The Moscow Lecture Centre of the Russian Geographical Society has hosted a roundtable on preserving the fragile Arctic environment, which is exposed to grave dangers from environmental causes, such as global warming, and from increased human activity, such as mineral exploration and development, the revival of the Northern Sea Route, ecotourism, and the like).

The roundtable debate involved specialists who have spent years protecting wildlife in the Arctic Ocean and its coastal areas, monitoring Arctic fisheries, and assessing human impact on the Arctic environment and the environmental consequences of mining and transport activities in the Arctic. Representatives of ecotourism companies also took part.

The participants discussed the condition of certain sea mammal populations, specifically the white whale population. Vsevolod Belkovich, who holds a doctorate in Biology and is head of the Sea Mammals Laboratory at the Shirshov Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, delivered a report on "White Whale. Population Structure. Numbers. Threats to Existence. Protective Measures".