Polluting the sacred Lake Baikal A case study from Siberia, Russia Lake Baikal, the world’s largest and deepest freshwater lake as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its water purity and great biodiversity, has suffered serious impacts from the pulp and paper mill located in its South-eastern shore. A description of Baikal's water & questions concerning its pollution by S.A.Gurulev Pollution of Lake Baikal Water. Scientists sound the alarm over pollution levels in the world's largest lake. The government has banned the catching of a signature fish that has lived in the world's deepest lake for centuries but is now under threat. Famed for the purest water on the planet, but this 'is no longer true' with 'no drinking' warning in southern part of lake. Lake Baikal in central Asia is one of the natural wonders of our planet. Baikal's high biodiversity includes over 3,600 plant and animal species, most of which are endemic to the lake. Lake Baikal is home to more than 2,000 species of plants and animals, two-thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world, including the Baikal omul fish and Baikal oil fish as well as the nerpa, one of the world's only freshwater species of seal. Pollution 'crisis' in Lake Baikal. Baikal water is unsafe for animals to drink, never mind humans. Polluting the sacred Lake Baikal A case study from Siberia, Russia Lake Baikal, the world’s largest and deepest freshwater lake as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, known for its water purity and great biodiversity, has suffered serious impacts from the pulp and paper mill located in its South-eastern shore.

28 December 2015. Industrial and civil building has grown and spread, the population has grown and new towns and settlements have arisen, new lands have been ploughed up and more chemicals have been used in agriculture. In March 2006, 5000 people in Irkutsk, Russia, protested the proposed construction of an oil pipeline scheduled to pass within 800 meters (m) of Lake Baikal's shoreline, and, within days, President Putin announced the pipeline would be rerouted outside the lake's watershed (Cullison 2007). The government has banned the catching of a signature fish that has lived in the world's deepest lake for centuries but is now under threat. In this case study, WWF presents a collation of facts taken from publicly available sources and … Baikal water is unsafe for animals to drink, never mind humans. Lake Baikal, which holds one-fifth of the world's unfrozen fresh water, is undergoing its gravest crisis in recent history, experts say. Lake Baikal pollution: Russia waste plans alarm experts. Somewhat crescent shaped, it is in the southern Siberia area of Russia. Logging …

Picture: Vadim Levin. Rare Animals of Lake Baikal.

By Olga Gertcyck. Lake Baikal, Russian Ozero Baykal, also spelled Ozero Bajkal, lake located in the southern part of eastern Siberia within the republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk oblast (province) of Russia.It is the oldest existing freshwater lake on Earth (20 million–25 million years old), as well as the deepest continental body of water, having a maximum depth of 5,315 feet (1,620 metres).Its area is some 12,200 square miles … The unique nature of Baikal creates favorable conditions for a lot of animals that do not live in other places of the planet. Lake Baikal Endangered by Pollution. Picture: Vadim Levin. Baikal is a rift lake in the south of Siberia which contains roughly 20% of the world's unfrozen surface freshwater – the greatest in the world by volume. The majority of the endemic animals of the Lake today are protected, but alas – the Red Book of Baikal every year becomes even thicker. Lake Baikal pipeline threatens critical ecosystem. Famous for its crystal clear waters and unique wildlife, the lake is under threat by pollution, poaching and development. The Baikal freshwater seal population, estimated at to be over 60,000, is reducing in numbers due to hunting, poaching, and pollution. At 25 million years old, it is also thought to be the world's oldest lake. In Lake Baikal in southeastern Siberia during an evolution of some 25 million years, a unique, rich, and highly diverse, biocoenosis has developed, in which some three-quarters of the ca 2,400 plant and animal species are endemic.