Speaking at a meeting of the Russian Geographical Society Board of Trustees President of Russia Vladimir Putin praised the Society’s contribution to nature conservation. The meeting was held at the RGS offices in St Petersburg on April 29.

“As the pacesetter in Russia’s environmental preservation traditions, [the RGS] actively promotes environmental awareness among our people and implements a large number of useful and timely initiatives in this area, some of which become independent projects. Suffice it to recall the Amur tiger and Far Eastern leopard conservation fund. I hope the projects launched today will also develop successfully and I wish their participants genuine success,” Vladimir Putin said in his address.

The meeting was also attended by Sergei Ivanov, Chair of the Far Eastern Leopards Supervisory Board and Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Executive Office. He thanked the RGS for its Far Eastern leopard conservation project.

“Everything is going well with the Far Eastern leopards now. The number has increased to about 80 and they are doing well. We should thank the RGS for this,” Sergei Ivanov said.

The Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society was established in 2010. It issues grants for wildlife research and conservation projects and expeditions. The board is comprised of public figures and business leaders. The RGS manages the Far Eastern leopard project jointly with the Far Eastern Leopards autonomous non-profit organisation, Land of the Leopard National Park, the Ussuri State Nature Reserve of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Far Eastern Branch, and Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences.