Penza, 24 April 2016. PenzaNews. The eco-educational campaign “Live Long, Grandpa Khoper!” organized by the regional branch of the Russian Geographical Society took place by Kuchki village of the Penza region on Saturday, April 23.

Photo by Igor Pantyushov

Russian Geographical Society activists clean up Khoper river source by Penza

It brought together school students and teachers, workers of village administrations, leisure centers and libraries of the Penza area, as well as members of the Russian Geographical Society, Cossacks and representatives of supervisory bodies.

The people cleaned the river sources of Khoper and removed trash and fallen branches from 12 creeks.

Even though the campaign resulted in a full truck of collected trash, the activists pointed out that the amount of trash went down significantly compared to when such events had been conducted for the first time.

After the cleaning, the activists assembled by the “Old Man Khoper” monument for a few words of gratitude for them.

“I would like to say a sincere thank you to all who participated in today’s campaign. Only together and by joining forces, we are able to preserve our native nature who needs our help. Let’s do all we can to preserve this beauty, restore it, so that it would make us and our children happy, so that we would continue being proud for our Sura land and our Russia,” said Igor Pantyushov, chairman of the Penza branch of the Russian Geographical Society.

In addition, he also briefed the activists about the upcoming RGS campaigns, and urged them to participate.