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Volcanoes of Kamchatka

Russian Federation
Factors affecting the property in 2018*
  • Fire (widlfires)
  • Governance
  • Ground transport infrastructure
  • Illegal activities
  • Legal framework
  • Major linear utilities
  • 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 activities (Illegal salmon fishing)
  • Mining (gold mining)
  • Major linear utilities (Gas pipeline)
  • Renewable energy facilities (Development of a geothermal power station)
  • Fires
  • Management and institutional factors (Boundary changes)
  • Ground transport infrastructure (Construction of the Esso-Palana road)
  • Legal framework (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
  • Governance (Lack of management structure and coordination system)
International Assistance: requests for the property until 2018
Requests approved: 0
Total amount approved : 0 USD
Missions to the property until 2018**

September 1997: IUCN fact-finding mission; February 2001: UNESCO mission; May 2004, August 2007: Joint World Heritage Centre / IUCN Reactive Monitoring missions

Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2018

On 30 November 2017, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property available at http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/765/documents/, and which provides the following information:

  • The total area of the property is 3,959,952.90 ha of which 2,475,036 ha consist of the four clusters of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka Nature Park (Nalychevo, Bystrinsky, Kluchevskoy and Southern Kamchatka). The discrepancy between this figure and the total size of nature parks reported at the time of the inscription of the property is a result of the more accurate mapping of the boundaries which was undertaken in 2009;
  • An Integrated Management Plan (IMP) for the entire property has not been developed yet, but the organizations responsible for the management of the different protected areas comprising the property continue their cooperation;
  • Monitoring and research activities continued within the property. Populations of all species monitored remain stable, with the exception of the wild northern reindeer for which the largest recorded group was estimated at only 150 individuals in March 2017. Measures are currently being developed to enable their recovery;
  • Anti-poaching activities within the property have been expanded, including creation of special anti-poaching task groups, and a patrolling vessel was acquired by the Kronotsky Strict Nature Reserve in order to strengthen protection of coastal and marine areas. Activities aimed at creating economic alternatives for local communities in the vicinity of the property were also ongoing, particularly those related to tourism development and promotion;
  • Potential threats to the property from outside its boundaries remain, particularly due to reduction of game stocks in the surrounding areas and therefore potential increase of poaching activities within the components of the property;
  • Resumption of plans for the construction of the Kronotskaya hydropower station cascade in the “Kronotsky Federal Nature Biosphere Reserve” is also noted as a potential threat.
Analysis and Conclusion by World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in 2018

The clarification provided by the State Party with regards to the area of the nature parks components of the property and discrepancies with previously reported figures is noted. Since only boundaries of one component (Southern Kamchatka Nature Park) have been recently clarified through the Retrospective Inventory process, it is recommended that the boundaries of all other components of the property are also formally updated through the submission of high-resolution maps and shapefiles.

The statement that with the exception of the wild population of reindeer all wildlife populations are stable is noted, but it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to submit the reports of the monitoring and surveys, which are at the basis of this statement, including on the salmon populations, in particular in light of the increasing poaching pressure.

The reported on-going anti-poaching efforts are welcomed but it is of concern that the property continues to be threatened by poaching and that this threat is expected to increase due to pressures from outside the property. It is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to continue its efforts to address poaching. In particular, it would be important to increase the staffing and budget for the four nature parks. In this regard, it should also be recalled that the Committee had previously requested the State Party to consider strengthening the legal protection regime of these nature parks by changing their status to national parks or other appropriate mechanisms, such as revision of their zoning. No information has been provided by the State Party on this matter or on the current zoning regime of each nature park and on the activities permitted in each zone. It is therefore recommended that the Committee reiterate its request in this regard and that it also request the State Party to develop an IMP for the entire property in order to harmonize management across different components, as was recommended by the 2007 Reactive Monitoring mission to the property. 

The mission further recommended that on-going mining, gas pipeline, and mineral or geothermal exploration activities near the property should be monitored. Amid discussions on developing the geothermal and mining potential inside the property, the Reactive Monitoring mission noted in 2007 that no such plans were expected to start for at least ten years. As this period has now passed, it is therefore recommended that the Committee request the State Party to provide an update on the status of any mining, gas pipeline, and mineral or geothermal exploration interests within and close to the boundaries of the property. The noted potential resumption of plans for hydropower development within the boundaries of the property’s component “Kronotsky Strict Nature Reserve” is of serious concern and it is recommended that the Committee urge the State Party to unequivocally abandon these plans and to consider alternative sources for electricity provision in the region in line with the commitments it expressed in its report presented to the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016). In light of all the above, it is recommended that the Committee request the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to evaluate the status of implementation of the 2007 mission recommendations and to assess the current conservation status of the property.

Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2018
42 COM 7B.79
Volcanoes of Kamchatka (Russian Federation) (N 765bis)

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
  2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.100 adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
  3. Notes the clarifications provided by the State Party regarding the total area of the nature parks components of the property and the discrepancies with previously reported figures and requests the State Party to submit the information on the boundaries of all components to the World Heritage Centre in order to formally clarify them by submitting high-resolution maps and shapefiles for each of the property’s components;
  4. Welcoming the additional measures undertaken by the State Party to combat poaching, but noting with concern the information that the property continues to be threatened by poaching, including as a result from increasing pressures on game stocks outside the property, urges the State Party to continue its efforts to address this issue;
  5. Also requests the State Party to submit the reports of the monitoring and surveys of wildlife populations, including on the salmon populations, in particular in light of the reported increasing poaching pressure;
  6. Reiterates its request to the State Party to fully implement the recommendations of the 2007 Reactive Monitoring mission, especially to:
    1. submit to the World Heritage Centre, as a matter of urgency, detailed information on the current zoning regime of each nature park and on the activities permitted in each zone,
    2. consider strengthening the protection regime of the four regional nature parks of the property,
    3. develop and implement an integrated management plan and coordination structure for the entire property in order to harmonize management across all components,
      and further requests the State Party to provide an update on any potential mining, gas pipeline, and mineral or geothermal exploration activities close to the boundaries of the property;
  7. Noting with utmost concern the potential resumption of the plans for hydropower development at Kronotsky Strict Nature Reserve, also urges the State Party to unequivocally abandon these plans and to consider alternative sources for electricity provision in the region in line with the confirmation it had previously expressed in its report presented to the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee;
  8. Requests furthermore the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to evaluate the status of implementation of the 2007 mission recommendations and to assess the current conservation status of the property;
  9. Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, 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 44th session in 2020.
Draft Decision: 42 COM 7B.79

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC/18/42.COM/7B,
  2. Recalling Decision 40 COM 7B.100 adopted at its 40th session (Istanbul/UNESCO, 2016),
  3. Notes the clarifications provided by the State Party regarding the total area of the nature parks components of the property and the discrepancies with previously reported figures and requests the State Party to submit the information on the boundaries of all components to the World Heritage Centre in order to formally clarify them by submitting high-resolution maps and shapefiles for each of the property’s components;
  4. Welcoming the additional measures undertaken by the State Party to combat poaching, but noting with concern the information that the property continues to be threatened by poaching, including as a result from increasing pressures on game stocks outside the property, urges the State Party to continue its efforts to address this issue;
  5. Also requests the State Party to submit the reports of the monitoring and surveys of wildlife populations, including on the salmon populations, in particular in light of the reported increasing poaching pressure;
  6. Reiterates its request to the State Party to fully implement the recommendations of the 2007 Reactive Monitoring mission, especially to:
    1. submit to the World Heritage Centre, as a matter of urgency, detailed information on the current zoning regime of each nature park and on the activities permitted in each zone,
    2. consider strengthening the protection regime of the four regional nature parks of the property,
    3. develop and implement an integrated management plan and coordination structure for the entire property in order to harmonize management across all components,

and further requests the State Party to provide an update on any potential mining, gas pipeline, and mineral or geothermal exploration activities close to the boundaries of the property;

7.  Noting with utmost concern the potential resumption of the plans for hydropower development at Kronotsky Strict Nature Reserve, also urges the State Party to unequivocally abandon these plans and to consider alternative sources for electricity provision in the region in line with the confirmation it had previously expressed in its report presented to the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee;
8.  Requests furthermore the State Party to invite a joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property to evaluate the status of implementation of the 2007 mission recommendations and to assess the current conservation status of the property;
9.  Finally requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2019, 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 44th session in 2020.

Report year: 2018
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 (2017) .pdf
arrow_circle_right 42COM (2018)
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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