The Arctic is becoming part of the world's heritage rather than that of Arctic countries, and Russia's role in the region is very important for its preservation, a Russian environmentalist said Wednesday.
"The Arctic's nature... is becoming the common heritage of not only circumpolar countries but of the entire mankind," Professor Yury Mazurov from the Moscow State University's efficient nature management chair said at the international forum The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue.
The main purpose of the September 22-23 forum is to discuss potential international cooperation in the Arctic and establish the region as an area of peace and cooperation.
Discussions focus on environmental protection and the sustainable development of the Arctic's natural resources.
The forum involves well-known foreign and Russian scientists, representatives of nongovernmental organizations and business circles, and key political figures. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who heads the Russian Geographical Society Board of Trustees, is also expected to attend.
The event has been organized by the Russian Geographical Society; its information sponsor and operator is the Russian News and Information Agency RIA Novosti.
The forum was initially scheduled for April 2010, but had to be postponed following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland, which prevented many international participants from coming to Moscow.
MOSCOW, September 22 (RIA Novosti)
