocean up the rivers to spawn.
In the future Greenpeace plans to prepare documentation for UNESCO on the Komandorskii Islands and Europe's greatest volcano, Kliuchevskaia Volcano.
Contact telephone: 251-9073; fax: 251-9088
III. The Bee--Leftist Petersburg: From "Apple to Anarchists"
At the end of November, after some delay, the first issue of the journal "The Bee" came out. The Bee is a monthly calendar review of the activities of nongovernmental, noncommercial organizations in St. Petersburg. The principal theme of the issue is: "Leftist Petersburg: From "Apple" to Anarchists."
This first issue of The Bee begins a series of articles on contemporary St. Petersburg civil society. The journal contains diverse and detailed information on large and small leftist organizations [including articles titled]: "Left, Right, Where Is The Country?," "Panorama of Leftist Petersburg," "The Ethnology of Leftists,"� "Leftist Art: There Isn't Any," "Leftists on the Internet," etc.
In addition, in this issue a first attempt was made, together with the Agency for Social Information, to create an integrated city calendar that presents a view of city life. Every city group can find something in the calendar for itself and about itself. It is important that the actions of social organizations find their place in the calendar. Publication of the journal was made possible thanks to support from the Heinrich Boll Foundation.
Contact telephone: (812) 325-8913
IV. A Telecommunications Network for People with Disabilities called ContactNet will be Created in St. Petersburg
The charitable foundation for support of the education and the creative work of persons with disabilities "Intercourse" offers help and support to people with different types of disabilities�. They emphasize school age children with disabilities in their work.
One of the foundation's projects is the creation and development of a computer communications system with a large number of specially developed educational and domestic programs. The purpose of the system is to facilitate communication, study, and creative contacts between people with disabilities and by this means to assist in their rehabilitation. Three types of rehabilitation are envisioned: psychological, social, and professional. The following theses are applied to each: "I'm OK," "I can do everything and more," and "I am independent and can earn my own money."
In its arrangements for users the foundation offers electronics and provides specialists for initial training. Programs are developed and adapted for users of similar ages and levels of preparation. Experienced teachers, psychologists, physicians, and programmers participate in the work of the foundation.
At the present time the foundation is working on a program titled "Circle of Intercourse"--the creation of an association of people with disabilities and persons with limited mobility who are future users of the communications network Contractnet.
Contact telephone: (812) 315-0727. E-mail: [email protected].
V. The First Conference Of Social Organizations in Tyumen Oblast Took Place on December 5-6
The conference was organized by the Noncommercial Organization Support Center, which is based at the youth club "Al'kor," with financial support from the Eurasia Foundation. Representatives of approximately 60 noncommercial organizations in Tyumen, Urai (Khati-Mansiiskii autonomous district), Ishim, Tobolsk, Vinzil, Roshin, and other towns of Tyumen oblast took part.
At the conference leaders of the Ekaterinburg charitable foundation "Good Will" led a seminar on strategies for developing the noncommercial sector and drafting civil initiatives, and acquainted the attendees with the capabilities of contemporary computerized means of communication. The participants in the seminars discussed the prospects for cooperation, and the regional representative of the Eurasia Foundation Elena Zyrina answered their many questions. The most actively discussed issue was the consolidation of social organizations in the Leaders Club, the first meeting of which will take place on December 23 at the facilities of the social foundation Mariia, as well as the formulation of a city ordinance and oblast law on social order.
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