World Heritage of Russia. Objects of the World Cultural Heritage of Russia: complete list. World natural heritage sites of Russia Information UNESCO sites in Eurasia

Natural monuments protected by UNESCO The UN Specialized Agency for Education, Science and the Arts monitors the conservation of cultural heritage monuments around the world. This category includes both the most outstanding architectural structures created by man and nature reserves - in the second case, UNESCO specialists have to put a lot of effort into protecting unique natural phenomena from plunder and destruction by our freedom-loving race. Especially for you, we have collected 10 of the most beautiful natural monuments, which are among the specially protected.

St Kilda

Scotland This unique, isolated archipelago was inhabited by a small Gaelic population - all evacuated during the Second World War. Now home to a militarized base and several teams of scientists, St Kilda is home to rare species of birds and animals.

Wulingyuan Mountains

China This mountain system is located in the north of Hunan Province. The mountains owe their appearance to the weathering of sandstones. It was here that Cameron filmed his “Avatar” - one of the peaks was subsequently renamed by the provincial authorities to “Hurray, Avatar!”

Wadden Sea

The North Sea area of the Wadden Sea is called a shallow sea area, of which there are dozens. Natural processes function here without the slightest human intervention; almost the entire territory of this unusual sea is covered by three national parks.

Giant's Causeway

Northern Ireland A unique area with more than 40,000 basalt columns. They connected with each other as a result of a volcanic eruption, and the ancient tribes had already come up with a legend that trolls would follow these pillars to Ragnarok.

Rapa Nui National Park

Chile The whole world knows this place thanks to the unique moai statues: Easter Island is considered almost the most mysterious place on our planet.

Galapagos Islands

Ecuador

It was here that Charles Darwin first thought about the theory of evolution: the abundance of flora and fauna still makes the Galapagos a place of pilgrimage for every self-respecting natural scientist.

Socotra Archipelago

Yemen Four islands and a pair of rocks: one of the world's most isolated archipelagos, located near pirate Somalia, boasts an abundance of endemic fauna and flora found nowhere else in the world.

Yosemite National Park

USA Three thousand square kilometers of unique mountain landscapes, granite rocks, waterfalls and sequoias: Yosemite is rightfully considered one of the best National Parks in the country.

Tongariro National Park

New Zealand Local mountains are deified by the Maori peoples living here: they connect people and the entire nature of the island.

Ha Long Bay

Vietnam There are more than 3,000 islands in this bay, which is half the number of people living here. Tourists from all over the world arrive every year to experience the majestic nature of this place.

The idea arose after the Second World War, the impetus was the decision to build the Aswan Dam in Egypt, which included flooding the valley in which the temples of Abu Simbel, the treasures of Egyptian civilization, were located. In 1959, UNESCO launched an international campaign, responding to calls from the Egyptian and Sudanese governments to save the monuments. As a result, the temples were dismantled and reassembled in their original form in a safe place.

This initiative cost $80 billion, half of which came from funding from 50 countries! Egypt's success was followed by Venice in Italy and Borobodur in Indonesia. A conference held in Washington in 1965 made a formal proposal for the creation of a World Cultural Heritage Society. The specific proposals developed were reported to the UN conference in Stockholm in 1972 and, finally, the General Conference of Unesco on November 16, 1972 adopted the final text of the convention.

Finally, a few words about funding, which amounts to $3 million per year. A small amount considering the enormity of the task! The bulk of it comes from mandatory payments from partner countries, 1% of their contributions to the UNESCO budget.

Excerpt from André MALRAUX's speech at the UNESCO Hall on March 8, 1960, in honor of the opening ceremony of the first international campaign for the protection of the monuments of Nubia.

“Beauty is the main mystery of our time, in which the masterpieces of Egypt are combined with the statues of our cathedrals (European - V.K.’s notes) or the creations of the Aztecs, and the caves of India and China with the paintings of Cezanne and Van Gogh... - into the treasures of world civilization.
For the first time, humanity discovered the universal language of art. We feel its power, although we are not fully aware of its origin. Treasures of art that represent the victory of man-made masterpieces over death!”

Natural monuments of Russia on the World Heritage List

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was created on November 16, 1945 and is headquartered in Paris, France. The organization has 67 bureaus and offices located in various parts of the world.

UNESCO's Constitution was adopted at the London Conference in November 1945 and it entered into force on 4 November 1946 following the deposit of instruments of acceptance by 20 signatory States. Currently, 188 states are members of the Organization.

UNESCO's fundamental purpose is to contribute to the promotion of peace and security by promoting cooperation among peoples in the fields of education, science and culture in order to ensure universal respect for justice, the rule of law and human rights, as well as the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, for all peoples without distinction of race, sex, language or religion.

