The Tobolsk Forest Project Won the International #MYVMESTE Award
8 december 2021
The international #MYVMESTE award contest, organized by the DOBRO.RU platform with the support of the President of Russia, has tallied up its results. The Tobolsk Forest project took the second place in the Green Country nomination under the Business category. This nomination recognizes projects presented by companies that make a meaningful contribution to environmental conservation in Russia and facilitate achievement of national development goals in the field of environmental protection.
SIBUR's Tobolsk Forest project is being implemented in cooperation with the Forestry Department of Tyumen Oblast as part of the company's Formula for Good Deeds social investment program. This comprehensive project seeking to preserve and restore the region's forestry resources includes support for school forestry teams, fostering of environmental education, and environmental volunteering. For the second year running, SIBUR, in partnership with Tyumen Oblast’s Forestry Department has been holding its grant contest for Tyumen Oblast’s schools and school forestry teams providing support for the best initiatives. This year, the company supported 6 projects brought forward by educational institutions of Tyumen Oblasts and Tobolsk and by active members of school forestry teams. Under the Tobolsk Forest project, more than 17,000 tree seedlings have been planted and four hectares of felled forest have been restored Since 2019. More than 200 school students and 300 volunteers, city and district residents, and employees of SIBUR have taken part in environmental tree planting campaigns in Tobolsk and in Tobolsk District.
“Taking care of the environment is part of SIBUR's Sustainable Development Strategy and is also one of the important focus areas of the Formula for Good Deeds social investment program. For the second year in a row, the Tobolsk Forest project has emerged as the winner of prizes and awards at Russian and international contests which is a testament to its great environmental and social significance and its fitness to be replicated as one of the best practices in the company's range of environmental education activities and in fostering the environmental culture of local residents," Gennady Savin, ZapSibNeftekhim's Director for Health, Safety and Environment, noted. “Today, the company is in the process of implementing several important initiatives in this area. These include: the opening of the country's first carbon landfill, the launch of a new interactive Forest and Health route as part of SIBUR Eco-Trail, support for annual ornithological surveys conducted within the framework of the "Land of the Lapwing", a comprehensive bird protection project, et cetera. All of them are designed to help minimize the impact of the company’s production activities on the environment, to introduce the residents of the region and of the country as a whole to the unique diversity of plant and animal life in Siberia, and to help conserve it for the benefit of future generations”.
«In just three years, the Tobolsk Forest project has helped build a community of like-minded people striving to preserve and restore the region's forests. The true appreciation of our joint efforts provides strong enough motivation to come up with new initiatives and see this community expand and further augment the project in Tyumen Oblast and replicate it in other regions," Elena Belskaya, Head of ZapSibNeftekhim's Department of Government Relations and Social and Economic Projects, commented.
«Thanks to the Tobolsk Forest project, the forest theme has become very popular in our school. We have started our own school arboretum consisting of plants that we select together with the students. Now we are in the process of setting up our own school forestry team, and there are a lot of students who want to join its ranks. Our students have grown increasingly more interested in studying the forest and the topic of environmental protection in general", Lyubov Novoselova, a biology teacher and initiator of the school forestry team at the Setovskaya School, noted.
2021 saw the company's sweeping environmental initiatives in the field of eco-education and eco-culture promotion among the residents of Tyumen Oblast, including its Tobolsk Forest project, being awarded with a special diploma of the international Environmental Culture. Peace and Harmony - 2021 contest. In 2020, the Tobolsk Forest project was recognized as the Best Forest Conservation Business Project at the All-Russian Reliable Partner - Ecology contest held by the Reliable Partner Association together with the Russian Ecological Society and with the support of the Federation Council’s Committee on Agricultural and Food Policy and Environmental Management.
“The cooperation agreement between our department and SIBUR involves sponsorship and development of school forestry teams’ activities. Many initiatives of school forestry teams get implemented thanks to a special grant contest, with forestry teams' activists getting involved in educational programs and seedling planting campaigns. I am confident that the members of the judging panel took note of this aspect of the Tobolsk Forest project when determining the award winners," Leonid Ostroumov, Director of Tyumen Oblast’s Forestry Department, commented.
Background information:
The Formula for Good Deeds, SIBUR's social investment program, has been under implementation since February 2016, in all key cities where the company operates focusing on six key areas: urban development, education and science, sports and healthy living, environmental protection, culture, and volunteering. Further information about the program is available at: www.formula-hd.ru.
Tobolsk Forest is a reforestation project implemented in Tyumen Oblast since 2019 as part of the Environmental Protection focus area of the Formula for Good Deeds social investment program. In 2020, SIBUR's project became the winner of the second All-Russian Reliable Partner – Ecology contest run by the Reliable Partner Association jointly with the Russian Environmental Society and with the support of the Federation Council’s Committee on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management as the Best Forest Conservation Business Project. Further details on the project are available at: https://www.formula-hd.ru/projects/nature/tobolskiy-les/.
The #MYVMESTE Award is a follow-on to the All-Russian #MYVMESTE campaign and a successor to the All-Russian Volunteer of Russia contest. The aim of the award is to support social initiatives seeking to help people and improve the quality of living. The Prize is dedicated to