BATTLE FOR VOLGA Case-study for the Climate workshop

BATTLE FOR VOLGA Case-study for the Climate workshop 2016

Initiative group “Volga and people against destruction”, Tatarstan republic Project group of the nature reserve Nature park Aquatic-marsh ecosystem “Flood plain“ (Zaymische)

Battle for Volga: Protection of Volga in Tatarstan/ Project of sustainable territory development “Ecodriver”/ Creating a nature reserve Nature park Aquatic-marsh ecosystem “Flood plain“ (Zaymische)/ Saving wetlands/ Literature project “Land of Legends calls for help”

Web page: https: //www. facebook. com/profile. php? id=100007946917804 vk. com/volga_i_narod_protiv Twitter: Volga_i_narod, Activatica. org http: //activatica. org/blogs/view/id/1064/title/i-snova-proklimat-jelta-assanova-na-abordazh and other publications Civil initiative: http: //premiagi. ru/initiative/1568 Video on the TV Rain: Volga is dying https: //tvrain. ru/teleshow/here_and_now/volga_pogibaet-391457/ Journal Kazan: Literature project “Land of Legends calls for help”: http: //kazan-journal. ru/pages/item/813 -zemlya-legend-prosit-o-pomoschi Kazan, Tatarstan republic, Russia Federation 2011 – present #Битваза. Волгу

History 2011 – June 2014 Illegal alluvion of the artificial land, sanding up part of the aquatorium 2014 Sanding is cancelled by the local community. Complex ecological assessment 2015 Natural recovery of the territory. Developing the nature reserve and eco-rehabilitation project Developing Ecodriver project Public hearings, expert evaluation of the projects PR campaign in mass media (more than 100 releases) 2016 Project presentations проектов at Russian and international events

Why did we start the campaign? § To stop sanding of the Volga river in the Kazan region for the purpose of construction of elite housing and toll road § Started in 2011 by the construction company of Ravil Ziganshin, associated with the President of the Tatarstan republic Rustam Minnikhanov § Eight dredgers and heavy vehicles § No licensing documents!!! § Construction project for 10, 000 residents while there are currently only 3, 000 local residents § Wetlands replaced by critical depths § Half islands sanded and surrounded by dams § Residents who lived in country houses since 1960 s are at risk of expulsion and demolition § Animals and critically endangered plants destroyed under two-meter sand fill

ВАРИАНТ РЕШЕНИЯ: проект «ЭКОДРАЙВЕР» Создание Особо охраняемой природной территории (ООПТ) с системой активностей, связанных с: § эко-туризмом, § применением зеленых технологий, § развитием креативных индустрий, формирующихся вокруг ценного «ядра» – ООПТ.

§ Our strategy and how it changed § Mass protest of citizens and local residents § 2011 – 2014 – five permitted meetings, 800 participants. Regional press releases. § Volunteers buttonholed regional and municipal regulatory authorities § No reaction – sanding continued! § Since May 2014 – uprising of local residents, spontaneous gatherings § Blocking dredgers, cordoning off federal road § Protecting Volga river was seen as protecting home land § Only then authorities conducted inspections, stated law violations and cancelled sanding works

§ Summer 2014. Weekly gatherings were organized immediately when sanding works were resumed § March 2014. 1, 000 of 3, 000 local residents took part in public hearings. Discriminative Volga building plan was turned down and a new nature conservation plan was proposed § Courts were held for restitution of the Volga aquatorium from jurisdiction of the project construction enterprise Kazan § Eduard Sharafiev, head of the village, stood up for Volga. The community voted for establishing Territorial local government

Stage 3 § Yulia Faizrakhmanova personally addressed Vladimir Putin, Russian President § Sanding of Volga was officially banned § Establishment of national park and protection of wetlands was supported by Green Peace-Russia and WWF § Eugenia Chirikova (Khimky Forest protection campaign) joined Volga activists § Press releases at the international internet cite Aktivatika § Participating as observers in the municipal elections. Preventing fraud. § Formulation of sustainable development project of the Volga land “Ecodriver” § Ecoturism, creative industries, opening experimental green energy platform aimed at reconstitution of disturbed land § Island eco houses on stilts with autonomous life support § Peaceful coexistence with rare and endangered species: white-taled eagle, gray heron, etc.

Eco house on Volga islands Current island buildings – autonomous houses without permanent foundation. Usage of energy saving technologies, wind farms and solar panels. Further development may foster green development of the region and Tatarstan republic

Our achievements § Our main goal is to stop sanding of Volga and let the nature restore itself. Weeds gradually grow up through waste, animals and birds return to their habitat. One of the dams washed out during the spring flood § Sanding and building on shallow waters is the main threat to Volga § Volga wetlands are valuable sites sustaining biodiversity § Wetlands are protected by the Ramsar convention. Still, common people stood up united against their destruction. Activists are persecuted and fined BUT § We could not stop the ruinous activity of the construction enterprise Kazan. It sands up the rivers Kazanka, Sulitsa, continues sand dumping at the Volga bed § Tatarstan authorities do not agree upon ascribing the status of special protection national territory to the Volga islands and shallow waters

Why was our campaign successful? § We spoke to local residents, brought them to understanding the importance of the Volga protection § We gained a professional viewpoint on the problem and proposed a new project of development of Volga territory with a focus in ecology, sustainable development and well-being of local residents § However, regional authorities and commercial structures connected to them have other interests: fast exploitation of natural resources, construction, corruption § We failed at bringing the former head of the Oktyabrsky village as a delegate to Gosduma to lobby our project § Our eco project is stalled due to lack of money and government support for wide information campaign and stages implementation

Our future plans § The reason for vandal attitude to Volga lies in the general problems of the Russian system § Still, wide media and social network campaign may draw public attention § We will stay on the alert § We will seek new opportunities for rapid change of the situation § We will organize the local community into self-administration structure § We will establish a nature reserve Nature park Aquatic-marsh ecosystem “Flood plain“ (Zaymische) § We will implement the program of sustainable development and renewable energy “Ecodriver”

THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION! Yulia Faizrakhmanova, urbanist: moltat@yandex. ru +7 -960 -0462342 Nadezhda Assanova, ecologist: assanova-nadezhda@mail. ru +7 -965 -5929664 Change. org: https: //www. change. org/p/президенту-рф-владимирупутину-остановить-засыпку-рек-казанки-и-волги-в-татарстане