In order to fulfill its mandate, UNESCO performs five main functions:

· Forward-looking studies, what forms of education, science, culture and communication are needed in tomorrow's world?

· Promotion, transfer and exchange of knowledge: relying primarily on research, training and teaching.

· Regulatory activities: preparation and adoption of international acts and mandatory recommendations.

· Providing expert services to: Member States to define their development policies and formulate projects.

· Exchange of specialized information.

UNESCO, in cooperation with most countries of the world, is working to identify natural and cultural monuments worthy of being called World Heritage Sites, promoting their preservation for future generations. As of 2005

The World Heritage List includes 812 properties of outstanding universal value. These include 628 cultural, 160 natural and 24 mixed heritage sites in 137 countries.

UNESCO Office in Moscow.

The Representative Office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, Cultural, Information and Communication Organization in Moscow, the UNESCO Moscow Office, was opened in 1994 and has been fully operational since 1996.

Until 2002, the Bureau acted as the UNESCO representative office in the Russian Federation. In 2002, as part of the implementation of the decentralization policy, the UNESCO Moscow Office became a cluster Office and works to this day for: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation.

For 30 years, UNESCO has been helping countries identify World Heritage sites and ensure their preservation for future generations. These monuments are the heritage of all humanity, which must be protected and preserved.

Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted at the UNESCO General Conference in 1972.

At the heart of the Convention is the idea that there are places on Earth of “outstanding universal value” that should form part of the common heritage of humanity. The 182 states that signed this document committed themselves to preserving our common, world heritage.

UNESCO's objectives in the field of World Heritage:

· assisting countries in signing the World Heritage Convention and guaranteeing the protection of their natural and cultural heritage;

· providing support to States Parties in identifying heritage sites within their national territory for inclusion on the World Heritage List;

· assistance to States Parties to the Convention in adopting management plans and developing a reporting system on the condition of World Heritage sites;

· assisting States Parties to the protection and conservation of World Heritage sites through the provision of technical support and professional training;

· providing immediate relief measures to those World Heritage properties that are in immediate danger of destruction;

· providing support to States Parties to the Convention in developing measures to inform the public about the need to preserve World Heritage sites;

· encouraging local people to participate in the conservation of their cultural and natural heritage;

· development of international cooperation in the field of conservation of world cultural and natural heritage.

The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the 17th session of the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972 and entered into force on December 17, 1975. Russia signed the Convention in 1988.

The main goal of the Convention is to attract international instruments for the identification, protection and comprehensive support of cultural monuments and natural sites that are outstanding on a global scale.

In 1975, the Convention was ratified by 21 states; currently, the total number of state parties to the Convention has reached 178.

To strengthen the effectiveness of the Convention, the World Heritage Committee and the World Heritage Fund were established in 1976, and two years later the first cultural and natural sites were included in the World Heritage List.

Among natural sites, the Galapagos Islands, Yellowstone (USA), Nahanni (Canada) and Simen (Ethiopia) national parks were the first to receive World Heritage status.

Over the following years, the List became very representative both in relation to various regions of the planet and in terms of the number of territories: by the beginning of 2005, it included 154 natural, 611 cultural and 23 natural-cultural sites from 134 countries.

Under the protection of the Convention are such well-known natural attractions as Niagara Falls, the Great Barrier Reef, the Hawaiian Islands, the volcanoes of Kamchatka, the Grand Canyon, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Lake Baikal. The total area of natural World Heritage sites accounts for more than 13% of all protected areas in the world.

Place of Russian sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List

In order to more reasonably expand Russia’s participation in the World Heritage List, it is advisable to analyze what place Russian VPN sites currently occupy on it. Let's look at them from different points of view.

Geographical Distribution

Since different countries are represented differently on the List, the overall picture is quite mixed. The Balkans with the Western Black Sea region, the mountainous “Wild West” of the USA and Canada, the Himalayas with Tibet, as well as the equatorial and subequatorial regions of Africa and the eastern tropical coast of Australia were the most saturated with VPN objects. On the other hand, on the map of the location of VPN facilities there are such “white spots” as the steppe, the most developed areas of the USA and Canada, most of Brazil and the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula and the Sahara, Mongolia, and the interior of Australia.

In Russia, the “white spots” include the northern regions of Siberia, as well as almost the entire Far East (with the exception of Kamchatka).

Value or rank of importance

The 138 natural sites of global importance included in the List include almost all of the world's most famous natural phenomena, such as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park and the Hawaiian Islands (USA), Iguazu Falls (Brazil and Argentina), the Danube Delta (Romania), Belovezhskaya Pushcha (Belarus and Poland), Mount Jomolangma, or Everest (Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal), Komodo Island and Krakatoa Volcano (Indonesia), Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti and Ngorongoro national parks (Tanzania), Great Barrier reef (Australia), Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), etc.

