Ecologists demand to change railway project on Cape Vidny near Sochi

Under the pressure of ecologists the Customer's Service of the Directorate for Complex Reconstruction of Railways and Construction of Railway Objects in the City of Sochi (known as "DKRS-Sochi") of the Open Joint-Stock Company (OJSC) "Russian Railways" has held a repeated dendrological examination of Cape Vidny. After the examination, it was decided to transplant the Red-Book plants growing in the way of the construction. However, ecologists are going to fight for changing the whole railway construction project.

In the territory of the nature reserve ecologists are now blocking construction of the second railway line and demand to stop cutting rare plants. Those who did the repeated examination had to admit that the earlier project documentation failed to specify the Red Book relic - Montpellier spuria broom (Teline monspessulana) - and, therefore, contained no protective measures.

Under the pressure of the "greens", the above Customer's Service of the "DKRS-Sochi" of the OJSC "Russian Railways" is developing some plan to transplant the rare species, but the activists of the Ecological Watch for Northern Caucasus are categorically against transplanting and are ready to struggle for changing the existing railway construction project.

Over the past two weeks ecologists were twice visited by militia patrol units. "They receive signals that we want to block the railroad and prepare an extremist action," said Maria Ukhova, a children's art school teacher. "The transport militia also came; they saw that we break no law, but protect nature."

However, the OJSC "Russian Railways" has not abandoned its plans - to build the second railway section across the grove of Pitsunda pine-trees, bypassing Cape Vidny from the sea, and not in a tunnel under the mountain, as they had planned earlier.

Activists of the Ecological Watch are against these plans, asserting that part of the rare bushes will be lost during transplantation. On the other hand, experts from the "Roslesekol" (Russian Forest Ecology) are convinced that such risks are almost zero. Nevertheless, ecologists are going to defend their position.

"We'll demand that the OJSC completely abandon the idea to build a railway in this place. Earlier, they were not planning to build it here. We believe that for the sake of this unique place, let it be very expensive for them, they should build a tunnel, but not touch this unique place," experts of the Ecological Watch insist.

The Teline monspessulana is a unique relict species; no more than 300 plants remaining in Russia.