NARYAN-MAR, August 20. /TASS/. Young people from the BRICS countries will be invited to an international volunteer camp on the Spitsbergen Archipelago. The camp will become a permanent platform for joint cleaning of Arctic territories, the Clean Arctic public environmental project's leader Andrey Nagibin said at the 5th Youth Environmental Forum-Festival - "The Arctic. The Ice Has Broken".

"Of course, our task is to have as many young people from the BRICS countries as possible, to have them see it, he said. "It would be very interesting to have young people from India, China, and Brazil, who will see our history and Russia's careful attitude towards the Arctic."

The Clean Arctic project has been working on a list of Russian and foreign organizations that would be invited to participate in the creation of an international volunteer camp. The camp would be a permanent site for joint cleaning of Arctic territories. The organizers hope that the participants of such an association will draw up common protocols for collection, dismantling and removal of waste from hard-to-reach locations.

Earlier, in June, the Clean Arctic movement's environmental mission was working on the Spitsbergen Archipelago for the first time ever. The expedition participants, with the support of volunteers from the Arktikugol State Trust Company, cleaned up the Russian villages of Barentsburg and Piramida.

"The scrap metal that the volunteers have collected is transported to the mainland for recycling," Arktikugol's Deputy CEO for Long-Term Development Igor Levonenko said. "This weekend, we will upload these containers onto a cargo ship at the port of Barentsburg, and we expect this scrap metal will reach Murmansk by late August."

The Clean Arctic Public Environmental Project has been cleaning the northern territories since 2021. The volunteers focus on objects, left since the USSR times. Waste removal is a complex technological work, where the movement teams work carefully minding the Arctic nature. Over all seasons, the project's almost 10,000 volunteers have collected 22,000 tons of waste and cleaned 1,100 hectares of land. The project's general partner is the Rosatom State Corporation, and TASS is the general information partner.

About the forum

The 5th All-Russian Youth Environmental Forum-Festival "The Arctic. The Ice Has Broken" features about 300 young scientists, researchers, and environmental volunteers aged between 18 to 35. The forum's purpose is to show the Far North's opportunities to young people and to shape ideas for the Nenets Autonomous Region's development program.

"The Arctic. The Ice Has Broken" is organized by the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the Nenets Autonomous Region's administration, and the Clean Arctic public environmental project. TASS is the event's information partner.