Decision 45 COM 7B.26

Volcanoes of Kamchatka (Russian Federation) (N 765bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

1. Having examined Document WHC/23/45.COM/7B.Add,
2. Recalling Decision 44 COM 7B.109 adopted at its extended 44th session (Fuzhou/online, 2021),
3. Reiterates its utmost concern that the boundaries of the South Kamchatka Nature Park (SKNP) have been modified at national level, thereby removing the legal protection of part of the property to facilitate inappropriate development alongside reports of a draft law which would allow the boundaries of federally protected areas to be changed to accommodate economic activities and recalls that such removal of the legal protection of part of the property constitutes a clear potential danger to the property as foreseen under Paragraph 180(b) (i) of the Operational Guidelines;
4. Decides therefore to deploy without any further delay the joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission initially scheduled in consultation with the State Party for March 2022 and then postponed;
5. Considers that the ‘Three Volcanoes Park’ project, as proposed, does not constitute a suitable approach for sustainable tourism development in the property and would jeopardize its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), and requests the State Party not to proceed with the project, as proposed, in its current location and to finalize the Strategic Environmental Assessment to inform the Master Plan for Tourism Development, and submit these to the World Heritage Centre, for review by IUCN;
6. Welcomes the presentation of an action plan to implement the recommendations of the 2019 Reactive Monitoring mission and the progress achieved and also requests the State Party to ensure that the remaining recommendations are implemented by the end of 2023, in particular the improvement of the zonation of the property, the creation of effective buffer zones around the components, and action to control and limit unsustainable tourism;
7. Welcomes the measures to clarify the functional zoning of the property as well as the ongoing efforts to establish a strictly protected area of federal significance Volcanoes of Kamchatka National Park on the basis of Klyuchevskoy and South Kamchatka Natural Parks – component parts of the property – in order to strengthen its legal protection status, as recommended by the 2019 mission and previous Committee decisions;
8. Notes with appreciation the plans declared by the State Party to also establish a buffer zone for the federally protected Volcanoes of Kamchatka National Park to ensure the integrity of the property as well as additional control of developments, tourist traffic and adequate security and invites the State Party to look into possibilities to extend the boundaries of the National Park to include the South Kamchatka Nature Park, including the Vilyuchinskaya and Zhirovaya Bays;
9. Welcomes the cancellation of the license for exploitation of a carbonate deposit near the South Kamchatka Nature Park, the proposed hydro-electric power station in the vicinity of the Kronotsky State Nature Reserve as well as the proposed construction of a fish channel to connect Kronotskoye Lake with the sea;
10. Requests furthermore the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2024, 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 46th session.