Virgin Komi Forests

a) Changes to the boundaries of Yugyd Va National Park

b) Proposed gold mining

On January 31 2011, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property. A joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN reactive monitoring mission visited the Virgin Komi Forests, from 3-11 October 2010, as requested by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session (Brasilia, 2010). The mission focused on the questions of boundary changes and mining in Yugyd Va National Park (YVNP), the northern component of the property. The full mission report is available online at the following web address: https://whc.unesco.org/en/sessions/35COM/.

While the mission team considered that the forest ecosystem for which the Virgin Komi Forests was inscribed on the World Heritage List is overall in good condition, it noted a number of important conservation issues:

a) Boundary changes to Yugyd Va National Park (YVNP)

The mission found that four areas have been excised from YVNP: a 19.9 square km proposed gold mining site at Chudnoe, existing quarries at Zhelannoe (quartz) and Obeiz (granite), and the existing SRTO-Torzhok gas pipeline. As noted by the State Party in its report, these excisions followed a land registration exercise carried out by the Russian Cadastre Agency in 2008. However, no request for a boundary modification of the World Heritage property was submitted to the Committee before the changes to the boundaries of YVNP were made. The mission concludes that the boundary changes are in clear contravention with Paragraphs 163 – 165 of the Operational Guidelines which clearly require that any boundary change be approved by the Committee. As no boundary change was approved by the World Heritage Committee, the areas excised from YVNP are still to be considered part of the inscribed property. The mission noted that the excisions remove the legal protection status of these parts of the property, therefore jeopardising the protection status of the property, which is a key requirement of its Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) in accordance with Paragraph 78 of the Operational Guidelines. The mission also noted that the boundary changes are the subject of a legal challenge at the national level.

The World Heritage Centre and IUCN note that that Paragraph 180(b) (i) of the Operational Guidelines clearly states that the modification of the legal protection status of a property constitutes a potential threat to its OUV and integrity and therefore consider the criteria for inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger are fulfilled. They also consider that the boundary change to YVNP should be immediately reversed and that no boundary change to YVNP should be implemented prior to approval by the Committee.

In its report the State Party expresses its intention to submit a minor boundary modification request to the Committee. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN note that this boundary modification is motivated by a proposed mining operation at Chudnoe (see below). IUCN considers that the boundaries of World Heritage properties should not be modified with the primary objective of facilitating mining, as this would not be in line with the policy not to mine within World Heritage properties. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN further consider that given the potential impact of the proposed mining operation on the OUV of the property, as described below, such a request for boundary modification should be considered as a ‘major boundary modification’ and therefore would require a re-nomination of the property, in line with Paragraph 165 of the Operational Guidelines.

b) Mining within YVNP

The mission noted two active quarries within the property at Zhelannoe (quartz) and at Obeiz (granite). The mission acknowledged that both operations predate the property’s inscription on the World Heritage List and appear to have limited impact on the property’s OUV. The mission recommends that these activities are phased out and the areas affected restored and that in the interim an environmental management plan is developed and implemented to minimize the environmental impacts of these activities.

In addition, the mission was informed that the State Party has given a licence to the Russian company Gold Minerals, for a proposed gold mine at Chudnoe, one of the areas excised from YVNP but part of the property. The mission noted that this proposed mine is not comparable in scale and impacts with the existing quarries and that it is likely to have significant negative impacts on the property’s OUV and integrity, including contamination of the Kozhym River, construction of substantial infrastructure within the property and increased heavy traffic. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN note that allowing mining within the property is contradictory to the case law established under the Convention that mineral exploration and exploitation are not acceptable within World Heritage properties.The World Heritage Centre and IUCN consider that the fact that a licence for these extraction activities within the property was already given by the State Partyshould also be considered as a case of potential danger to the OUV of the property in line with Paragraph 180(b) (ii) of the Operational Guidelines, fulfilling the conditions for inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger. They consider that unless a boundary modification is requested by the State Party and approved by the Committee, and until it is demonstrated that the impacts of the Chudnoe mining project will not affect the OUV of the property, all mining activities (including preparatory activities) should immediately be halted and the licence revoked or frozen.

c) Protection status of the property and adjacent areas

The mission noted the lack of buffer zone on the eastern boundary of the property and recommended that this buffer zone be created. The mission also recommended providing a protection status to the Upper Illych Basin forest, situated between YVNP and the second component of the property, the Pechoro-Illychsky Strict Nature Reserve (PISNR), given the importance of this forest block for the long-term integrity of the property. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN note that in its report the State Party acknowledges the importance of upgrading the protection status of the Upper Illych Basin, and states that work is under progress to include the area in YVNP. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN consider this as a very positive development.

d) Geological prospecting

The mission was informed about ongoing geological prospection on the eastern boundary of the property, hence the importance of instating the eastern buffer zone. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN further received reports in early 2011 that the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources approved geological prospecting within PISNR. They recall the Committee’s position that mineral exploration is incompatible with World Heritage status.

e) Other issues

The mission also considered a number of other issues including hunting and poaching, logging, the SRTO-Torzhok pipeline, the Pdocherie-Vuktyl drinking water pipeline, forest fires, the potential for tourism development, as well as management planning, staffing and budgets. The mission made detailed recommendations on a number of these issues which are included in the mission report.

The World Heritage Centre and IUCN consider that the removal of the protection status of part of the Virgin Komi Forests World Heritage property and the approval of the Chudnoe gold mine inside the property are to be considered as potential threats to the OUV and integrity of the property. They consider that the conditions for inscription of the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger are fulfilled in line with Paragraph 180(b) (i) and (ii) of the Operational Guidelines. They consider that the State Party should be urged to immediately reverse the boundary changes made to the property and to halt the gold mining project. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN further welcome the planned inclusion of Upper Illych Basin forest, situated between the two components of the property, but note their concern about reports that the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources approved geological prospecting within the southern portion of the property.