October 4 is World Animal Day. Established in 1931, this day is dedicated to raising awareness about the challenges of preserving the inhabitants of our planet.

Rosneft is committed to environment-oriented campaigns and biodiversity preservation activities. Environment protection is an integral part of the Company's corporate culture and social responsibility. Protection and conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity is one of Rosneft's key environmental goals until 2035.

The Company implements the most ambitious program for studying the Arctic region since Soviet times. Over the past 12 years, more than 50 expeditions have been carried out, during which the country's leading scientists have studied the key bioindicator species for the sustainability of Arctic ecosystems, including the polar bear, Atlantic walrus, wild reindeer, and ivory gull. It has been the source of a unique body of information on Arctic wildlife. The obtained data is being used to create a series of environmental atlases for Rosneft and Innopraktika.

In 2024, the Company launched a new research programme called “Tamura” as part of the national project “Ecology”. Between now and 2027, research is planned for reindeer, polar bear, valuable bird species, and fish in the Taymyr Peninsula at the mouth of the Yenisey River. There will be ten expeditions in total over four years. The scientists have already conducted fieldwork this season, studying birds on the Brekhovsky Islands and on the large islands of the Yenisey Gulf. The total length of bird research expedition air routes in the Krasnoyarsk region exceeded 4,000 kilometres.

In addition, Rosneft supported research expeditions to study wild reindeer was organized with Rosneft's support as part of the Tamura programme. The total length of boat routes covered by the expedition to study wild reindeer exceeded 2,800 kilometers, with an additional 360,000 km2 covered by aerial observations. Rosneft has been studying wild reindeer since 2014.  During this time, comprehensive ground and aerial surveys of animals were conducted in Evenkia and Taymyr. The scientists utilized satellite tags to track the full annual migration cycle of reindeer, enabling the first-ever identification of seasonal behavioral patterns.

The Company pays special attention to the study and conservation of polar bears. A full-scale survey of the polar bear population distribution in the ice-free period on the northwestern coast of the Taymyr Peninsula and the Kara Sea islands was conducted by scientists from the Institute of Ecology and Evolution A.N. Severtsov of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Company specialists as part of the Tamura programme. The total length of air routes of the polar bear expedition exceeded 2500 km, and the scientists met 50 Arctic predators. For the first time in Russian practice, ear tags were worn not only on female species, but also on male species.

Rosneft, together with Innopraktika, a non-governmental development institute, and the Centre for Whole Genome Sequencing, is implementing a unique project to create a genomic database of living organisms in the Russian Arctic. This information is essential for long-term planning for the sustainable development of the region and the conservation of its fragile ecosystems. Priority work includes assembling the complete polar bear genome.

Since 2013, Rosneft has been patronizing all polar bears in Russian zoos. To date, the Company has provided support to 34 polar bears in 16 zoos across the country, including housing, feeding, veterinary care, and cage renovation. The Company has also developed special toys to enhance the physical activity of the animals. Rosneft is also implementing a programme to rescue and rehabilitate young polar bears left in the wild without maternal care.

Rosneft also supports conservation programmes for the Amur tiger population - working with specially protected natural areas in the predator's range, rehabilitation and reintroduction centres. The Company participates in the purchase of equipment and transportation for scientific purposes and in the building of social infrastructure for scientists.

In 2024, scientists from the Siberian Federal University conducted an analysis of the wolf population in the Evenkiysky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai with Rosneft's support. The result of the research was a set of recommendations of specialists on improving the regulation of predator numbers to maintain the balance of ecosystems. The researchers undertook a total of 67 field trips to various districts and nature reserves in Prienisei Siberia. Experts developed a method of calculating the number of predators, according to which the wolf population on the territory of Evenkia counts 2,600 individuals.

The study and protection of whale and dolphin populations is one of the areas of the Company's environmental programme. As part of the environmental monitoring in support of Rosneft's projects, vessel-based observations of all mammals, including whales and dolphins, are conducted. One of the main species of interest is the grey whale of the Okhotsk Sea population. The programme to monitor the grey whale population of the Okhotsk Sea on the north-eastern shelf of Sakhalin Island has been running for 27 years. The annual monitoring programme for gray whales includes population counts, behavioural and prey observations, photo-identification studies, and acoustic monitoring.

In addition, in 2020 Rosneft, together with the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, implemented a large-scale project to study and monitor dolphins in the Black Sea. The results of the three-year study provide up-to-date, relevant data on the numbers and preferred habitats of Black Sea dolphins and their seasonal dispersal patterns. Guidelines have been developed for the study and conservation of Black Sea cetaceans.

Rosneft
Information and Advertising Department
October 4, 2024

Keywords: Environmental news 2024