The annual ecological action “The Earth Hour – The Earthlings Hour” organized by the Wild World Fund (WWF) will take place in Russia on the 26th of March at 8.30 pm local time.
This year WWF is eager to remind that in difficult times we all – people and millions of other living beings should take care of one another. It is important to continue helping those ones who really need help. This year during “The Earth Hour” we invite you to think what we all – earthlings – have in common. We have only one planet, and it belongs to all of us. We ought to make every effort to keep it safe even in the most difficult times. It is necessary to bear in mind that along with the people here live other “earthlings” - millions of species of living beings. ”We ought to take care of one another and our commоn home in any situation", said Dmitry Gorshkov, Director of WWF in Russia.
The Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill, one of the leading manufacturers of container board and pulp, is “a green point” of the Arctic zone. The company is aware of its moral duty to save nature for the good of the present and future generations and does its best to harmonize its activities with the environment. “Ecology should be beyond politics and market situation” – this slogan is the basis of the Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill corporate mindset.
The year 2022 is dedicated by the company to the Forest. The plant has a business plan for the production ecological transformation. The program goes beyond the current standard requirements, its measures are also aimed at making a positive impact on fundamental aspects of sustainable forestry – intensive, economically viable, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible forest exploitation.
The Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill aims at being a leader in the sphere of sustainable forest management and does a lot for it. The Dvinsko-Pinezhsky refuge of regional significance with an area of 300.4 thousand hectares was created with the help of the enterprise. The creation of the refuge was based on an agreement between logging companies, including Arkhangelsk Pulp and Paper Mill JSC, and environmental organizations on the refusal to cut down valuable forests.
The plant and its general raw material supplier are the leaders of the reafforestation programs of the region.So, as part of the forestry work in 2021, the Titan Group carried out activities for the reproduction of forests on an area of 21.5 thousand hectares. And here we speak about all its types, and not just about artificial (forest plantation). An important area of work is the promotion of natural reafforestation, last year it was carried out on an area of more than 20 thousand hectares (90% of the total). As for artificial reafforestation, more than 3 million coniferous seedlings were planted on forest land in 2021. The priority point is to increase the volume of artificial reafforestation using ball-rooted seedlings.
The plant started its first project to create a tree seed center with an area of over 10 hectares. On its territory there will be built a greenhouse centre and a laboratory centre, where a branch of the North Arctic Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov will be located. The fully automatized centre will produce up to 9 million genetically improved seedlings per year. In this Centre growing of the main region forest forming species – common pine and European spruce – is planned. The measures taken by the APPM are expected to result in enabling to reduce greenhouse gases emission inclusive of by taking into account the capacity of forests as a carbon sink, and contribute to adaptation to climate change.
The work on preserving biological diversity is conducted by the plant and its main raw material supplier for more than 15 years. Significant experience has been accumulated in identifying key biotopes as non-exploitation sites, preserving not only valuable habitats where species listed in the Red Book can potentially be found, but also forest areas near swamps, small lakes, springs, as well as groups of trees of rare species growing on border of their natural range. In confirmation of compliance with the environmental policy, both companies signed a declaration of association. Its main provisions provide support for the creation of protected areas in the interfluve of the Northern Dvina and Pinega within the boundaries agreed with stakeholders and provide all possible support for giving official status to protected areas. In addition, Titan Group and WWF Russia signed a Work Flow Chart for the preservation of forest of high conservation value until 2028. The document spells out such measures as the expansion of existing state natural landscape refuges and the creation of new protected areas.
