Biodiversity in Lake Baikal

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, for millennia, Lake Baikal's ecosystem has flourished in total isolation, untouched by the human population. Unfortunately, today, this precious Siberian ecozone is feeling the negative effects of human abuse. The author points out that the Baikalsk Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM), one of the region's oldest functioning industries (around 40 years), is the major polluting source because it exploits an old and highly dangerous method of bleaching pulp by using chlorine. The paper relates that, over the last decade, world environmentalists have helped improve the situation and limited the damage to the delicate ecosystem, but a coordinated effort from the Russian and Mongolian governments is indispensable for tackling this environmental crisis.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Lake Baikal
Importance of Lake Baikal
Environmental Effects (Air and Water Pollution)
The BPPM
Mineral Mining Plants
Conservation Projects
Baikal Watch and Baikal Environmental Wave
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The biological importance of Lake Baikal is evident from the UNESCO declaration of Lake Baikal as a world heritage site and "the most outstanding example of a freshwater ecosystem". The range of climatic conditions within the surrounding areas of the lake has contributed to a rich variety of plant life in the region. While the Coniferous forests occupy the western regions, pine forests are common in the eastern areas and deciduous forests predominate the northern region. The fauna found in the lake is amongst the most diverse in the world with more than 255 amphipod species and 80 types of flatworms. The epishura, a tiny crustacean is the natural cleaning mechanism for the lake as it consumes all the decaying matter in the water. The most important and the only mammal species in the lake is the endemic Baikal seal (Phoca sibirica)."

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