11
April
2012
The Fund for the Protection of the Lake Baikal became the first collective member of Russian geographic society.
A meeting of the Guardianship board of Russian geographic
society (RGS) took place in Saint-Petersburg on April 10, 2012. In
the course of the meeting, the Fund for the Protection of the Lake
Baikal (FPLB), a legal entity, was made a member of RGO for the
first time in history.
Chairman of the Guardianship board of RGO V.V. Putin and the
president of RGO S.K. Shoygu participated in the meeting.
After grants for the year 2012 were awarded, V.V. Putin, chairman
of the RGS Guardianship Board, solemnly handed in a certificate to
confirm that the Fund became a member of the Society to
M.V.Slipenchuk, the chairman of the FPLB Board of Guardians.
In his speech V.V. Putin, Chairman of the Guardianship board of
RGS, noted: "From the moment of its foundation RGO has been
carrying a powerful patriotic message. The initiatives of the
society united the brightest and the most educated people of their
times, self-denying enthusiasts, true men of action, that were
heartily devoted to our Motherland. Undoubtedly,
philanthropists have always played a special role in the activities
of RGS. Their support made it possible to make hundreds of
expeditions and research projects that contributed hugely to the
development of this country ".
In conclusion, V.V. Putin thanked to all the participants in the
meeting for their facilitation to the activities of RGS and
suggested the organization of the next meeting in the course of an
expedition, for example, at the Lake Baikal. "We could see the
process of works financed by us, evaluate recent results and
achievements in the field and think about our further work".
The meeting was highlighted by one more unique event - the
ceremony of signing of AGS Fliers’ and Explorers' Globe. It was
signed by legendary Soviet astronauts V.N.Tereshkova and A.A.
Leonov. The Globe has never left the borders of the USA
before. In his speech Jerry Dobson, the president of American
geographic society (AGS) specified that this happened due to the
support of Mikhail Slipenchuk, a philanthropist and a deputy of
State Duma.
Russian geographic society
Russian geographic society (RGS) is the oldest public
organization in Russia; it was founded by supreme order of Emperor
Nikolai I in 1845. Among the founders of RGS were famous Russian
travelers and explorers: admirals I.F. Kruzenstern and P.I. Rikord,
rear admiral F.P. Vrangel, academicians K.I. Arseniyev and V.Y.
Struve, military geographer and surveyor M.P. Vronchenko and
others. From its foundation onwards, RGS announced that the
aim of its activities was to collect and distribute
geographical data about Russia. The expeditions of the Society
played a huge role in the development of Siberia and the Far East,
Middle and Central Asia and the World ocean. Polar expeditions are
a special feature in its activities.
RGS actively collaborates with geographic societies of other
countries, participates in major events organized by the
international geographic society. Today among the members of
RGS there are specialists from different areas of science:
geographers, ecologists, geologists, ethnographers, statisticians,
as well as art workers, representatives of the mass media,
politicians and businessmen.
In 2009 S.K. Shoigu was elected president of RGS, and V.V.
Putin became chairman of the Guardianship board.
The Fund for the Protection of the Lake
Baikal
The Fund for the Protection of the Lake Baikal was founded
in 2008 at the initiative of the METROPOL Group of Companies. The
fund provides support to large-scale scientific and research
projects and programs aimed at the development of efficient
measures for the preservation of the Lake Baikal. Namely, in
2008-2010 the fund organized a major International scientific and
research expedition "Mirs at Lake Baikal". Among the
participants there were leading national and foreign scientists,
heads of states, famous politicians and public figures from 12
different states. The program provided valuable support for
further development of Russian fundamental science and became a
recognized world-level event.
The president and the chairperson of the Guardianship board
of FPLB is A.N. Chilingarov, a well-known Russian scientist and
explorer, deputy of the State Duma, Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero
of Russia, and correspondent member of Russian Academy of
Science. The Guardianship board is headed by M.V. Slipenchuk,
deputy of the State Duma and doctor of economy. The FPLB
Scientific, Technical and Public councils are comprised of famous
Russian scientists, politicians, businessmen and art
workers.
Fliers' and explorers' globe
The globe was granted as a present to American geographic
society in 1929 by John Finley, president of the society and
Editor-in-chief of New York Times. He suggested marking the routes
of flights and expeditions of famous fliers and explorers of the
world on the globe and adding signatures of the participants to
each marked route.
Since then 78 legendary travelers and researchers from nine
countries have signed the globe. Among them there are great polar
researchers Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen, American astronaut
Neil Armstrong, famous researcher of the World ocean Silvia Earle,
pilot Bertrand Piccard. The globe also features the
signatures of our compatriots - Valery Chkalov, Alexander Balyakov
and Georgiy Baydukov that completed a non-stop flight on the route
Moscow - North Pole - Vancouver (Washington, USA) in
1937.
V.V. Putin congratulates M.V. Slipenchuk on FPLB’s becoming
a member of RGS.
A certificate confirming that FPLB became a corporate member
of RGS.
Presidium of the meeting of the Guardianship board of
Russian geographic society: S.K.Shoigu, the president of RGS; V.V.
Putin, the chairman of the Guardianship board of RGS; N.S. Kasimov,
first vice-president of RGS.
V.V. Putin delivers a speech.
V.P. Savinykh, an astronaut and president of
Moscow state university of geodesy and cartography; M.V.
Slipenchuk, a deputy of the State Duma and the chairman of the
Guardianship board of FPLB; A.B. Miller, the chairman of the Board
of Gasprom OJSC; V.A. Sadovnichiy, the rector of The Moscow state
university named after Lomonosov; V.V. Tereshkova, a deputy of the
State Duma and the first female astronaut on Earth; A.A. Leonov, an
astronaut.
