Decision 40 COM 7B.101

Western Caucasus (Russian Federation) (N 900

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/16/40.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decisions 37 COM 7B.23 and 38 COM 7B.77, adopted at its 37th (Phnom Penh, 2013) and 38th (Doha, 2014) sessions, respectively,
3. Welcomes the information provided by the State Party concerning the reintroduction of the Persian leopard, and encourages the State Party to continue its efforts in that regard, in consultation with the IUCN Species Survival Commission Reintroduction Specialist Group;
4. Notes the information provided by the State Party that amendments to a number of federal legal provisions concerning protected areas have been proposed and are currently being considered by the Russian parliament, and requests the State Party to provide further details on the proposed amendments, including on how they are related to past legislative changes over which concerns were raised in previous Committee Decisions, namely the Federal Law N°406-FZ and the Order of the Government of the Russian Federation No 603-r;
5. Notes with concern further legislative changes, specifically the amendments adopted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology in 2015 to the Decrees on the Sochi National Park and the Sochi Federal Wildlife Refuge, providing for expansion of recreational zones and construction of large scale tourism infrastructure in these protected areas, which adjoin the property, and considers that such amendments could have negative impacts on the property, including on the efforts to reintroduce the Persian leopard in the property by disrupting the connectivity of its natural habitat;
6. Also notes the information provided by the State Party that no new capital infrastructure projects are planned on the Lagonaki Plateau or on the slopes of Mount Fisht or Mount Oshten and that the recovery of the Lagonaki Plateau from past excessive grazing continues to show a positive dynamic, and also reiterates its position that the installation of capital construction on the Lagonaki Plateau, including Mount Fisht and Oshten, would constitute a case for inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger, in line with Paragraph 180 of the Operational Guidelines;
7. Regrets that the State Party did not provide any updated information on progress achieved to prevent logging in the entire property, including sanitary cuttings within the nature monuments, and also reiterates its request to the State Party to implement the recommendation of the 2012 mission in that regard, namely to “adapt the “certificates” of the “Nature Monuments” included in the property to ensure all logging, including sanitary cutting, construction of roads, overpasses, power lines and other communication infrastructure are not allowed and the construction of capital construction projects for recreational use is prohibited”;
8. Further reiterates its request to the State Party to implement all other recommendations of the 2012 mission;
9. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2017, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 42nd session in 2018.