On Our Mind

Recently there have been many articles about the proposed Altai gas pipeline. As members of the Save Ukok Coalition, we at The Altai Project remain deeply concerned about potentially irreversible damage to sacred lands and complex ecosystems. That said, despite the increasingly definitive tenor of current media coverage, until Russia and China successfully conclude negotiations over gas pricing and construction financing that have seen only incremental progress since starting in 2006, the pipeline is unlikely to begin construction.

Members of the Save Ukok Coalition such as Greenpeace-Russia, WWF-Russia, and Gebler Ecological Society have spoken out recently, describing in details the project’s potential environmental impacts, economic fallacies, and other trouble aspects of the project.

The Altai Project continues to call for greater transparency and the integration of public and expert input into project plans and that it be rerouted away from the Ukok Plateau in order to address expert concerns about sacred lands and environmental damage. If a new opportunity for action arises, we hope that our friends and followers will support efforts to minimize the impacts to Altai’s environment and cultural heritage.

Read more about the potential implications of the pipeline here.