Golden Mountains of Altai

• Major linear utilities (gas pipeline construction plans) 
• Ground transport infrastructure (impacts of a road project across the property) 
• Impacts of tourism / visitor / recreation 

N/A

On 30 November 2022, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/768/documents/ and on 20 March 2023, it submitted additional information at the request of the World Heritage Centre, reporting the following:

• Efforts are ongoing in the Altaisky State Nature Reserve (ASNR) and the Katunsky State Nature Reserve (KSNR) components of the property, including surveillance, research and monitoring, promotion of the Convention and cooperation with local communities;
• Efforts to increase transboundary cooperation continue: in the KSNR, which since 2017 has been part of the transboundary Biosphere Reserve “Great Altai” with Kazakhstan, a Joint Commission has been established to strengthen transboundary cooperation and implement joint conservation initiatives. It is planned to extend this cooperation to China and Mongolia. In the ASNR, transboundary cooperation is being strengthened with Mongolia as part of the Association of Altai-Sayan Ecoregion Reserves and National Parks, in particular with the Silkham National Park;
• A joint strategy for sustainable tourism for the property is being developed.

In response to the World Heritage Centre’s request for additional information missing from the state of conservation report submitted by the State Party, succinct information was provided on the process of extending the ASNR to ensure the legal protection status of Lake Teletskoye, for which documents are being prepared for submission to the Ministry of Natural Resources by 1 June 2023. No additional information was provided on the other issues.

On 30 March 2023, the World Heritage Centre transmitted to the State Party information received from third parties on the state of conservation of the property, in particular concerning the continued lack of protective status for the entire Lake Teletskoye, new road developments in the Ukok Quiet Zone reportedly linked to uncontrolled tourism activities, as well as road construction in the buffer zone of Lake Teletskoye. The State Party was also requested to verify 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 writing, no response has been received from the State Party.

The State Party did not fully respond to the Committee’s requests or provide the information required to enable the assessment of the state of conservation of the property, notably with regard to the following key issues raised in Decision 44 COM 7B.106:

• The exact alternative route of the proposed Altai gas pipeline;
• The exact location of the proposed tourism infrastructure at Lake Teletskoye, including whether an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been undertaken for the development, in accordance with the new Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessment in a World Heritage Context;
• The status of the current or proposed mining operations at Brekchiya or Maly Kolychak deposits, including whether they have been subject to a full EIA, which specifically assesses the potential impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property.

In this respect, it needs to be recalled that in the above-mentioned Decision, the Committee expressed regret that the State Party did not provide sufficiently elaborated information on the different points raised in response to its previous decisions. It is also of concern that the State Party’s report focusses only on the state of conservation of two of the five components of the property, KSNR and ASNR, both of which benefit from a high protection status under federal law. However, no information is provided on the other components with regional protection status, the Belukha Mountain Nature Park, the Ukok Quiet Zone and Lake Teletskoye, while part of its buffer zone is even without any legal protection status. It is therefore recommended that the Committee again urge the State Party to provide information on all the above-mentioned issues as well as a detailed report on the state of conservation of all components of this serial property.

The ongoing work to extend the ASNR to ensure that the entire Lake Teletskoye is included within the boundaries of the nature reserve is noted. However, it is not clear from the information provided whether the proposed extension also includes the so-called Lake Teletskoye buffer zone, which is located on the opposite shore of the lake and is included in the property. Some of the concerns related to mining and tourism development have been reported in this area, hence the urgency to ensure the conservation of the property’s OUV through adequate protection status in this area. It needs to be stressed that the current situation is not in conformity with the requirements of the Operational Guidelines and that the protection status is an integral part of the OUV of the property.

The continued efforts to improve transboundary cooperation with the States Parties of China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia are welcomed. In view of the progress made, it is recommended that the Committee encourage States Parties to explore the feasibility of a potential further extension of this serial property to also include components in China, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.