ABOUT LAKE BAIKAL


Lake Baikal is one of the planet’s greatest lakes, being its deepest (1,637 meters), oldest (age – apx. 25 million years) and having most diverse flora and fauna of all the freshwater reservoirs. Baikal has an unparalleled volume and quality of freshwater recourses (23,600 cubic meters). The Baikal basin represents the central chain of the Baikal reef zone, being one of the largest and oldest rift systems on the planet. The lake and its basin make up a unique and very fragile ecosystem, which ensures the natural production of the cleanest water.
Baikal was included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996. According to Article 4 of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, each party recognizes its duty of “…ensuring the identification, conversation, presentation and transmission to future generations generation of the cultural and natural heritage” of the world.

At present, Baikal holds more than 20 percent of the world’s freshwater and hydrocarbon resources
And a comprehensive is gaining especial importance because of the acute freshwater and oil deficit that, according to expert forecasts, the world may encounter in the coming decades.

The Baikal basin’s economic activity in the Baikal’s basin has rapidly increased in recent years. This was first and foremost caused by the development of mineral deposits, the creation of an energy and transport infrastructure, and the development of a tourism and recreation zone.
The growing development pressures on Baikal’s ecosystem require an urging monitoring of lake conditions, one that involves the most modern scientific research results, hardware and technologies, as well as world-class specialists and experts. And here, we can see the environmental responsibility of businesses, first and foremost those that have their economic interests invested in the Baikal region, emerge to the forefront.