It is obvious that in this series such unique Russian sites as Baikal, Kamchatka, the Subpolar and Northern Urals, the highlands of Altai and the Caucasus can also rightfully be considered the property of all mankind. No complete analogues of the indicated objects can be found on the List; we can only talk about their partial similarity with some other territories.

The natural sites included in the List are very diverse, representing a wide variety of Earth’s ecosystems.

There are mountainous countries, surviving tracts of virgin forests located in different zones of the planet, wetlands, deserts, steppes, prairies and savannas, tundras and woodlands, glaciers and volcanoes, interesting geological and geomorphological formations (including karst landforms, caves, underground rivers, etc.), dune complexes, locations of paleontological remains, unique watercourses, ponds and waterfalls, thermal and mineral springs, large river deltas and mangrove communities, areas of marine waters, archipelagos and individual islands, fjords, atolls and reefs, etc.

However, Russia in this aspect still looks very monotonous, since all its objects are mainly mountainous regions located in different parts of the temperate zone. Therefore, a sufficient degree of representativeness of Russian nature in the List as a whole has not yet been achieved.

Dimensions

The VPN sites included in the List vary greatly in size: from areas of less than 1000 hectares (for example, the Vallée de Mai reserve in the Seychelles, which occupies only 19.5 hectares) to such huge areas as a complex of mountain parks and reserves on the border of Alaska and northwestern Canada (9.8 million hectares), Lake Baikal with adjacent national parks and reserves (8.8 million hectares), Galapagos Islands (about 8.77 million hectares, including -- 8 million hectares of adjacent water areas), the Air and Tenere reserves in Niger (7.7 million hectares), the Great Barrier Reef National Marine Park (5.1 million hectares).

As for Russia, it fully exploits the potential of its vast territory: 3 out of 5 of its objects exceed 3 million hectares in area, and “Lake Baikal” ranks second in the List in terms of size.

Structure

The inclusion in the List of vast territories with a very complex (mosaic) spatial-territorial structure is a very common occurrence. Some VPN objects include several adjacent protected areas (for example, the boundaries of a valuable mountain forest area located on the north-eastern coast of Australia include 19 national parks, 31 areas of state forests, 5 forest reserves and 1 ethnographic reserve) .

In Russia, in this sense, first of all, the Baikal zone stands out, which includes 2 national parks, 3 reserves, as well as a number of nature reserves, natural monuments, etc. Despite the mosaic structure, the Baikal zone remains, nevertheless, an integral complex , limited in space according to a single principle (catchment, or basin).

Clustering is also a very common phenomenon when forming the List. For example, another Australian site, located on the east coast, consists of approximately 45 different protected areas, combined into 8 blocks, and their total area is 370 thousand hectares.

Among the Russian VPN objects, clustering is most pronounced at the “Volcanoes of Kamchatka”: there are 5 scattered sites representing the most valuable ecosystems of the peninsula.

The List contains about 10 transboundary territories consisting of so-called “parallel” protected areas. These are, in particular, “Belovezhskaya Pushcha” (Belarus and Poland), a complex of parks and reserves in Alaska (Canada and the USA), Victoria Falls - Mosi-oa-Tunya (Zambia and Zimbabwe).

The only border VPN facility in Russia is now “Altai - Golden Mountains” (at the junction with Kazakhstan, China and Mongolia).

Situation in Russia

Russia is represented in the List by 13 cultural and 8 natural sites. In terms of the number of natural objects, Russia shares 3rd-4th place with Canada after Australia (11 objects) and America (12).

30 Russian protected areas have World Heritage status, including 11 state nature reserves and 5 state natural national parks.

Currently, the status of a World Natural Heritage Site in Russia is given to:

1. natural complex “Virgin Komi Forests”,

2. natural area “Lake Baikal”,

3. natural area “Volcanoes of Kamchatka”,

4. natural complex “Golden Mountains of Altai”,

5. natural complex “Western Caucasus”,

6. natural complex “Central Sikhote-Alin”,

7. State Natural Biosphere Reserve “Ubsunur Basin”,

8. State Nature Reserve “Wrangel Island”.

Work is underway to submit the following natural objects to the List: “Putorana Plateau”, “Magadansky Nature Reserve”, “Commander Islands”, “Kuril Islands”, “Valdai - the Great Watershed”, “Daurian Steppes”, “Green Belt of Fennoscandia”.

Russia, of course, is rich in unique and, what is very important, natural complexes that have not been affected by economic activity.

According to rough estimates by scientists, there are about 20 territories in our country that are worthy of the status of a World Natural Heritage site.

The list of the most promising areas was determined during the joint project of UNESCO and the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) on boreal forests.

World Heritage status appears to be very attractive in terms of providing a range of benefits, both in an environmental context and in terms of overall support for the areas included in the World Heritage List.

