Decision 28 COM 15B.27

Volcanoes of Kamchatka (Russian Federation)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Welcomes the State Party’s report on the state of conservation of this property and acknowledges the efforts from the State Party to address a number of integrity issues that have been of concern to the Committee;

2. Further welcomes the support provided by the United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility (UNDP/GEF) project on the Maintenance of Biological Diversity in the Russian Federation to enhance the management of key protected areas within this property;

3. Notes the detailed results of the UNESCO-IUCN mission to the property carried out in May 2004 and requests the State Party to carefully review the key findings and implement the comprehensive recommendations from the mission;

4. Commends the State Party for its efforts to increase staffing and resourcing for the World Heritage property and urges it to better match the level of support from international donors and the contribution from commercial tour operators to meet its obligations to maintain the property’s outstanding universal value and operating as an equal partner in the management of the reserves;

5. Requests the State Party to ensure that the development of the Kamchatka Peninsula is balanced and integrated with the conservation of its outstanding natural values and to give urgent attention to a range of issues, including poaching, mining, tourism development, and access impacts on the World Heritage property;

6. Further requests the State Party to submit by 1 February 2005 an updated report on the progress made in addressing the issues raised by the UNESCO-IUCN mission for examination by the Committee at its 29th session in 2005.