Alaska glacier. Photo by Britt Constantine, mother and lifelong Alaskan.

Posted by Rachel James

In continuation of our circumpolar work focusing on the impacts of the petroleum industry to the Alaska’s Arctic people and wildlife, I traveled with George Edwardson, president of the Inupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, to Norway, to work with fishermen and to connect with Norwegian media on Arctic issues.

Hosted by the World Wildlife Fund, Norway, we participated in a conference attended by fishermen and local advocates in Svolvaer, Lofoten, which is located in northern Norway above the Arctic Circle in the Barents Sea.  The fishermen are concerned about impacts of seismic testing in their fishing grounds.

While in Oslo, we met with many members of the media, including the indigenous Saami media, to raise the issue of the presence of the Norwegian StatoilHydro’s newly purchased leases in Alaska’s high Arctic Sea, the Chukchi. This area is critical to Inupiat subsistence communities and is critical habitat for bowhead whales, polar bears, ice seals, and walrus. StatoiHydro does not allow petroleum activity in areas of the Barents Sea that are ice-covered due to lack of oil spill clean up technology.  However, in February they purchased leases in the Chukchi, which is covered in ice over 9 months of the year.

The Norwegian National media had a great interest in the issue. The Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) covered the issue and ran several stories. This included a top story on their main evening news, focusing on Norwegian double standards regarding petroleum activity in high Arctic waters.

2008 Water Pollution Conference Participants

Posted by Daniela Salaverry

Gansu, China — Zhang Yadong is furiously taking notes. This is his first Water Pollution Network Conference, and his goal for participating is to learn. Zhang recently graduated and has assumed the leadership role of his organization Green Longjiang in Harbin.

“I’m just starting off in this position,” Zhang says, “I want to learn from Zhao Zhong and Zhou Xiang during this conference. I want to get a sense of how to develop my programs so I have some direction when I go back to Harbin.”

Zhang and 20 other grassroots environmental leaders and Pacific Environment partners have gathered in Gansu Province in western China for our fourth annual water pollution network conference.  Our local host in Gansu is Green Camel Bell (GCB), Gansu’s first independent environmental NGO. As we all meet in GCB’s office for our first evening of discussion and introductions, people are tired from their travels but excited. The energy is palpable, and people are eager to share ideas, learn from each other and build partnerships.

On the second day, we travel from the city of Lanzhou, to the countryside town of Liujia Xia. On the outskirts of town Ran Li Ping, GCB’s project coordinator points out some of the heavy-industry. I realize that the blue sky had suddenly turned into a thick haze as we drove through this industrial zone. The change was dramatic, and a visible way to remember the big pollution challenge these groups, and China as a whole, are dealing with.

We stop again another hour down the road in a small village where GCB is doing outreach on water quality issues. This village had a water pump and filter built over a decade ago, but high silt levels caused the pumping facility to stop working only days after it began operating, and the door has been locked ever since. Green Camel Bell is working with this town to figure out the best ways they can get clean water, and earlier this year they donated a water filtration system to the town’s clinic.

When we returned we dove into two days of discussions on water pollution campaign strategies, program updates, and ideas for future collaboration and partnership. Water Pollution Network partners presented on their program work: Green Anhui discussed their success in helping to close a local factory; Green Oasis presented on their collaboration with Ma Jun; Green Camel Bell discussed their partnership with a local enterprise that makes water filtration products. Pacific Environment staff facilitated conversations on campaign strategy development and how we want to strengthen our partnerships with the members of this network.

After two days of on-going discussions and information, we’re all simultaneously exhausted and rejuvenated. The forward thinking of these groups, as they sit on the brink of growth and change, is inspiring.

Sosnovka 2008

Posted by the Russia Team

For the first half dozen years of Sosnovka’s existence, we endured annual discussions about whether or not to formalize the coalition’s structure and makeup. Ten years after the coalition’s humble beginnings, this question is moot. The effectiveness of Sosnovka lies not just in the trust and friendship forged between coalition members over the span of ten years, but also in the fiercely informal nature of the group. With Pacific Environment acting as gatekeeper and facilitator, Sosnovka is able to quickly and effectively address all of the major environmental threats facing communities in Siberia and the Russian Far East. From major infrastructure projects like dams and oil pipelines to illegal logging and salmon poaching, Sosnovka has its hands in every major issue.

Pacific Environment staff members who are experienced in the ways of Sosnovka know to store up on sleep before the Russia Team’s mass exodus to Sosnovka; we know that the best conversations and moments of genius are not restricted to the 9am-9pm official meeting times. This year, the meeting took place on the shores of Lake Baikal, majestic and stunning in her fall splendor. By all accounts, Sosnovka 2008 was more effective—and more fun—than any ever before. Here are a few accounts from our staff:

“It’s overwhelming really, the feeling of being in the epicenter of something great, of witnessing a movement coming into its own. After four days of intense work and fun with many of my professional heroes, the connection and loyalty I feel for these people and our joint work is weighty.” – Leah Zimmerman, Russia Program Director

“Everyone at Sosnovka is different, coming from unique cultural and professional backgrounds, and with the widest range of ideas and perspectives one can possibly imagine. No matter how heated the discussions were, how tired everyone felt, and how many thousands of miles separated their homes, they all shared two things—their deep, unconditional love for their vast and beautiful country, Russia, and their unspoken understanding that this love drives them all, together, as children of one family.” – Meerim Kylychbekova, Russia Program Associate

“Scientists, ecologists, activists, and a blend of every other -ist gathering
Once a year, in one location
Stretching 24-hour days, with 10-minute discussion warnings and the red-marker skull & bones to end verbosity,
Never losing the urgency of community dedication to
Overcoming the weight of an overburdened planet, with an occasional late-night pause for
Vodka-sipping, guitar-strumming, and hearts-a-brimming toasts to the
Kaleidoscope of save-the-world resolutions and personal life infusions—
An experience whose heart we tenderly ration for 364 days before the next.”
– Kore  Gleason, Russia Program Associate