The Convention provides broad opportunities in the legal, information and economic fields, communications and contacts that have been developing and improving for more than three decades.

The main advantages can be summarized as follows:

Additional guarantees of safety and integrity of unique natural complexes

Increasing the prestige of territories and the institutions that govern them

Popularization of objects included in the List

Development of alternative types of environmental management (primarily eco-tourism)

Priority in attracting financial resources to support World Heritage sites, primarily from the World Heritage Fund

Organization of monitoring and control over the state of conservation of natural objects

The status of a natural heritage site has made it possible to attract significant resources from international funding sources. Thus, 2 UNDP/GEF projects are currently being implemented:

- “conservation of biodiversity in four protected areas of the Kamchatka Peninsula - a demonstration of a sustainable approach.” All 4 protected areas are part of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka VN facility. The project budget is US$ 13,800,000.

- “preservation of the biodiversity of primary forests in the upper reaches of the river. Pechora”, covering the territory of the “Virgin Komi Forests” object. Project budget US$ 4,000,000.

The World Bank has decided to finance a project to repurpose the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill. The grant amount will be US$ 27,000,000 A number of World Heritage areas are supported by the German World Heritage Fund.

Managers of all protected areas that are part of the listed VN sites have repeatedly taken part in international training seminars and working meetings to improve the effectiveness of the application of the World Heritage Convention.

International expeditions for the preparation of nominations, visits of UNESCO and IUCN experts, the procedure for awarding a certificate of a VN site, publication of promotional materials, etc. - these events certainly contribute to the popularization of protected areas and the departments managing them, increase the attractiveness of protected areas for local administration and business, which in some cases translated into specific financial and technical support. However, it should be noted that in Russia there have not yet been any significant attempts to use the status to improve the socio-economic situation of the regions in whose territories VN facilities are located.

It is necessary to take into account that the short-term economic effect from the development of a number of economic projects can be significantly higher than from the development of folk crafts or eco-tourism. However, looking at the long term, the picture may turn out to be the opposite. In addition, in the vast majority of cases of industrial development, the territory loses a number of its valuable qualities (aesthetic appeal), which makes it unsuitable for use for recreational, scientific, educational and other purposes.

Preliminary list

At the 24th session of the World Heritage Committee, a decision was made on the mandatory submission of preliminary lists of natural sites from States Parties to the Convention, starting in 2003.

Nominations of natural sites can be accepted for consideration by the World Heritage Center only if they are submitted to the preliminary list.

The preliminary list identifies natural complexes that are promising for nomination, while the state party does not bear any obligation to further submit them to the World Heritage List.

Russia has only once submitted a preliminary list of natural heritage sites based on a letter from the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, Danilov-Danilyan, dated October 19, 1994. All natural complexes declared on this list are already included in the World Heritage List.

To form a balanced preliminary list of the Russian Federation at the beginning of 2005, the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia proposed the following natural objects in the list:

· “Putorana Plateau” (Putorana State Nature Reserve)

· “Reserve “Magadansky” (state natural reserve “Magadansky”)

· “Commander Islands” (state natural reserve “Commander”)

· “Steppes of Dauria” (state natural reserve “Daursky”)

The selection of these objects was carried out on the basis of an analysis of their natural significance, carried out by scientific and public organizations, and approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia in 2000-2004.

In the period 2000-2004. For all these territories, the documentation necessary for submission to the UNESCO World Heritage Center has been prepared.

