Western Caucasus

• Management systems/ management plan (Lack of Management Plan)
• Legal framework (Weakening of conservation controls and laws)
• Impacts of tourism / visitor / recreation (Impacts of proposed tourism infrastructure development)
• Ground transport infrastructure (Road construction)
• Illegal activities (Deforestation)

N/A

On 14 January 2022, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/900/documents/, providing the following information:

• The construction of the Lagonaki Mountain ski resort is still being considered. A Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the impact of the proposed resort on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre. The decision to proceed with the construction will only be taken after approval by the World Heritage Committee;
• No large-scale infrastructure is planned within the boundaries of the property;
• The legal protection regime of the Lagonaki Plateau is determined by its ‘statutory protection regime’; the economic development of the part of the Lagonaki Biosphere Polygon inside the property is neither possible nor planned;
• The State Party considers it has no obligation with regard to the Sochi Federal Wildlife Refuge nor the Sochi National Park as they are not part of the property;
• Decision 97 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Adygeya ‘On the reorganization of the thus any construction in the property, which contradicts the Convention or its Operational Guidelines, cannot be undertaken;
• The road project to Lunnaya Polyana has been discontinued;
• Colchic Boxwood stands, which have been impacted by invasive boxwood moth, are regenerating naturally. Populations of rare and endangered species are stable.

On 29 October 2021, the State Party submitted a boundary clarification for the property. On 20 January 2022, the World Heritage Centre informed the State Party that the submitted documentation cannot be considered as a boundary clarification. At the request of the State Party, the World Heritage Centre provided further detailed technical clarifications on 5 April 2022.

On 4 April 2022, 30 August 2022 and 30 March 2023, the World Heritage Centre transmitted third-party information to the State Party on a range of issues, including the Lagonaki Mountain resort, the protection regime for the Lagonaki Biosphere Polygon, plans for the construction of a new ski resort in the Tabunnaya Mountain range within the Caucasus State Nature Reserve, new regulations for the Reserve and the Bolshoy Thach Nature Park, forest management regulations for the Sochi Federal Wildlife Refuge, road projects in the property and adjoining protected areas, as well as reported plans for the construction of a highway and railway connecting North Caucasus to the Black Sea and crossing the property and information that a draft law was under preparation that would facilitate changes to the boundaries of federally protected areas for the purposes of economic development.

At the time of preparation of this report, no reply has been received from the State Party. The State Party also did not submit updates to its 2022 state of conservation report by the deadline of 1 March 2023.

The joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission requested for the property and originally planned for 14 to 18 March 2022, had to be postponed and could not, to date, be rescheduled due to logistical constraints.

Caucasus State Nature Reserve and the Protected Buffer Zone in the Republic of Adygeya. In both cases, areas which are clearly documented within the inscribed boundaries were claimed to be outside the property. Consistent with Paragraph 165 of the Operational Guidelines and in line with previous decisions of the World Heritage Committee on this property, a proposal to remove these areas can only be considered through a significant boundary modification. It is recalled that the 1999 IUCN evaluation considered the entire Lagonaki area to be an essential element to express the OUV of the property under the criteria for which it was inscribed.

Confirmation that the construction of a ski resort in the Lagonaki area is still being considered is therefore of utmost concern. Noting the above, regarding the boundaries of the property, it is important to stress that the entire Lagonaki Biosphere Polygon, which was included in the Caucasus State Nature Reserve in 1992 and inscribed within the property following the recommendations of the IUCN evaluation, has to be considered an integral part of the property. The State Party should therefore be requested to clarify how the development of a ski resort in the Lagonaki area is consistent with the statement that no large-scale infrastructure is planned within the boundaries of the property and that no economic development is possible or planned in the Lagonaki Biosphere Polygon within the property, including by providing details on the planned resort, indicating its exact location. Reports on plans for another ski development within the property, on Tabunnaya Mountain range, add further concerns. It is recommended that the World Heritage Committee reiterate once again that the construction of large-scale infrastructure within the property, including on Lagonaki Plateau, would constitute a case for inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger. According to information received from third parties, although no construction work has started at Lagonaki, preparatory work such as land surveys, is underway.

The potential impact of infrastructure developments in the immediate vicinity of the property, including ongoing road construction in the Sochi National Park, which is reportedly less than 1.5km from the property, and approved changes to the regulations of the Sochi Federal Wildlife Refuge allowing for roads and tourism infrastructure, as well as reported plans for ski infrastructure on the Grusheviv ridge, within the strictly protected area of the Sochi National Park, are of serious concern. Whilst these areas are outside the property, their importance for its integrity is recognised through ensuring habitat connectivity, crucial for the ongoing reintroduction of the Persian leopard and the survival of other key endangered species. Therefore, it is highly likely that such construction will negatively impact the property’s OUV. Given the potential impact on the OUV, it is recommended that the Committee reiterate its request to the State Party to prohibit construction of large-scale infrastructure in these areas and request it to immediately halt the reported projects until an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is carried out and submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review by IUCN.

The information that the works on the Lunnaya Polyana road have been discontinued following the 2012 Reactive Monitoring mission is noted but contradicts third party information (based on satellite images), that works are on-going. It will be important that the State Party clarifies the validity of this information, and the status of this roadwork is verified by the requested Reactive Monitoring mission.

The assurance provided that changes to zoning of PPNM will not result in any construction inside the property which contradicts the Convention or its Operational Guidelines, is welcome. It should be ensured that the legal regulations applicable to all components of the property, in particular the Nature Parks and Nature Monuments managed by the Republic of Adygeya, meet the protection requirements of the Operational Guidelines.

The information that Colchic Boxwood stands are recovering through natural regeneration and that populations of rare and endangered species are stable, is welcome.

The information that plans have been drawn up for a new highway and railway connecting North Caucasus to the Black Sea is of utmost concern as it would bisect the property. Although the plan is reportedly not yet approved, the State Party should be requested not to proceed with these developments, in line with the assurances given at the time of inscription of the property that the highway project would not be implemented. In response to the reports that a draft law was under preparation, which, if approved, would allow the boundaries of specially protected natural areas, including national parks, to be altered for economic reasons, it should be recalled that the legal protection status is an integral part of the OUV of the property and that the removal of the legal protection from parts of the property would constitute a case for inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger.

Overall, it remains of great concern that large-scale infrastructure projects continue to be proposed within and immediately adjacent to the property. Reiterating the very clear position adopted by the World Heritage Committee that large scale infrastructure is not compatible with the World Heritage status of the property, the State Party should be requested to define a strategic approach to tourism development which respects this position, including through the SEA reported to be underway, by identifying suitable alternative locations for tourism infrastructure development outside the boundaries of the property, as well as appropriate mitigation measures to ensure that any tourism-related development in the vicinity of the property is consistent with the conservation of the property’s OUV.

The joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property could not yet take place at the time of writing the report, but will be organized as soon as feasible to assess a range of issues, including whether the envisaged infrastructure and road development projects, including their cumulative impacts, represent a potential danger to the OUV of the property, in line with Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines, and whether the property meets the conditions for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger. The mission will also need to assess other threats to the property including the scale of impacts from invasive alien species and the status and adequacy of legal protection.