Victor Valdayskikh: "The Carbon Polygon in the Chechen Republic is Amazing"

08:54, May 27, 2022

Scientist participated in the opening of a site in the North Caucasus [photo report]

Victor Valdayskikh, Head of the Ural-Carbon Polygon, took part in the opening ceremony of a carbon polygon in the Chechen Republic, the first in the North Caucasus, on May 24. The opening ceremony was also attended by Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Valery Falkov and Ruslan Edelgeriyev, Special Envoy of the President on Climate Issues.

"The carbon polygon in the Chechen Republic is amazing. It is a joint project of the Chechen State University and Grozny State Oil Technical University - Way Carbon. We visited two main sites, which are located in picturesque parts of the republic. The main site of the Chechen State University Carbon Polygon is in the Caucasus Mountains, at an altitude of 2,000 meters. Its tasks are to measure the balance in mountain ecosystems and to study the impact of cattle breeding on reducing the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. The second polygon - Grozny State Oil Technical University - is located near Grozny. Its main objective is to determine the balance of greenhouse gases in the plain part of the republic," said Valdayskikh.

The Way Carbon polygon unites fundamentally different carbon farms, which are located in different climatic zones of the Caucasus. It includes 12 laboratories and open areas with a total area of 1,785 hectares. It is the only polygon in Russia which, in addition to growing and researching plants with high carbon sequestration potential, will study the impact of regenerative animal husbandry on the sequestration potential (sequestration - carbon dioxide absorption) of pastures.

According to Victor Valdayskikh, the polygons are organized very qualitatively. The necessary scientific equipment, infrastructure facilities, and a carbon farm were established for the opening.

"Colleagues have done a tremendous amount of work on organizing polygons and have done a lot during the year. Much of the money raised is not from the budget. We should strive to do the same. The consortium also includes a large number of specialists from academic organizations and universities from Moscow and other regions of the country, so I think they will do an excellent job. I would also like to express my gratitude to my colleagues. We were met extremely cordially and warmly. All events, including the scientific and practical conference "Methods, Models, Technologies of Sustainable Development: Agroclimatic Projects of Carbon Neutrality" are organized at a very high level in beautiful university campuses," Valdayskikh concludes.

As a reminder, carbon polygons are areas with a unique ecosystem created to control climate active gases. Employees of universities and scientific organizations of the carbon polygons carry out a number of crucial ecological studies.

Reference

The polygon "Ural-Carbon" is represented by taiga forests, as forest lands make up 70% of the territory of the Sverdlovsk Region, and taiga is one of the most important reservoirs of carbon runoff from the atmosphere due to photosynthesis and its long-term storage. The research sites are the Kourovka Astronomical Observatory of Ural Federal University and the Ural Educational and Experimental Forestry of the Ural State Forest Engineering University. The project also involves the Ural State Agricultural University, Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Industrial Ecology Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, N.N. Krasovskii Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Botanical Garden of Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The news article was translated by UrFU International Marketing Office
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