In addition, for all these territories, the executive authorities of the relevant constituent entities of the Russian Federation have sent proposals to the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia for their inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Name nominations	Specially protected natural areas (SPNA) included in composition of the nomination	Status of protected areas		Notes
Virgin	1. Pechoro-Ilychsky 2. Yugyd Va	1. State biosphere reserve 2. National Park 3. Protected zone of the reserve	3.28 million hectares:	Included in the List Criteria - N ii, iii
	1. Baikal 2. Barguzinsky 3. Baikal-Lensky 4. Pribaikalsky 5. Transbaikalsky 6. Tunkinsky 7. Kabansky 8. Frolikhinsky	1. State biosphere reserve 2. State biosphere reserve 3. State natural reserve 4. National Park 5. National Park 6. National Park 7-8. Wildlife sanctuaries	8.8 million hectares:	Listed (1996) Criteria - N i, ii, iii, iv
Kamchatka	1. Kronotsky 2. Bystrinsky 3. Nalychevo 4. South Kamchatka 5. South Kamchatka 6. Klyuchevsky	1. State biosphere reserve 2. Nature park 3. Nature park 4. Nature park 5. Federal reserve 6. Nature park	3.7 million ha:	Listed (1996) Criteria - N i, ii, iii Criterion N iv (2001)
Altai Mountains	1. Altai 2. Katunsky 3. Mount Belukha 5. Lake Teletskoye	1. State nature reserve 2. State nature reserve 3. Nature park 4. Quiet zone 5. Buffer zone (3 km water protection zone)	1.64 million hectares:	Listed (1998) Criterion - N iv
West	1. Caucasian 2. Big Thach 3. Upper reaches of the rivers Pshekha and Pshekhashkha 4. Upper reaches of the Tsitsa River 5. Buiny Ridge	1. State biosphere reserve with a buffer zone 2. Nature park 3. Natural monument 4. Natural monument 5. Natural monument	0.3 million ha:	Listed (1999) Criteria - N ii, iv
Curonian (together with	1. Curonian Spit 2. Kursiu Nerijos	1. National Park (Russia) 2. National Park (Lithuania)	Russia 6,600 ha Lithuania 24,600 ha	Listed (2000) Criterion - C v
Natural complex "Central Sikhote-Alin"	1. Sikhote-Alinsky 2. Goral 3. Middle Bikin 4. Upper Bikin	1. State natural reserve 2. Reserve 3. Territory of the traditional environmental management 4. Reserve	0.395 million ha:	Reserve and Goral Sanctuary included in the List (2001) Criterion - N iv The territory of the river valley Bikin may be included in the List
Ubsunurskaya Basin (together with Mongolia)	Ubsunurskaya Basin	State Biosphere reserve	1.069 million ha: Mongolia -	Listed (2003) Criteria - N ii, iv
Wrangel	Wrangel Island	State natural reserve	2.226 million hectares	Listed (2004) Criteria - N ii, iv
Vodlozersky National	1. Vodlozersky 2. Kozhozersky	1. National Park 2. Reserve	0.58 million ha:	Not included in the List (1998) Expected to be reused introduce the territory according to the criterion “cultural landscape".
Bashkir	1. Shulgan-Tash 2. Bashkiria 3. Altyn Solok	1. State natural reserve 2. National Park (strictly protected area) 3. Reserve	0.15 million ha:	Not included in the List (1998) It is expected to be repeated representation of the territory according to the criterion “cultural landscape".
Teberdinsky reserve (object extension "Western Caucasus")	Teberdinsky	State Biosphere reserve	0.085 million ha	Not included in the List (2004)
	Ust-Lensky	State natural reserve	1.433 million hectares	Materials are presented in VN Center in 1999
Kuril	1. Kuril 2. Small Kuriles 3. Urup Island	1. State natural reserve and its buffer zone 2. Biological reserve 3. Reserve of regional significance	0.295 million ha:	Materials were transferred to Commission of the Russian Federation on Affairs UNESCO in 2000
Green belt Fennoscandia (together with Finland and Norway)	Woodland series along the Russian-Finnish- Norwegian border	State natural Reserves: 1. Lapland (biosphere) 2. Kostomuksha Paanajärvi National Park The newly created NP "Kalevalsky"	About 1 million hectares	In preparation
Putorana	Putoransky	State natural reserve	1.887 million ha	The nomination has been prepared.
Magadan Reserve	Magadan	State natural reserve	0.88 million ha	The nomination has been prepared.
Commander's	Komandorsky	State natural reserve	3.649 million ha	The nomination has been prepared.
Valdai Elevation	1. Valdai 2. Central forest	1. National Park 2. State Biosphere Reserve	0.183 million ha	The nomination has been prepared.
Daurian steppes	Daursky	State Biosphere reserve	0.045 million ha	The nomination has been prepared.

In the future, it is advisable to expand Russian participation in the UNESCO List according to a unified and clear plan.

First of all, one should proceed from the criteria set out in the Convention, although the above criteria, from our point of view, reflect a certain ideology of UNESCO experts. If we think from the position of a country party to the Convention and strive for adequate representation of Russia on the List, we can recommend the following:

1. It would be desirable to give a more uniform distribution of valuable objects classified as VPN across the territory of Russia, which, in our opinion, would contribute to a more complete reflection of the regional specifics of Russia, as well as coverage of the main natural landscape areas of the country, which, by the way, fully complies with UNESCO's position on this issue, which is expressed in the fact that the World Heritage List should collectively reflect the entire world diversity of the most valuable natural and cultural sites of global significance.

In light of the above, the most relevant proposal is to nominate Siberian and Far Eastern objects to the List (Putorana Plateau, Lena Delta, Wrangel Island, Central Sikhote-Alin, “Daursky”, “Magadansky” and “Tungussky” nature reserves, Lena Pillars). These objects ensure the integrity of the natural heritage of Asian Russia and at the same time represent several global ecoregions of the planet.

