Russia's massive Arctic preserve is a sanctuary for wildlife and a site of cleanup

Countries & Cities · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Established in 2009, the Russian Arctic National Park spans a vast, remote expanse of the Arctic Ocean, Franz Josef Land, and northern Novaya Zemlya. Beyond protecting critical habitats for polar bears and marine mammals, the park serves as a massive environmental restoration project to address decades of accumulated Soviet-era industrial waste.

The park was officially founded in June 2009, initially covering 14,260 square kilometers. Its scope grew significantly in 2016, adding 74,000 square kilometers to reach its current scale. The protected region encompasses both land and sea, providing a vital refuge for diverse species. It supports massive avian nesting grounds, along with essential rookeries for walruses and seals. Furthermore, the area is a significant habitat for bowhead and gray whales, cementing its status as a premier site for marine mammal conservation.

Beyond its ecological importance, the park preserves a rich history of Arctic exploration and settlement dating back to the sixteenth century. However, the region also bears the scars of twentieth-century industrial activity. When Prime Minister Vladimir Putin visited the archipelago in 2010, he famously characterized the landscape as a massive dumping ground. This assessment prompted a major government initiative starting in 2012 to remediate the environment.

The multi-year cleanup project, funded with 1.5 billion rubles, aimed to remove over 100,000 tonnes of debris left behind during the Soviet era. This extensive operation involved clearing away a million discarded barrels, a quarter million containers of oil products, and various remnants of military infrastructure, including radar stations and aircraft. By expanding the park's boundaries in 2011 to include Franz Josef Land, authorities sought to better manage these restoration efforts while simultaneously fostering sustainable tourism in this extreme northern territory.

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