Wildlife Puts Russian Games on Thin Ice

The shiny brochure features cosy chalets, pristine snow-capped mountains and rolling alpine pastures.

But Russia's ambitious bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi has run into trouble with environmentalists, who say that organisers are planning to build an Olympic bobsleigh run in an area inhabited by bears.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has written to President Vladimir Putin demanding he intervene to save Sochi's national park. It is home to red deer, wild boar and numerous other species. It is also adjacent to another world heritage site in the snowy Caucasus mountains, which enjoy special Unesco status.

Yesterday Igor Chestin, director of WWF's Moscow office, said he had raised the alarm because of plans to develop at least 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of national park in the Sochi region. The Olympic organisers had failed to carry out an environmental assessment, he said, contrary to Russian law. Instead, he claimed, they seemed determined to build a bobsleigh run in the centre of a protected area, with restaurants, golf courses, spas and a casino.

"We are not against the Olympic games or against development in the city of Sochi. But environmental concerns have not been taken into account," he said.

"The bears and other animals migrate from the high mountains down to the park in search of food. Their path cuts directly across the proposed bobsleigh run. The government's system of managing environmental protection in Russia is not adequate. We've seen this for many years now."

The environmental protest is embarrassing for Russia, coming just days before an official Olympic evaluation committee flies into the resort on Sunday. Sochi is competing against two other cities shortlisted in the summer by the International Olympic Committee - Pyeongchang in South Korea, and Salzburg in Austria.

Moscow has never hosted a winter Olympics. It has promised to spend £6bn transforming Sochi if the bid is successful, replacing crumbling Soviet-era facilities with new hotels, a new international airport and a high-speed railway. The bid has a slogan: "Gateway to the Future" and a cute logo of a star-shaped snowflake.

Yesterday a spokesman for the 2014 Sochi bid said it was normal for environmentalists to complain ahead of any Olympic inspection. "Of course, if we develop the region things won't be the same," Gennadiy Shvets admitted.

"But under the federal budget money has been set aside for environmental protection.

"At the moment, we haven't actually started building any major Olympic facilities," he added.

Sochi, in southern Russia, has long been a favoured holiday destination for Russia's elite and for sun-starved package tourists, 3 million of whom visit annually. It is the warmest city in Russia. Josef Stalin had a dacha nearby, while Vladimir Putin recently met the German leader, Angela Merkel, here.

The resort offers 120 miles of beach and lots of seaside cafes, as well as good skiing in the nearby mountains.

Senior Kremlin figures have shown their patriotic credentials by backing the Sochi bid, as has Roman Abramovich, the oligarch who owns Chelsea football club.

Alexander Zhukov, the deputy prime minister, told the magazine Itogi this week: "One crucial advantage is that at all previous games Russia has won more medals than any other country, yet Russia has never hosted the winter Olympics."