Khimki Forest

Coordinates: 55°56′6″N 37°26′48″E / 55.93500°N 37.44667°E / 55.93500; 37.44667
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Map of forest, including planned highway

Khimki Forest (Russian: Химкинский лес, romanized: Khimkinskiy les) is a forest near the Russian city of Moscow covering about 1000 hectares.[1] It is part of the so-called "Green Belt" around Moscow. An $8 billion high speed road, the Moscow–Saint Petersburg motorway (M11), was proposed in the aughts to go through the forest to connect Moscow and Saint Petersburg.[2] The proposed road called for the removal of a swath of the forest.[3] The construction triggered large protests, which turned violent in July 2010.[4] On 26 August 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the construction to be halted.[5] Despite the protests, construction was slated to continue later that year.[6]

Protests over planned highway

Main article: Moscow–Saint Petersburg motorway

History of opposition

The M11, a new toll motorway, was proposed to go through the forest. The roadway would connect Moscow and Saint Petersburg.[2]

The proposed road attracted local and international opposition due to deforestation and other environmental issues.[7][8] The forest's fauna includes foxes, elk, wild boars and a number of species of insects and plants considered endangered.[9]

Logging in the forest started on 14 July 2010, and activists immediately clashed with the construction workers. The activists included local people and a group called "Ecological Defense of the Moscow Region", along with

National Flag Day of Russia were detained. They claimed that they were detained "to prevent the action in defense of the Khimki Forest."[3]

Russia's Supreme Court has ruled that the construction of the highway is not illegal. The activists' Khimki Forest Defense movement has filed a suit with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.[11]

In August, the country's largest political party, United Russia asked the President to stop the construction. Reuters analysts speculated the move was an attempt by the party to "pre-empt wider protest actions" which could have lowered the high popularity enjoyed by the Kremlin and the party.[12]

In late August, rock star Bono of the group U2, while his band was on tour in Russia, took a high-profile stand against the highway construction. Asking Russian rock star Yuri Shevchuk, an outspoken critic of the highway's planned route, who had made headlines confronting Vladimir Putin in a face-to-face meeting in May, to join him on stage at a concert, Bono and Shevchuk sang a Bob Dylan tune (Knockin' on Heaven's Door) in front of 60,000 people. Bono said in an interview that he regretted not raising the issue in his own meeting with the president.[13]

Attacks

Various protesters and journalists have been attacked and intimidated by both the police and unknown assailants. Three journalists - Anatoliy Adamchuk from Zhukovskiye Vesti, Mikhail Beketov[7][8] from Khimkinskaya Pravda and Oleg Kashin from Kommersant[14] - have been beaten up in what are thought to be attacks linked to their coverage of the protests.[15]

President Medvedev suspends the project

On 26 August 2010, President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the construction of the highway to be halted, and asked for a period of further discussion.[16][17]

"Taking into account the amount of appeals [against the construction], I have made a decision...to suspend the implementation of the decree on the construction of the toll highway and to hold additional public and expert discussions."

One of the activists who had fought to protect the forest hailed the President's decision as "victory" for the activists.

Yuri Luzhkov, the mayor supported it. Aleksey Knizhnikov of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) believes that if the logging was stopped right now, the forest would recover in a decade.[citation needed
]

The role of the French multinational Vinci S.A.

The French multinational

Vinci threatened Russian Government with 4 billion rubles (about 100 million euro) of compensations in case of a longer delay for the change of the routing.[20]

The Movement to Defend Khimki Forest together with the

Vinci was asked to start discussion about changing the route and to intervene with the Russian authorities, but it refused to cooperate, claiming that it had no power to change the route, chosen by the Russian authorities, and denying any connection between the violence and the project.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Oliphant, Ronald (2010-07-27). "Khimki Battlefield". Russia Profile. Archived from the original on 2010-08-25.
  2. ^ a b Digges, Charles (30 July 2010). "Tensions over Moscow's Khimki forest mounting to a boiling point as Bellona and activists appeal to government and foreign nations". Bellona. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Russian media: Police detain opposition leaders, rights activist". CNN. 2010-08-22.
  4. ^ a b c Krainova, Natalya (30 July 2010). "Khimki Forest Battle Takes Violent Turn". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b Ioffe, Julia; Times, Los Angeles (26 August 2010). "Russia halts forest highway construction as opposition grows". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Conservationists lose fight to protect Moscow forest from road". The Guardian. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  7. ^ a b Dobson, William (28 June 2023). "Opinion | One woman's fight to preserve a Russian forest". Washington Post. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  8. ^
    doi:10.1080/15387216.2017.1289851
    .
  9. ISSN 0027-8378
    . Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  10. ^ "Medvedev suspends motorway project over forest concerns". BBC News. 2010-08-26.
  11. ISSN 0190-8286
    . Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  12. ^ "Kremlin party raps disputed road project amid protests". Reuters. 2010-08-26.
  13. ^ "Russia halts forest highway construction as opposition grows". Chicago Tribune. 2010-08-26. Archived from the original on 2012-10-25.
  14. ^ Russia tries injured editor as fears for media grow, BBC
  15. ^ Russian president vows action after reporters attacked, BBC
  16. ^ a b Bratersky, Alexander (2010-08-26). "Medvedev Freezes Khimki Highway". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  17. ^ "Motorway construction through Khimki Forest suspended". President of Russia. 2010-08-26. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  18. ^ "Offshore schemes" (PDF). Bankwatch CEE.
  19. ^ "Statement from Europe Ecologie".
  20. ^ "История с Химкинским лесом может нанести ущерб бюджету в 4 млрд руб" [Khimki forest history can damage the budget by 4 billion rubles] (in Russian). Vedomosti. 6 May 2011.
  21. ^ "Letters to UNGC" (PDF). Bankwatch CEE.

External links

55°56′6″N 37°26′48″E / 55.93500°N 37.44667°E / 55.93500; 37.44667

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