From the village of Bychikha, Khabarovsk Region, Russian Far East:  Vasily didn’t bring a guitar this year.  Somehow, his guitar had broken, no one else in Vladivostok had a guitar they were willing to loan, and he showed up empty-handed.

No matter for all the participants in our annual Sosnovka conference, though.  Sosnovka gathers leading environmentalists from Siberia and the Russian Far East, with a few folks from Moscow sprinkled in for good measure.  Now in its 9th year, the friendship and trust among Sosnovka members runs deep.  They gather to discuss the most critical environmental issues affecting the region:  from large oil and gas pipelines to mining projects, from changes in Russian environmental laws to forests and protected areas.

As always, we never had enough time to delve deeply into the issues.  Too many issues, too little time.  But we touched upon the main issues in our conference discussions, and then people split off into small working groups or by twos and threes to talk about the issues that mattered to them.

It was great to see people from all over Siberia and the Russian Far East, covering territory more vast than we in the U.S. can imagine.  We had folks from Krasnoyarsk and Yakutsk, from Sakhalin and Magadan, covering the entire region from Altai in the west to Kamchatka in the east.

In the end, Vasily figured out how to get a guitar in Khabarovsk.  And thus, we continued the Sosnovka tradition, singing Russian folk songs late into the night, every night, and into morning.  Sure, people didn’t sleep much.  But everyone came away re-inspired and recharged, ready to battle for the environment in their remote regions for another year.  Sure, Sosnovka is great because of the issues we discuss.  But Sosnovka is even better because of the friendships and the people that provide the foundation for the environmental movement in Siberia and the Russian Far East.

Russians love their dachas.  Dachas are summer garden houses, and many people – especially retired pensioners – will spend all summer on these small plots of land growing vegetables and flowers.  We visited a dacha collective on the edge of Prigorodnoye in southern Sakhalin.  The love and effort that these “dachniki” (dacha folk) have put into their land was obvious.  They showed us their flowers, berries, potatoes, and even grapes – yes, grapes! – that they have grown on their dachas over the last 30 years.  They fed us plums and apples from their trees and gave us homemade wine.

But these dacha owners are fighting with Shell.  Their dachas are just 1200 meters from Shell’s enormous LNG plant in southern Sakhalin, part of the Sakhalin-II project.  Originally, the LNG plant was supposed to have a 3.5-kilometer buffer zone.  At least that’s what the environmental impact review said, which was approved by the Russian government.  After all, if an accident were to occur at the LNG plant, the blast zone itself could cover 3 kilometers, including everything in this dacha community.  But if the buffer zone was 3.5 kilometers, Shell would have had to pay to resettle these dacha owners.  Shell’s solution?  Let’s make the buffer zone just 1 kilometer, and then Shell doesn’t have to resettle anyone.

Shell is in the process of commissioning its LNG plant, and as a result, has been flaring gas since early July.  You can see the flare 24 hours a day, even from the dachas.  They say they no longer need to turn on lights on their upper floors because of the flare.  Worst of all, you can smell the flare from the dachas.  They said that yesterday, the area was covered with black smoke from the flare.  Some days, if they are downwind, they say the smell is unbearable.  We’re helping them to start monitoring their air quality and send air samples to laboratories for analysis.  Meanwhile, some of the dacha owners can’t even spend the night at their dachas anymore due to the air pollution and the noise from the LNG plant.  Dozens of dacha owners have already abandoned the area, fed up with Shell and construction of the LNG plant, although dozens more are hanging on because of their love of the land.

The dacha owners are still demanding that Shell commit to a resettlement plan that would comply with international standards.  But Shell is refusing to take responsibility for its actions.  There is a certain beauty in Russian dachas, and Shell doesn’t seem to realize how much the ‘dachniki’ love their land.  The ‘dachniki’ have invested so much of their sweat and time into tending the land, growing fruits and vegetables.  I felt like I am seeing a part of Russia die as these dacha owners are being forced out by Shell.

Continuing our trip here on Sakhalin, we traveled north over the last few days to visit indigenous reindeer herders and indigenous fish camps.  The Uilta people in Sakhalin traditionally herd reindeer, while the Nivkh people are fishers.  Both peoples are being impacted by enormous oil and gas projects in Northeastern Sakhalin led by Shell and Exxon.

We used a Gaz-66 – an enormous Russian truck that can pretty much deal with any road conditions – to drive out to the reindeer herders.  After getting near to the area we hiked for about half a mile through lichen, dwarf birch, and dwarf pine to find the camp.  We saw berries and mushrooms as we walked – this “forest-tundra” area was very rich.  The herders we met had about 60 reindeer.  Only about 17 Uilta continue to herd reindeer.  Indigenous peoples such as the Uilta in Russia have had to adapt to constant changes – from forced collectivization and forced resettlement into large towns under the Soviets, to adapting to the market economy and a collapse of government subsidies in the 1990s, to massive oil and gas developments on their traditional territories over the last several years.  Traditions have been lost, although a number of indigenous peoples in Russia – including the herders who we met – are trying to restore the traditions.

