Environmental and ecological organizations and public associations of Russia have sent a letter to President Vladimir Putin with a request to cancel the decision to enter the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in the register of foreign agents. The letter was signed by representatives of 62 organizations. Its text is published on website Association of environmental organizations “Reserve Alliance”.
The authors of the letter call the decision of the Ministry of Justice to recognize WWF as a foreign agent “extremely erroneous, unfair and unreasonable.” Representatives of organizations believe that the inclusion of WWF in the register of foreign agents will have a negative impact on the preservation of the unique nature of Russia.
“The decision to enter the organization into the register of foreign agents (as well as the trend of mass entry into the register of other independent Russian environmental organizations) is contrary to Russian law, according to which activities in the field of protection of the flora and fauna and charitable activities are not political,” the letter says. .
Representatives of environmental organizations note that, in cooperation with the Russian authorities, WWF sought solutions to preserve nature, and the decision of the Ministry of Justice undermines this work. The authors draw attention to the fact that among the staff and members of the Board of the Foundation there are holders of the Order of Honor, Honored Ecologists of Russia, Candidates of Science, as well as the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner as part of an international group of climate scientists.
The World Wide Fund for Nature was included in the register of foreign agents of the Ministry of Justice on March 10. WWF representatives told Kommersant that they would seek judicial review of the decision. Among the grounds for recognizing the fund as a foreign agent, the Ministry of Justice indicated, in particular, “the dissemination of negative information regarding government decisions” and “support from foreign sources.”
For more details, see the material “Kommersant” “Panda came back to haunt the tigers.”
