Save Kurgalskiy from Nord Stream II

Kurgalskiy Peninsula and Nature Reserve are under severe threat by the development plans of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline.

The Kurgalskiy Nature Reserve, being established in 2000, is included in the network of HELCOM Baltic Sea Marine Protected Areas and RAMSAR Convention list of protected wetlands of international importance. There is no site of equal importance and value in terms of nature conservation and protection of biodiversity in the Russian part of the Gulf of Finland.

Help us preventing this destructive activity and forcing Nord Stream II AG and Gazprom to comply with the international and Russian national environmental requirements law.

News

 

 

  • 2019-08-05 Greenpeace Russia: Actual environmental damage caused by laying the pipes of Nord Stream 2 needs to be checked. Greenpeace Russia prepares an appeal to the Prosecutor’s office requesting to carry out check-up of the new facts of environmental damage caused by laying the pipes of Nord Stream 2 across Kurgalskiy Nature Reserve in Leningrad Oblast of Russia. The appeal is based on the expert opinion of researchers of the V.L.Komarov Botanical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who have revealed loss of Red-listed plant species and attempts to fake their replanting by “less-vulnerable hybrid plants”. Likewise, independent ornithologists have confirmed that Red-listed white-tailed eagles have abandoned their nest in the reserve, despite the contrary declarations by Nord Stream 2 AG. This new data proves that Nature Protected Area should not be used neither as the ground for laying gas pipeline, nor for such experiments with Red-listed plants. Independent ornithologists also concluded that red-listed white-tailed eagles have left their nest close to the pipeline construction route despite positive reports from the Nord Stream 2 AG. While references to such ”successful” efforts with re-planting and even more – following those methods for managerial and planning purposes does not qualify Nord Stream 2 as a responsible investor, but only as a source of fake ‘greenwash’ that has nothing to do with care and protection of vulnerable species and ecosystems. Further details in the article by Kommersant Daily: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/4052456 (could be Google-translated).

  • 2018-08-03 Coalition of environmental NGOs has informed the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on recent violations at Kurgalskiy Peninsula wetland of international importance and forwarded its Senior Advisor (Europe) respective information including joint press-release , on-spot photo evidences by Greenpeace Russia as well as well the translation of an article of St.Petersburg ecologist Alexey Travin about the situation.

  • 2018-07-13 CCB and Greenpeace Russia inform Nord Stream II investors of the planned Advisory Mission of the Ramsar Convention with regards to threatened status of Kurgalskiy Nature Reserve.

 

  • 2018-05-17 Greenpeace informs that Nord Stream II AG commenced illegal construction of the gas pipeline in the unique Kurgalskiy Reserve, destroying dunes and wetlands, while also disturbing birds during the critical nesting season. It is simply a shocking event from a civilized standards point of view, taking into account that this nature area is protected by the national, as well as international law, namely Ramsar and Helsinki Conventions. Responding to the news, the Nord Stream II AG admitted that it does not possess the construction permit, but all the activities are agreed with the environmental authorities of Leningrad Oblast and secondly, these works do not represent actual construction, but only prospecting.

 

  • 2018-02-06 Civil society position on Nord Stream 2 AG Project will be presented at a Round Table on the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy for the Kurgalsky Nature Reserve in Geneva.

  • 2018-01-16 Public Environmental Assessment of the Nord Stream 2 : the project should not be given permission for implementation due to numerous deficiencies and noncompliance with the law.

 

  • 2017-08-22 CCB, WWF Russia and Greenpeace Russia filed a complaint to the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention with regards to the proposed route of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline across Kurgalskiy Nature Reserve and Ramsar site.

 

  • 2017-06-28 CCB, WWF Russia and Greenpeace Russia presented our concerns with regards to the proposed Nord Stream II Project to the potential funders of the project, the International Financial Corporation.

 

  • 2017-06-09 CCB, WWF and Oceana call the EC to take into account environmental requirements in negotiations with Russia on the Nord Stream II project.

 

  • 2017-06-01 Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe has published online a scandal dossier on Nord Stream II about “selection of alternative routes” for the Russian landfall.

 

Read the statement by Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe here and the full dossier:


  • 2017-05-31 German NGOs (BUND, NABU and WWF) submitted their coordinated comments to transboundary EIA documentation of Nord Stream 2 Project

 

  • 2017-05-18 Roundtable “Nord Stream 2 Route Selection in Russia and Biodiversity Conservation Approach”

 

Representatives of Russian and international environmental NGOs, academia and stakeholders at the meeting expressed clear disagreement with proposed route across Kurgalskiy Peninsula and Nature Reserve and strongly objected company’s arguments for this alternative as clearly violating Russian and international environmental law in terms of protecting nature. See

simplified evaluation of the proposed alternative routes for further information.

