In the months since we last updated you on the proposed Moscow-St. Petersburg motorway project through Khimki Forest, an important 2,200-acre urban forest rich with wildlife that is beloved by the community, much has happened. An activist and a journalist have been brutally attacked by thugs and the pictured Save Khimki Forest’s website editor was falsely accused of phoning in a bomb threat and then interrogated for 6-hours by police. The Save Khimki Forest website (www.ecmo.ru) was attacked by hackers and rendered useless for hours.
In addition, the panel appointed by President Medvedev after the project was halted this Fall to study the proposed road and outline alternative routes decided that building the road through the forest was the best alternative. An independent study commissioned by the grassroots group Save Khimki Forest found just the opposite. Its experts suggested that the road is not needed, but that if it is to be built, it can be routed through an un-forested adjacent area instead.
A Russian company hired by the French construction firm Vinci has just announced that the cutting of trees in the Khimki Forest is to be resumed mid-March. At the direction of Vinci, this company cut many trees in 2010 before public outcry and international pressure halted the project. Seventy percent of the trees in the forest still remain, including many old oaks.
The leaders of Save Khimki Forest again appeal to you, members of EarthAction and the international environmental community, to support their cause.
Three simple yet powerful actions you can take right now:
1. Ask President Medvedev to halt the cutting of Khimki Forest, to route the motorway project away from the trees, and to end the fabrication of criminal charges against grassroots activists by following this link: http://eng.letters.kremlin.ru/.
2. Ask Vinci to stop cutting trees in the Khimki Forest and to pursue an alternative route for the road: http://www.vinci.com/vinci.nsf/en/contact.htm.
3. Use their online form to question Vinci about why they have chosen to continue construction through the Khimki forest given an alternative option.
After you take action, please share this with your friends, family and colleagues!
