Oil and Gas Development Threatens Kamchatka Wilderness, Fisheries

Moroshechnaya wetlands, photo by Yu.N. Gerasimovich

The Kamchatka Peninsula is at a crossroads. Currently, fisheries are the mainstay of Kamchatka's economy.  However, Russian and international companies are poised to begin large scale oil and gas development— including drilling the peninsula's first oil wells—next year.

What is at stake?

• Spawning grounds for up to one-quarter of our Pacific salmon,
• Wetland habitat supporting hundreds of thousands of waterbirds,
• Local communities that depend on a subsistence lifestyle for their livelihoods, and
• A regional economy that relies primarily on abundant fishery resources. 

Pacific Environment and our partners are committed to raising awareness about the global importance of the Kamchatka Peninsula and opportunities to protect critical habitat areas, which are inappropriate for oil and gas development. 

Offshore, Kamchatka Shelf Threats

The Russian company Rosneft holds an offshore oil and gas license off the Western Kamchatka shelf—the largest oil and gas exploratory license area in Russia (62,000 sq. km.)  The company has already conducted two years of seismic exploration in the area.... Read more.

Onshore Threats

The Russian government has granted an onshore exploration license in northwestern Kamchatka to the Canadian company CEP International Petroleum Ltd.  This area includes the Moroshechnaya River wetlands, recognized under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.... Read more.

Take action!

Oil and gas development in Kamchakta threatens an irreplaceable global legacy of wilderness.  Supporting local initiatives for sustainable, community-based fisheries is a very real economic alternative to these proposed oil and gas development.

Please join us in helping in protecting the Kamchatka Peninsula wilderness!  Click here.

For more information, contact Sibyl Diver sdiver@pacificenvironment.org, 415-399-8850 ext. 308 .