Volcanoes of Kamchatka

• 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)

N/A

On 31 January 2022, the State Party submitted a report on the state of conservation of the property, available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/765/documents/, reporting the following:

• In 2021, a Plan of Action to harmonise integrated management across the entire property and implement the recommendations of the 2019 Reactive Monitoring mission was developed;
• The areas of Vilyuchinskaya and Zhirovaya Bays were excluded from the boundaries of the South Kamchatka Nature Park (SKNP) under Decree 311-P of the Kamchatka Territory Government, ‘On the South Kamchatka Nature Park (park of regional importance)’ approved on 16 July 2021, but are still protected as federal forest lands whilst the Gorely Volcano area has been included;
• At this stage, no authorizations have been given for the construction of the ‘Three Volcanoes Park’ tourism resort on the territory of the South Kamchatka Nature Park or in the immediate vicinity of its boundaries;
• Measures to verify the boundaries of the property are underway, primarily for the regional nature parks. The creation of buffer zones is being considered, in addition to clarifying the property zonation and increasing the area under strict protection;
• Funding for the conservation of the property from the regional budget of Kamchatka Territory was increased by 2.1 times from 2019 to 2021;
• The carbonate deposit exploitation license near the SKNP and the plans for a hydro-electric power station in the vicinity of the Kronotsky State Nature Reserve (KSNR) have been cancelled;
• A fish channel connecting Lake Kronotskoye with the Pacific Ocean was considered a potential threat to the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property and further consideration of the project has been suspended pending the conclusions of scientific research for which the KSNR is seeking funding;
• No economic activities that could cause damage to the property have been authorized or are being carried out in the areas excluded from the SKNP by the abovementioned Decree or its immediate vicinity;
• An assessment of accumulated and predicted human impact, including tourism infrastructure project proposals within the boundaries of the SKNP and adjacent areas is planned in order to inform strategic environmental impact assessment of any planned projects;
• Tourism management has been improved through modernization of equipment, extra inspectors and steps towards regulating helicopter tours. Further measures are planned in 2022-23;
• A Master Plan for Tourism Development is being developed. It should be completed by 31 December 2022 and then undergo a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA);
• Mandatory labelling and restrictions on the transport of fish products has almost completely stopped the export of illegally caught fish through ports of Kamchatka Territory;
• Surveys of key wildlife species have been carried out or are planned. Surveys on brown bear, reindeer and snow sheep indicate stable or increasing populations;
• A 2021 coastal zone survey found that the mass mortality of marine organisms on the eastern coast of Kamchatka in 2020 was caused by the rapid blooming of harmful marine microalgae and has had no destructive impact on the flora and fauna in the region.

On 4 April 2022, the World Heritage Centre transmitted third-party information to the State Party, requesting further information regarding changes to the SKNP component boundaries at the national level and zonation of the property, as well as proposals for the development of tourism infrastructure.

On 30 March 2023, the World Heritage Centre transmitted to the State Party further information from third parties, requesting verification of the alleged changes in the protection regime of the property, as well as on the reported announcement at the Eastern Economic Forum that construction of the ‘Three Volcano Park’ would start on 1 July 2023, comprising plans for the registration of land plots for construction of tourism infrastructure, design and survey work for the highway to Vilyuchinskaya Bay, and the construction of a passenger sea terminal in the Bay alongside accommodation and other tourism-related infrastructure.

No response has been received on either communication at the time of writing this report.

The joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission requested for the property and originally planned for March 2022, had to be postponed and could not, to date, be rescheduled due to logistical constraints.

The confirmation by the State Party that boundaries of the SKNP have been modified at the national level is of utmost concern as this represents a removal of the protection status of a part of the property, seemingly to facilitate the large-scale tourism development of the ‘Three Volcanoes Park’. It needs to be recalled that the requirement to have a sufficient level of legal protection is a critical pillar of the OUV of the property. Whilst it is noted that the areas excluded from the SKNP remain under some form of protective legislation, it is considered that any legislation that would permit the development of large-scale tourism infrastructure, as proposed, cannot be considered to meet the protection and management requirements consistent with the property’s OUV. The removed areas are no longer part of the protected area of SKNP, which is an integral component of the property. The issue that the existing zoning of the SKNP already allowed for some tourism development has to be considered in light of the repeated and consistent requests by the World Heritage Committee to further upgrade the protection status of the regional protected areas included in the property or to strengthen the zoning to bring it in line with the required protection of the OUV of the property.

It is recalled that in 2020 the State Party submitted a minor boundary modification to exclude this area from the property and that the IUCN evaluation concluded that the proposed exclusion contained attributes directly relevant to the property’s OUV, and that this area should therefore not be proposed for removal from the property. The proposal was withdrawn by the State Party before being examined by the Committee.

The World Heritage Centre and IUCN conclude that the removal of Vilyuchinskaya and Zhirovaya Bays from SKNP, as approved by Decree on 16 July 2021 constitutes a clear potential danger to the property as foreseen under Paragraph 180(b) (i) of the Operational Guidelines. The removal of the areas from the SKNP under national law, as confirmed in the State Party report, constitutes a clear modification of the legal protective status of part of the property, which does not require substantiation via the pending mission. It is therefore recommended that the Committee inscribe the property on the List of World Heritage in Danger and request the State Party to develop a set of corrective measures and a Desired state of conservation for the removal of the property from the List of World Heritage in Danger (DSOCR) ensuring that the legal protection of the entire property is restored and tourism development within the property does not negatively impact on its OUV.

It is further noted that since the Gorely Volcano area in the SKNP is outside the boundaries of the property, any proposal to include this area into the property would require a significant boundary modification. Moreover, it needs to be recalled that the OUV of the property is, by definition, irreplaceable and hence offsets to compensate for the loss of OUV elsewhere in the property are not a possibility.

The presentation of a clear action plan to implement the recommendations of the 2019 Reactive Monitoring mission, the progress achieved and the commitment to implement all mission recommendations by 2023 are appreciated. However, whilst the measures to clarify the functional zoning of the property are noted, the State Party should be urged to ensure that the proposed zonation increases the area of the inscribed property falling under a strict protective regime to ensure the highest levels of protection are applied to safeguard the property’s OUV, in line with previous decisions of the Committee. The reported changes to the zonation of certain components of the property also seem in contradiction with the commitments to implement the mission’s recommendations.

The information regarding improvements to tourism management and development of a Master Plan for Tourism Development is welcomed. However, it stands in contrast to the further advancement of the ‘the State Party to urgently provide an update on the current status of the project and not to proceed with this large-scale development, as proposed in its current location. The State Party should be requested in ensure that the SEA is undertaken in line with the Guidance and Toolkit for Impact Assessments in a World Heritage Context to inform the Master Plan for Tourism Development, ensuring that the potential cumulative impacts of developments on the OUV of the property is comprehensively addressed, and that no large-scale infrastructure projects are permitted within the boundaries of the property.

The cancellations of the license for exploitation of a carbonate deposit near the SKNP and of the proposed hydro-electric power station in the vicinity of the KSNR, are welcomed. The reconfirmation of the cancellation of the proposed fish channel to connect Kronotskoye Lake with the sea, already noted with satisfaction by the Committee, is positive.

It is noted that the mass mortality of marine organisms on the eastern coast of Kamchatka in 2020 was caused by the rapid blooming of harmful marine microalgae and does not appear to have caused long term impact on the flora and fauna in the region. The State Party should continue to monitor the impacts of the event on the OUV of the property.

The joint World Heritage Centre/IUCN Reactive Monitoring mission to the property could not yet take place at the time of writing the report, but will be organized as soon as feasible.