The World Heritage Committee,
1. Decides not to approve the extension of the Western Caucasus, Russian Federation;
2. Recommends that the State Party carry out a comprehensive assessment of the Western Caucasus to identify all potential sites that may merit inclusion in a serial World Heritage site that would represent all the outstanding values of the region. Such a study should be supported by a clear programme on how to integrate the management of all potential sites so as to meet the conditions of integrity required under the Operational Guidelines of the World HeritageConvention. In doing this assessment the State Party may wish to consider the
recommendations from the IUCN Global Theme Study on Mountain Protected Areas.