Comparisons of the alternative routes on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, provided by Nord Stream II consultants, are only available in Russian here and here.

  • 2017-03-22 Roundtable “Nord Stream 2: building on the proven experience of planning the infrastructure project in a responsible way” during the Baltic Sea Days Environmental Forum.

 

Nord Stream II Project has presented its concept, undertaken surveys backing EIA process and the proposed route (see collection of presentations here).


Stakeholders, represented by NGOs, academia and local residents, had a possibility to ask questions from the developer to clarify presented information and express the concerns related to the proposed way of implementing the project.

A formal draft resolution of the event was compiled by the organizers of the Roundtable, see here (and in Russian here). The stakeholders came up with number of proposals to the draft resolution, see here .

Basic facts about Kurgalskiy

The Kurgalskiy Nature Reserve, being established in 2000, is included in the network of HELCOM Baltic Sea Marine Protected Areas and RAMSAR Convention list of protected wetlands of international importance. It is situated at the south-west coast of the Gulf of Finland, close to Estonian border and has a status of reserve (‘zakaznik’) of regional importance in Russia. Its total area is 60 000 ha including 38 400 ha of marine area. Kurgalskiy Reserve is an area of high conservation value for the Eastern Baltic Sea region. Marine and coastal biotope complexes of the reserve are very diverse and undisturbed. Biotopes represented by sandy and moraine coasts, dunes, reed beds, reefs, coastal meadows, islets, surface boulder ridges, mudflats, underwater and surface sandbanks, with or without vegetation. Shallow areas of marine part of Kurgalskiy Reserve serve as a spawning ground for many commercial fish species, as well as a habitat for several fish and lamprey species, endangered in the Baltic Sea region. The Kurgalskiy Reserve is important breeding area for many species of marine birds and stopover for migrating birds, including those listed in the HELCOM’s Red List of Baltic Breeding Birds. The Reserve is the key area for the Baltic ringed seal haul-outs in the Gulf of Finland. It is also breeding and foraging area for ringed seal and important area for the Baltic grey seal haul-outs.

Actions by Russian and International environmental NGOs to protect Kurgalskiy

 

  • (2022) CCB expresses serious concerns regarding factual massive release of greenhouse gas and other possibleenvironmental consequences of the natural gas leakages that were detected by Danish andSwedish authorities from the NordStream 1 and 2 pipelines on 27-28 September 2022.
  • (2017) CCB expressed its concerns with regards to the non-compliance of the proposed Nord Stream II Project with requirements of the international and national environmental law at HELCOM Heads of Delegation
  • (2017) WWF Baltic Ecoregion Programme presented its position with regards to the Nord Stream II Project at HELCOM Heads of Delegation
  • (2017) Greenpeace Nordic forwarded its appeal to the Swedish EPA with regards to the international consultations on transboudary EIA documentation
  • (2017) Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND), Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) and WWF Germany; Comments on transboundary EIA documentation for the Nord Stream II Project
  • (2017) Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe published a dossier on “selection of alternative routes” for the Russian landfall by Nord Stream II
  • (2017) Join the petition : Russians are demanding to prevent the Nord Stream-2 Pipeline from cutting through the Kurgalsky reserve
  • (2017) Greenpeace Russia; Review of documentation submitted by the Russian Federation for international consultations under the Espoo Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in Transboundary Context
  • (2017) WWF Position Statement on Nord Stream 2
  • (2016) CCB comments to public hearings on the Draft ToR for marine surveys programme for the EIA of the Nord Stream 2 project
  • (2015) CCB open letter on the threats to Kurgalskiy Peninsula and nature reserve

 

Documents submitted to HELCOM

 

  • (2017) HELCOM Heads of Delegation; Information on international consultations on EIA of the Nord Stream II project in transboundary context and violation of the national and international environmental law
  • (2017) HELCOM Heads of Delegation; Information for the International Consultations on EIA of the Nord Stream II Project
  • (2017) HELCOM STATE & CONSERVATION; Information for the International Consultations on EIA of the Nord Stream II Project
  • (2017)  HELCOM PRESSURE; Information for the International Consultations on EIA of the Nord Stream II Project
  • (2016) Helsinki Commission; Update of information regarding anthropogenic threats to Kurgalskiy Nature Reserve, Leningrad Oblast, Russia
  • (2015) HELCOM Heads of Delegation; Call for HELCOM action regarding Baltic MPAs within Russian part of the Gulf of Finland
  • (2015) HELCOM STATE & CONSERVATION; Call for action regarding alarming situation around Kurgalskiy Nature Reserve

 

Media coverage & analytical materials