The herders said that ever since Exxon built an enormous oil processing complex, the reindeer have been forced out of their traditional calving area.  The noise, lights, and constant traffic from this processing facility are too much for the reindeer.  The herders are worried about survival rates among the reindeer calves as they do what they can to increase the reindeer population.

The Nivkh fishers are also worried about the impacts of Shell and Exxon’s projects on their traditional fishing lifestyles.  They spend the summers in fish camps spread out along the bays of Northeastern Sakhalin and come there year-round to fish saffron cod, char, and salmon.  We arrived in time to see some of our indigenous partners fishing for salmon and then shared a wonderful traditional meal.  But the Nivkh grandmothers we talked with are worried – they say that more and more often, they come across fish that have sores and blisters or that smell like oil.  They don’t know why this is, and the oil companies have refused to study the problem.

Their frustrations with the oil and gas developments led the Nivkh, Uilta, and other indigenous peoples to blockade roads to Shell and Exxon’s projects in 2005.  As a result, Shell agreed to an indigenous peoples’ development plan that provides a council with $300,000 per year over 5 years.  But what happens after these five years are up?  In our conversations, we learned that many indigenous peoples are concerned that the money from this plan won’t really be used to help with restoring and protecting their traditional culture.  Instead, they know that they’re the ones who will stay in northeastern Sakhalin.  The oil companies will leave Sakhalin, and the native peoples will be left with the mess.

Vasily, a reindeer herder, told us that all he really wants is “calm.”  He wants a calm place to herd reindeer and restore his people’s traditions.

This year’s Sosnovka conference was in the Altai region.

I’m writing from the Tsentralnaya hotel in the tsentr (center) of Barnaul.  We got back from Manzherok, the little place in the Republic of Altai where we held Sosnovka 2006, last night around 8 pm.  I believe we can all be proud of this Sosnovka.  There were (being the most inclusive) 45 participants, and I think I counted that 23 of them were there for the first time.  The level of discussion remained high, and while we didn’t have time to complete our action plan (Resolution of the Conference) for the coming year, the veteran Sosnovka folks are on the job.

One Sosnovka veteran – Dima Lisitsyn – complained at our evaluation session that there weren’t enough fights.  So, a peaceful Sosnovka, but not everyone’s ideal kind of Sosnovka.  Dima celebrated his 39th birthday on the day that the Natural Resources Ministry announced the cancellation of the positive decision on the Sakhalin II environmental impact assessment, so we toasted the health of the head of that ministry late late into the night. Sakhalin II is for the moment a frozen project, and criminal cases are pending for the experts who approved the EIA.

There were no bards at this Sosnovka.  Without Sergei Berezniuk and Vasilii Solkin we were at loose ends for guitar-accompanied ballads. Sasha Yermoshkin took up the slack however and did quite a bit of singing and performing in our slight spare time.  I mean, we went rafting, and there he was standing up in the middle of the raft singing and telling jokes.  Don’t worry, there are photos of everything.  Nobody fell in.

I have to finish getting ready for the flight to Moscow.  David and I arrive there 9:15 am, and he continues home and I go on to visit my old home city (for my year abroad) Novgorod.  Leah and Sibyl got seduced by the beauty of the Republic of Altai and have stayed on there to do some hiking.  I don’t know when they return.  If they will return.  It was really beautiful there- though a bit chilly and rainy.

Sasha telling the story of the raven

KATUN RIVER, Republic of Altai, Russia.

A raft of Russian environmental leaders floats down the mighty Katun River. Sasha, with the environmental organization Taiga Rangers, is standing in the middle of the raft and performing a splendid theatrical version of the “The Raven and the Geese.” I am gasping for air between bouts of intense laughter.

The story goes something like this.  A flock of geese is preparing to migrate across the Pacific Ocean.  “Let me come with you!” cries the raven.  “I’m brave! I’m strong!”  The geese scoffed, “Your wings are too short.  You won’t make it!”  Nonetheless, the geese give in and embark on the transoceanic flight with the raven.  Sasha stands tall with arms outstretched, almost soaring above the water.

After several days, the geese finally arrive and wait for the raven, and they wait, and wait.  Just as they are mourning the memory of the brave, strong raven who perished at sea, they spot a dark shape on the horizon.  The raven!  “Go! Go! Go!” shout the geese.  Sasha is wildly jumping up and down, pointing at the horizon, and almost falling out of the raft.  The exhausted raven finally limps up to the flock.  He can barely whispers, “Yes…” gasps the raven. “I’m brave, and I’m strong, and I’m a bit crazy in the head.”

