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Volcanoes of Kamchatka

Russian Federation
Factors affecting the property in 2015*
  • Fire (widlfires)
  • Ground transport infrastructure
  • Illegal activities
  • Legal framework
  • Management systems/ management plan
  • Mining
  • Renewable energy facilities
  • Other Threats:

    Decline in populations of wild reindeer and snow sheep

Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports
  • Illegal salmon fishing
  • Gold mining
  • Gas pipeline
  • Development of a geothermal power station
  • Forest fires
  • Boundary changes
  • Construction of the Esso-Palana road
  • Need for the development of a comprehensive national legal framework for the protection and management of natural properties
  • Decline in populations of wild reindeer and snow sheep
  • Lack of management structure and coordination system
International Assistance: requests for the property until 2015
Requests approved: 0
Total amount approved : 0 USD
Missions to the property until 2015**

1997: IUCN fact-finding mission; May 2004, August 2007: Joint World Heritage Centre / IUCN Reactive Monitoring missions.

Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2015

The State Party did not submit a report on the state of conservation of the property, as requested by the Committee at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013).

The State Party did not provide detailed information on the plans for hydropower development on the Zhupanova River, nor the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs), which were also requested by the Committee in its Decision 37 COM 7B.21.

Analysis and Conclusion by World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in 2015

It is regrettable that the State Party did not submit a report on the state of conservation of the property.

The current situation with the hydropower projects on the Zhupanova River remains unclear. It is recommended that the Committee reiterate its request to the State Party to provide detailed information on any plans to construct hydropower stations on the Zhupanova River and EIAs for these projects, including an assessment of potential impacts on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (OUV), in accordance with IUCN’s World Heritage Advice Note on Environmental Assessment.

Uncertainty regarding the overall area of the four regional nature parks that form part of the property remains unresolved. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN recall that Decision 36 COM 7B.21 refers to a discrepancy between two documents with information from the State Party, namely the Retrospective Inventory (2011) and the report submitted by the State Party in preparation of the 36th session of the Committee (Saint-Petersburg, 2012), which explicitly states that the borders of the Nature Parks were revised in 2010. They note that the State Party did not submit a map showing the current boundaries of the property, as has been requested by the Committee. It is recommended that the Committee urge the State Party to clearly confirm the overall area of the four regional nature parks that form part of the property, and submit to the World Heritage Centre a detailed map showing the boundaries of all components of the property as inscribed, to ensure that all contradictions regarding the boundaries of the property are permanently resolved.

Given that no detailed information has been provided on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2007 Reactive Monitoring mission, it is recommended that the Committee reiterate its request to the State Party to fully implement these recommendations, particularly regarding the development and implementation of one integrated management plan and coordination structure, a comprehensive tourism management plan, and the strengthening of the institutional capacity of the administrations of the property, both in terms of human and financial resources.

Concerns regarding the decline in populations of wild reindeer and snow sheep raised by the Committee in its Decision 37 COM 7B.21 remain. As no detailed information has been provided on the current status and trends of key wildlife populations within the property, it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to develop a comprehensive monitoring system for the entire property in order to obtain data on the populations of key species, which are crucial to the OUV of the property. 

Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2015
39 COM 7B.20
Volcanoes of Kamchatka (Russian Federation) (N 765)

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7B.Add,
  2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.21, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
  3. Regrets that the State Party did not submit a report on the state of conservation of the property, as requested by Decision 37 COM 7B.21, and did not provide detailed information on the plans for hydropower projects on the Zhupanova River, nor copies of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for these projects, and reiterates its request to the State Party to provide this information, as a matter of priority, including a detailed assessment of potential impacts of these projects on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
  4. Notes with concern that apparent contradictions regarding the overall area of the four regional nature parks that form part of the property remain unresolved, and urges the State Party to clarify the overall area of the property, and submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015, a detailed map showing the boundaries of all components of the property as inscribed;
  5. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to fully implement the recommendations of the 2007 Reactive Monitoring mission, particularly regarding the development and implementation of one integrated management plan and coordination structure, a comprehensive tourism management plan, and the strengthening of the institutional capacity of the administrations of the property, both in terms of human and financial resources;
  6. Requests the State Party to develop a comprehensive monitoring system for the entire property in order to monitor the status and trends of the populations of key species;
  7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2016, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.
Draft Decision: 39 COM 7B.20

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC-15/39.COM/7B.Add,
  2. Recalling Decision 37 COM 7B.21, adopted at its 37th session (Phnom Penh, 2013),
  3. Regrets that the State Party did not submit a report on the state of conservation of the property, as requested by Decision 37 COM 7B.21, and did not provide detailed information on the plans for hydropower projects on the Zhupanova River, nor copies of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) for these projects, and reiterates its request to the State Party to provide this information, as a matter of priority, including a detailed assessment of potential impacts of these projects on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
  4. Notes with concern that apparent contradictions regarding the overall area of the four regional nature parks that form part of the property remain unresolved, and urges the State Party to clarify the overall area of the property, and submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2015, a detailed map showing the boundaries of all components of the property as inscribed;
  5. Also reiterates its request to the State Party to fully implement the recommendations of the 2007 Reactive Monitoring mission, particularly regarding the development and implementation of one integrated management plan and coordination structure, a comprehensive tourism management plan, and the strengthening of the institutional capacity of the administrations of the property, both in terms of human and financial resources;
  6. Requests the State Party to develop a comprehensive monitoring system for the entire property in order to monitor the status and trends of the populations of key species;
  7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 February 2016, an updated report, including a 1-page executive summary, on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 40th session in 2016.
Report year: 2015
Russian Federation
Date of Inscription: 1996
Category: Natural
Criteria: (vii)(viii)(ix)(x)
Documents examined by the Committee
SOC Report by the State Party
Report (2015) .pdf
arrow_circle_right 39COM (2015)
Exports

* : The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).

** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.


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