2. When choosing objects for the List, you should strive to reflect a variety of types of landscapes, and not just predominantly mountainous ones, as is the case now. From this point of view, the promotion of such objects as the Lena and Volga deltas, the Commander and Kuril Islands, Wrangel Island, Samarskaya Luka, Valdai, Meshchera, and the Black Earth Nature Reserve should be considered especially relevant. Typological diversity can also increase due to the so-called “mixed objects” that fall under the category of “cultural landscape” and have significant historical and cultural significance; Vivid examples include the Bashkir Ural and the Vodlozersky and Kenozersky national parks.

3. It is necessary to try to include in the List the largest possible areas with an area of more than 1 million hectares, which is especially important for Siberia and the Far East, where there are still significant territorial reserves. From this position, the Ubsunur Basin (more than 2 million hectares), the Putorana Plateau (about 2 million hectares), Sikhote-Alin and the Lena Delta (about 1.5 million hectares each) are promising.

4. The opportunity to nominate cluster and mosaic objects should be more actively used, since this makes it possible to simultaneously assign a high international status to several valuable sites at once. In this regard, the most interesting objects are the “Green Belt of Fennoscandia” (cluster structure) and “Central Sikhote-Alin” (mosaic structure). Novaya Zemlya can also be included in this category, since, obviously, only a few of the most valuable areas of the archipelago should be included in the World Heritage Site.

5. It is advisable to study the issue of nominating a number of trans-border protected areas as objects of natural resource conservation, since it is absolutely clear that it is only possible to effectively preserve a single natural complex, separated by administrative boundaries, through joint efforts. Examples here again include the “Green Belt of Fennoscandia” (Russia, Norway and Finland) and the “Ubsunur Basin” (Russia and Mongolia).

In conclusion, we note that at present, when the process of including Russian cultural and natural heritage on the UNESCO List has intensified, debugging the mechanism for effective management of such objects is of great importance.

First of all, this means improving funding, strengthening the system of security measures, popularizing and developing ecotourism, creating information centers, staff training, etc.

The formation of a legislative framework for VPN facilities is of exceptional importance for our country. A separate problem is the development of unified management plans, especially for cluster, cross-border or large-area VPN facilities.

All this would contribute to a more reliable conservation of those unique natural objects of global significance that are located on the territory of the Russian Federation, using for this all the opportunities provided by the UNESCO Convention “On the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage”

Currently, the human environment is changing rapidly and at an increasing speed. The task of humanity is to maintain nature on the globe in the state necessary for life, health and well-being. It is also necessary to preserve, as far as possible, at least the most unique places in nature that are of particular value from a scientific point of view, areas that make up the habitats of valuable or endangered species of plants and animals. There are many unique places in nature, the disappearance of which would be an irreparable loss not only for the country in which they are located, but also for all of humanity as a whole.In most countries of the world, networks of so-called “specially protected natural areas” (SPNA) have been created for these purposes. These include the following natural objects:

Nizhnesvirsky Nature Reserve, Leningrad Region

Wildlife sanctuaries are created for the purpose of preserving or restoring some or all of nature's components and maintaining the overall ecological balance. Some types of economic activity are limited in these territories.

Gladyshevsky reserve, Leningrad region

Natural monuments are small areas that include naturally valuable objects: caves, rocks, waterfalls, groves of rare tree species, river valleys, lakes, etc.

Natural monument “Yastrebinoye Lake”, Leningrad region

Natural parks serve to protect natural complexes that have environmental, historical and aesthetic value. They are staffed with special staff.

Veppsky Forest Nature Park, Leningrad Region

B Have you ever been to one of the protected areas? What do you remember about this place?

In these territories, people preserve both rare, unique and typical areas of forests, swamps, meadows, reservoirs and other natural ecosystems, rare and common species of plants and animals in their natural habitat, bird flight routes, fish spawning routes and others natural objects and processes.

The entire nature of our planet is priceless and unique. Of course, from the natural areas subject to special protection, it is difficult to single out some of the most outstanding and valuable corners of nature of “exceptional significance” that are vitally important to preserve for the present and future generations. A special UNESCO program is dedicated to this, constituting the so-called World Heritage List.

The UNESCO Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage came into force in 1975. Its main goal is to attract the forces of the world community to preserve unique cultural and natural objects. By mid-2012, the total number of countries participating in the Convention had already reached 189. Among UNESCO's international programs, this program is the most representative. To improve the effectiveness of the Convention, the World Heritage Committee and the World Heritage Fund were established in 1976.

The World Natural Heritage consists of mountains, volcanoes, lakes, rivers, islands, forests, caves, reefs, national parks, nature reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries.

