On Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin touched down on the Alexandra Land in the Arctic, he was going to drive through this deserted area to inspect the process of clearing waste left by earlier expeditions by the Soviet military, according to the state news channel Russia Today.
Later Putin will take part in the international conference dedicated to the Arctic which is organized by Russia.
The Minister of foreign Affairs of Norway børge Brende (Right party) will also participate in a conference on Wednesday evening, he should meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
“Tourism is necessary to limit”
“Tourism in these areas is necessary to limit, not increase,” said Susan Barr (Susan Barr), the Norwegian polar researcher, the head of the International scientific Committee on the Arctic in an interview with VG.
It is extremely reacted negatively to the news that Russia is going to create conditions for the development of tourism in the Land of Franz Josef land, a Russian archipelago to the North-East of Svalbard.
“That, from the point of view of tourists looks like a pile some sticks can be a valuable cultural monument. Arctic nature is so fragile that she cannot be restored. I’ve seen too many examples of how the terrain changes, and cultural sites just a crush,” said Barr.
“The destruction of historical sites”
It is engaged in the research of cultural monuments in the Arctic since the 1970’s, worked in Public service for the protection of monuments and the Arctic Institute. Barr several times visited the place on Earth Franz Josef, where the Norwegian polar heroes Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen wintered in 1895-1896.
“On the globe can hardly find a place where you would not be able to go if you are willing to pay dearly for it. But this tourism is gradually destroying historical places to see and enjoy and people come,” she said.
“I was under the impression that as the organizers of the trips, and the guides do everything to protect it all, but to manage large groups of tourists difficult. Much has changed, and nature also contributes, when the ice retreat. Tourism and climate change — a double challenge,” says Barr.
According to the newspaper Barents Observer, the operator of the Poseidon Expedition cruises plans three cruise ships visits to the Land of Franz Josef in the summer, the beginning of the cruise is planned in Longyearbyen. Price starts from nine thousand dollars to 75 thousand Norwegian kroner for a two-week cruise.
Want to walk in unfamiliar seas
Cruise company Hurtigruten also intends to develop tourism in the Arctic and in Russia in the coming years.
Brand new ship “Roald Amundsen”, which Hurtigruten will receive next year, very eco-friendly, it can enter the port and leave it on the batteries, silently and without polluting the environment.
“I hope that from 2019-2020, we will be able to go into Russian territory in the North. While we focus on Svalbard, but also consider the possibility of sailing around the Kola Peninsula and sunset in the White sea,” — said in an interview with VG Thomas Vestergaard (Thomas Westergaard), Director, responsible in the Hurtigruten group for the placement and development.
“If we eventually will be able to swim to Land on Franz Josef, it will provide us with fantastic prospects.”
VG: can be considered a relevant journey via the Northern sea route to the Pacific ocean?
“Without a doubt. We are looking for the possibility of such a truly symbolic of travel. Next summer we will go to the Northwest passage. When we get a new generation of ships with ice class, from a technical point of view we will have more opportunities to walk in these waters,” says Westergard.
