Voronezh eco-activists at the picket after the five-year struggle against the extraction of nickel

Members of the public movement 'Voronezh against extraction of nickel' held another picket in defense of Chernozem and Khopra on July 5. More than ten people went to the local hyde park.

They held posters ‘Khoper is more expensive than nickel', 'Khopyorsk reserve is the property of Russia!' and others. The police watched the action from the side.

Passers-by were interested in what they were demanding. According to activists, such pickets take place almost every week, but there are not enough people: many people are afraid to join protest actions.

'Recent events have shown [rallies against corruption] that the authorities are frightened of the participation of young people. It is necessary to influence through the Internet, social networks, to inform about the scale of the tragedy,' said the chairman of the environmental organization 'Prihoperye', member of the Movement for the Protection of Khopra from the nickel threat Valery Davydov.

Participants of the picket said that the preparation for the extraction of nickel continued despite the assurances of the authorities that activists were not allowed to attend meetings of the Public Council on nickel extraction. The decisions taken at these meetings were not made public.

In August, activists are planning a joint rally with residents of cities and villages near the territory of the deposit.

The tender committee Rosnedra recognized the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company as the winner in the tender for the right to develop the Elkinskoye and Elanskoye copper-nickel deposits in the Voronezh region. Scientists believe that the state of the environment of the Prikhoperye near the Elanskoye and Elkinskoye nickel deposits is in danger. According to the conclusion of ecologists, hydrologists and hydrobiologists, the extraction of copper-nickel ores will lead to the death of the Khopyorsk State Nature Reserve.

In April 2014, during the scientific conference 'Problems of Mineral Resource Development and the Strategy for Sustainable Development of Russian Regions (by the Example of the Voronezh Region)', the consensus opinion of the science representatives was voiced: '... A number of obvious losses associated with environmental, economic, legal and social aspects of the implementation of the project to develop the deposits of Novokhoperskiy nickel, constitutes a real threat to the national security of the country'.

On January 25, 2017, activists collected more than 100,000 signatures against the extraction of nickel in the region of the river Khoper and sent them to the reception of the governor Alexey Gordeev.

Anastasia Elfimova, photo of the author, «7x7»

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