Of course, being on a par with the generally recognized world pearls of nature and culture is honorable and prestigious, but at the same time, it is also a great responsibility. To receive World Heritage status, a property must be of Outstanding Human Value and undergo a thorough peer review. In this case, the nominated natural object must meet at least one of the following four criteria:

Include unique natural phenomena or areas of exceptional natural beauty and aesthetic value;

Present outstanding examples of the major stages of Earth's history, including traces of ancient life, significant geological processes that continue to occur in the development of the forms of the earth's surface, significant geomorphological or physiographic features of the relief;

Present outstanding examples of important ongoing ecological and biological processes in the evolution and development of terrestrial, freshwater, coastal and marine ecosystems and plant and animal communities;

Include natural habitats of great importance for the conservation of biological diversity, including habitats of endangered species that represent an outstanding global asset from a scientific or conservation perspective.

The status of a World Natural Heritage site provides additional guarantees of the safety and integrity of unique natural complexes, increases the prestige of the territories, promotes the popularization of sites and the development of alternative types of environmental management, and ensures priority in attracting financial resources.

The first cultural and natural sites were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List two years after the creation of the program. Among natural areas, the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Yellowstone (USA), Nahanni (Canada) and Simen (Ethiopia) national parks received heritage status. Over the past years, the List has become very representative both in terms of the regions of the planet represented and in the number of objects: by mid-2012 it already included 188 natural objects. Most of them are located in the USA and Australia (more than 10 objects in each country). Under the protection of the Convention are such world-famous natural monuments as the Great Barrier Reef, the Hawaiian Islands, the Grand Canyon, and Mount Kilimanjaro. Video 62.

In Russia, the initiator of adding natural sites to the World Heritage List is primarily Greenpeace. By joining this UNESCO program, a new page was opened in the matter of nature conservation in Russia.

World Natural Heritage Sites of Russia

There are inaccuracies on the map, since currently 11 objects are already included in the list, including the Putorana Plateau and the Lena Pillars Natural Park. The first in our country to receive the status of a World Natural Heritage Site in 1995 was a natural complex called “Virgin Forests of Komi”.

The territory of this site is the largest of the remaining tracts of primary forests in Europe, the appearance of which is almost unchanged by human impact. Video 63.

The virgin forests of Komi are a real taiga treasury. There are more than 40 species of mammals (including brown bear, sable, elk), 204 species of birds (including the white-tailed eagle and osprey listed in the Red Book of Russia), 16 species of fish, the most valuable of which are considered glacial relics - char palia and Siberian grayling.

This territory stretches along the western slope of the Subpolar and Northern Urals for more than 300 km. The Ural mountain system has a significant influence on the climate. Natural complexes in some places form a complex mosaic: along narrow river valleys, taiga vegetation rises high into the mountains.

The main tree species - spruce and fir - are accompanied by Siberian cedar. Here the crystal clear tributaries of the Pechora originate and receive. Currently, the territory of the World Heritage Site “Virgin Komi Forests” is in danger due to illegal gold mining taking place here (1).Greenpeace Russia and other non-governmental organizations will fight to stop any environmental destruction activities on its territory.

Lake Baikal

Baikal is one of the greatest lakes on the planet, a lake of “superlatives”: the deepest (1637 meters), the oldest (about 25 million years), with the most diverse flora and fauna among fresh water bodies. Video 64.

The lake has a unique supply of fresh water in terms of volume and quality - more than 20% of the world's reserves). The Baikal depression is the central link of the Baikal rift zone, one of the largest ancient fault systems on Earth. The lake, together with its entire basin, is a unique and very fragile natural ecosystem, which ensures the natural process of formation of the purest waters. For Siberia, the climate of the Baikal coasts is relatively mild. For example, the number of sunny days per year here is higher than in many Black Sea resorts.In the anciently isolated Baikal depression, one of the richest and most unusual freshwater fauna in the world was formed, which is of exceptional value for the study of evolutionary processes.

Of the more than 2,630 species and subspecies of animals and plants found in the lake to date, more than 80% are found nowhere else in the world. Who hasn't heard of the famous Baikal omul or Baikal sturgeon? Two unique species of viviparous fish, representatives of a family endemic (2) to Lake Baikal - large and small golomyanka - are known to ichthyologists all over the world. The pyramid of the lake ecosystem is crowned by a typically marine mammal of origin - the seal, or Baikal seal.

Unfortunately, the unique nature of Lake Baikal is under threat (3).

WITH Have you heard about the actions that the public is taking to protect Baikal from pollution from the pulp and paper mill?

Another danger for Baikal is posed by planned mining, illegal logging, forest fires, poaching, and oil spills.

Volcanoes of Kamchatka

The Kamchatka Peninsula is located at the junction of tectonic plates in a zone of active volcanism, where modern natural processes and the history of our planet are inseparable. Video 65.