Perhaps the story comes off so well because both Sasha and the other Sosnovka Coalition members present, who have dedicated their lives to Russia’s environmental movement, can personally relate to this crazy, lone raven.  It seems quite fitting that we are all sandwiched together in a small, rubber raft on a fast flowing river.

Our coalition earned the name Sosnovka about seven years ago, after the location of our first such gathering.  The name literally means “little pine tree”.  This first meeting took place almost as an experiment, bringing a group of Russian environmental groups together and see what happened.

Anyone attending this year’s meeting could tell that this little pine tree has grown.  The Sosnovka strategy session is no longer a matter of convenience, but rather an event of necessity for Russia’s environmental movement.  This year, the meeting was characterized by a greater sense of maturity and professionalism, the ability to share skills and resources, and the conviction that we are making a difference.

On maturity…

As with any diverse, passionate interest group, the Russian environmental community is capable of getting distracted by small points of disagreement.  However, this year’s meeting indicates our movement is able to see the forest through the trees.  We are now moving forward on common goals.  The Siberia-Pacific Pipeline campaign’s success moving an oil pipeline’s route away from Lake Baikal and sensitive marine environments in Primorye clearly demonstrated our movement’s strength.

Sergei Shapaev, director of the Buryat Regional Union for Baikal, led our Sosnovka discussion on this pipeline campaign.  Sergei has been a key organizer for multi-stakeholder opposition to building the oil pipeline route along Lake Baikal and has the right personality for the job.  Sergei has sharp facial features and a focused gaze that reminds me of an eagle.  His orations are just as focused, clear and reasonable.  He always stands up to make his point, but rarely raises his voice.  Along with collaborators at Baikal Environmental Wave and Phoenix Fund, Sergei has succeeded in maintaining common goals for corporate responsibility for the Siberia Pacific Pipeline campaign, despite a wide range of perspectives from supporting pipeline construction to opposing it altogether.

On sharing resources…

The growth of Russia’s environmental movement is also evident from the level of strategy and technical skills that many organizations are now able to contribute.  Groups are no longer looking solely to international experiences for new campaign ideas, but are instead working to leverage resources for region-to-region collaboration.

At this year’s meeting, Irina Fotieva and Misha Shishin of the Fund for 21st Century Altai offered a key example of collaborating with other environmental leaders in the movement.  Misha and Irina are looking to apply Sergei Shaphaev’s work developing economic evaluations of natural resource extraction projects to their campaign to protect the Ukok Plateau.  A new gas pipeline from Russia to China is planned to cross the Altai’s Ukok Plateau, recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its high biodiversity and status as a sacred site for Altai indigenous peoples.  Working with Sergei to apply an economic analysis to the problem would be an important opportunity to make the case for shifting the pipeline route.

Misha and Irina are both passionate about protecting the natural wonders of the Ukok and ensuring that regional development projects benefit local people.  Misha, originally an art history professor, is always ready with a wry smile and a joke to bring forth a room full of laughs, a skill he employs with colleagues and government officials alike.  He took up the cause of preventing construction of a large dam project on the Katun River and created his own television station in order to do so.  Irina carries a soft, welcoming expression, yet manages the daily operations of the organization with intense conviction.  She is now in conversation with indigenous leaders in the southern Altai about conducting the economic evaluation.

On making a difference…

Coming to a meeting that evaluates our movement’s performance with successes on hand offers an added incentive to push forward.  This year has brought more than one success to Russia’s environmental movement.  In addition to protecting Lake Baikal from potential oil pipeline spills, we received positive news during our meeting regarding efforts to protect Sakhalin Island from oil and gas developments.

Dimitry Lisitsyn, director of Sakhalin Environment Watch, spent free time between conference sessions glued to his cell phone with reporters asking about the Russian government’s decision to revoke permits for oil pipeline construction based on negative environmental impacts.  Dimitry’s phone conversations were enlivened by lively hand gestures, emphasizing his points to his invisible audience.  This level of energy is consistent with Dimitry’s commitment to the campaign and his tireless work photographing the Sakhalin oil pipeline construction documenting engineering problems which compromises pipeline safety and allows for extreme erosion, impacting salmon streams.

The list of accomplishments from the meeting goes on, with poignant moments ranging from the recognition of long-term partnerships between indigenous community activists and environmental advocates, to a new level of excitement around Russia-China relations and policy opportunities for sustainable natural resource management at the international level.

In most countries, the odds are stacked against citizens’ environmental protection efforts.  Russia is no different.  Yet our Sosnovka Coalition is a small group of people, who are able to maintain a sense of optimism (and a sense of humor), despite the challenges we face.  And for several days, the strength of our network was palpable.  The ravens of the Russian environmental movement have taken flight.