Wildfires threaten Russia's unique Lake Baikal

Raging wildfires have turned the shores of the world's largest freshwater lake in Siberia into an inferno, threatening the health and livelihood of locals and raising questions about Russia's ability to protect its natural heritage.
Critics have blamed authorities' slow response for allowing the blazes to get out of hand, quadrupling in size on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal in the last month and forcing locals to shelter from the toxic chemicals released into the air.
Formed some 25 million years ago, Lake Baikal is the world's oldest and deepest lake, with unique wildlife and vegetation both in its waters and the surrounding region.

Fires are now raging in nearby forests, especially on its eastern shore in the region of Buryatia, engulfing an area three times the size of land burnt by wildfires in California this year.
Yesterday, 36 separate fires blazed across 1,434 square kilometres of forest and peat bog in the region, the state forestry agency said.
"Everything is burning," Oksana Mukhina, the manager of a 15-room hotel on the eastern shore of Lake Baikal, told AFP this week.

"It has rained for the past three days and we can now breathe a little at least," said the 37-year-old, adding she had never witnessed fires of this magnitude in the region.

Regional authorities have advised the public to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid air pollution after raised levels of nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide were recorded in some districts.
Doctors screened last weekend more than 9,000 adults and 2,500 children in door-to-door checks in smoke-affected areas, with more than 20 residents requiring medical attention because of the fumes.
On Wednesday -- despite fires consuming a further 67 square kilometres in 24 hours -- regional authorities claimed the air quality was acceptable.
Activists say the blazes are also threatening the fragile ecosystem around the lake, which contains some 20 percent of the unfrozen freshwater on the planet.

The Baikal is one of the world's most biodiverse lakes, with 1,340 animal species -- including a unique variety of freshwater seals -- and 570 different kinds of plants, according to UNESCO. The surrounding area is home to a wide range of forest animals, some of which are endangered.