The Irkutsk Region, in East Siberia, marks its local holiday, Baikal Day, on September 12. On December 5, 1966 Baikal was declared a World Heritage site at the... 13.09.2010, Sputnik International
The Irkutsk Region, in East Siberia, marks its local holiday, Baikal Day, on September 12. On December 5, 1966 Baikal was declared a World Heritage site at the UNESCO’s committee session in the Mexican city of Merida.
The Irkutsk Region, in East Siberia, marks its local holiday, Baikal Day, on September 12. On December 5, 1966 Baikal was declared a World Heritage site at the UNESCO’s committee session in the Mexican city of Merida.
The surface area of Lake Baikal is 31,500 square kilometers, which is equal to the area of such countries as Belgium, Netherlands or Denmark. Baikal ranks eighth among the world's largest lakes by its surface area.
Baikal is known to contain 1/5 of the world’s supply of surface water (excluding the ice of Antarctica, Greenland and etc.) and over 4/5 of Russia’s fresh water. Photo: the Baikal water gets cleaned naturally when microalgae flourish.
Every year the lake produces 60 cubic kilometers of clean and biologically active water. This water falls into the World Ocean through the Angara River. Photo: a bear on one of the lakes running into Baikal.
The relief of the Baikal can be seen up to 500 meters in depth from the space. The Baikal is also the world’s clearest lake which can be compared only to the Sargasso Sea. The Secchi disk (indicator of water transparency) is seen in various places in Baikal at the depth of 40-45 meters.
The unique ecosystem of Baikal houses over 2,630 species of flora and fauna. Most of them are endemics (unique to a particular geographic location). Photo: the pines with bare roots, the so-called stilted trees, on the shore.
The Baikal seal is the only mammal that lives in the lake. Adult seal species reach 1.8 meters in height and weigh 130 kilograms. They live up to 55-56 years.
The lake contains 58 species of fish. The most famous of them are omul, cisco, grayling, taimen, sturgeon, Baikal oilfish and lenok. Photo: Baikal oilfish.
The Russian and international environmental organizations were concerned in the past decades over the ecological state of the planet’s largest freshwater lake. The Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill, launched in 1966, was considered as the main danger to the lake. In September 2008 the plant was switched over to a closed water cycle under the demand of the Russian Nature Resources Ministry.
However, in January 2010 the Russian government excluded the production of paper pulp, paper and cardboard from the list of activities banned at Baikal. This allowed the plant to continue its work. In early July 2010 the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill resumed its work after 1.5 years of dead time. Photo: taiga on the Baikal shore.
On September 8, 2010 the plans to launch a federal program, Protection of Lake Baikal and Social and Economic Development of the Natural Territory, were announced at the 6th Baikal economic forum. The program is up to 2020 and 59 billion rubles ($1.9 bln) is expected to be allocated to it, with over 49 billion rubles from the federal budget.
The program aims to resolve various ecological problems. It is most important to destroy the waste. To this goal, rubbish recycling plants and polygons are to be constructed. Photo: bizarre rocks on the Olkhon Island created by the water, wind and sun.
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