On June 20-22, 2012 within the framework of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development “Rio+20” the photo exhibition Magical World of Lake Baikal and the presentation of the environmental activity of the Fund for Protection of Lake Baikal (FPLB) took place in the Brazilian capital Rio de Janeiro.
The Conference summed up the 20-year period of the planet development that has passed since the first such conference in the same city in 1992. According to the press, the event attracted more than 12,000 official delegates, more than 100 Heads of States, more than 10,000 observers from public organizations and about 4,000 journalists. Thus, conference “Rio+20” became the most large-scale in the history of the United Nations.
The photo exhibition Magical World of Lake Baikal was launched directly into the hall where a round table discussion “Russia. Pure Water for life and fight against population disability”, organized by the Russian delegation, was held. The exhibition showed the brightest moments of the three-year international scientific expedition Mirs at Lake Baikal (organized by the Fund for Protection of Lake Baikal in 2008-2010) and attracted the attention not only by high quality and current problems related to conservation of the world famous and unique Lake Baikal, but served as a kind of ideological background for the scientific reports of Phd T.Chernysheva and T.Burmistrova (Vladivostok), professor Y.Alekseev (Moscow), head of the delegation L.Zelentsova.
Presentation of the FPLB exhibition and the collection of articles of the scientific conference Baikal – the world treasure took part in partnership with the Inter-Regional Public Charitable Foundation “Sail of Hope” and was included in the final report of the Deputy Head of the Delegation of “Rio+20” T.Chertoritskaya “The role and importance of civil society in the preservation of pure water and public safety”. The report also reflected the activities of the international scientific expedition Mirs at Lake Baikal and its research results. Information materials of the FPLB were presented at the various events of the forum:
- meeting “What we expect from “Rio+20” – Future that we want”, organized on 19 June, 2012. Foundation for Democracy and Sustainable development;
- meeting “Water, energy and food for secure future”, organized by Official Side-Event of the Federal republic of Germany on 20 June, 2012;
- meeting of BPW INTERNATIONAL: “Business women’s voices”;
- CIVICUC (World Alliance for Citizen Participation)
The presentation of programs and information materials of the FPLB, as well as the film To the Depth of Lake Baikal took place at the meetings in the University of Mendoza (15 June) and in the Riocentro Convention Centre (17 June) at the VI Forum of civilization in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development “Rio+20” at the sessions: “The long-term sustainable development strategy based on partnership of civilizations: concepts, strategies, programs and projects” and "The strategy of dialogue and partnership of civilizations in the areas of science, education and culture”.
At the end of the conference by the decision of the FPLB administration and at the request of the President of the Society of Friendship Russia-Brazil A.Lazarev the photo exhibition Magical World of Lake Baikal was donated to the Russian Consulate General in Rio de Janeiro. On the basis of the received gift the Russian mission in Brazil is planning to organize a cycle of mobile expositions about Baikal. The Consulate General has expressed gratitude to the Fund for Protection of Lake Baikal for a significant contribution to environmental protection and presentation of the Baikal region and Russia as a whole.