Here, 30 active and about 300 extinct volcanoes, as well as more than 150 groups of thermal and mineral springs are concentrated in a limited area. Dozens of geysers, hot springs, fumaroles (4), cascades of waterfalls, sharp peaks of ridges, mud pots and turquoise lakes, carpets of colorful algae give a fabulous appearance to the famous Valley of Geysers

The richest life is represented in the seas washing the coast of Kamchatka. Here are the growth zones for the larvae of the Kamchatka crab, the places where salmon fish come to spawn and where their juveniles roll into the sea. From summer to early winter, an amazing natural phenomenon can be observed on the rivers of the peninsula: millions of salmon in a continuous mass move along the rivers against the current to their spawning grounds.

Golden Mountains of Altai

The nature of this mountainous territory, located at the junction of Central Asia and Siberia, is distinguished by its striking originality. There are few places in the world with such a contrasting combination of different landscapes in such a small space. Video 66.

The flora and fauna of the region are diverse and in many ways unique. Here are the most significant subalpine and alpine meadows in the Siberian mountains. The color of the vegetation of the Southern Altai, where semi-deserts, steppes and tundra coexist, is also unique. The diversity of landscapes contributed to the emergence and preservation of endemic species in Altai, often occupying very small areas. Among the rare species of mammals, the snow leopard should be highlighted; it is one of the most beautiful cats of the world fauna. Very few of these animals have survived in Altai.

The geological history of the region is unique, “recorded” in the rocks of different ages composing it and imprinted in unusual relief forms. Such, for example, are the high terraces of the Katun River, striking in their grandeur. The grandiose Mount Belukha is the highest peak in Siberia (4506 meters). Altai river valleys are narrow, deep canyons.

The diversity of nature left its mark on the culture and religion of the indigenous population of this territory - the Altai. The achievements of Altai folk medicine are highly valued. As the outstanding philosopher, writer, traveler H.K. wrote. Roerich, “many peoples passed through Altai and left traces: Scythians, Huns, Turks.” Gorny Altai is called an open-air museum.

Western Caucasus

The western part of the Greater Caucasus in terms of the diversity of flora and fauna and their preservation has no equal not only in the Caucasus region, but also among other mountainous regions of Europe and Western Asia. Video 67.

This is an area where a large number of endangered rare, endemic and relict species of plants and animals are concentrated. It is especially important that the little-changed habitat of the most vulnerable large mammals has been preserved here: bison, Caucasian red deer, Western Caucasian aurochs, chamois, Caucasian subspecies of brown bear, wolf and others.

The Caucasus Nature Reserve is practically the only habitat in the world for the mountain bison; outside this territory it is almost completely exterminated by poachers.

The territory is rich in picturesque objects: powerful waterfalls, pointed mountain peaks (up to 3360 meters), stormy mountain rivers with clear water, clear mountain lakes, huge trees (majestic fir trees up to 85 meters high and more than 2 meters in diameter), rare plants (orchids, etc. .) and many others. An invaluable, unique natural complex has been preserved in the Western Caucasus.

Curonian Spit

The relief of this territory, located in the Kaliningrad region, is unique. A continuous strip of sand dunes 0.3 - 1 km wide, some of which are close to the highest in the world (up to 68 m), stretches along the peninsula for 70 km. Video 68.

Due to its geographical location and orientation from northeast to southwest, the spit serves as a “guide line” for birds of many species migrating from the northwestern regions of Russia, Finland and the Baltic countries to the countries of Central and Southern Europe. Every year in spring and autumn, 10 - 20 million birds fly over the spit, a significant part of which stop here to rest and feed. Among the birds flying here there are many rare and endangered species listed in the Red Books of Russia, Europe and the world.

It is especially interesting that the spit is rich in cultural heritage sites. These are unique in their scale protective structures, extremely valuable from the point of view of history, science and art; fishermen's settlements harmoniously integrated into the landscape; archaeological sites and monuments of religious architecture. The many-sided dune relief of the Curonian Spit, combined with the greenery of the forests, the whiteness of the sandy beaches and the vast blue of the Baltic Sea, has a high aesthetic value.

Central Sikhote-Alin

This territory, located in the south of the Far East within Russia, is one of the largest and least modified by humans centers of conservation of communities of ancient coniferous-deciduous and broad-leaved forests. Video 69.

It presents a lot of rare and endangered species of animals, a significant part of which is preserved only within its borders. The mountainous country of Sikhote-Alin is the last large integral territory in the world inhabited by the Amur tiger. Many other rare and endangered plant and animal species endemic to the region also need protection.

Picturesque relief forms, deep rivers, combined with an exceptional diversity of flora and fauna, the presence of plants and animals of exotic appearance, reminiscent of the tropics, give the nature of Sikhote-Alin completely unique features. There are many objects of aesthetic and recreational value located here: rock massifs that stand out picturesquely among the taiga, waterfalls, lakes and rapids, reefs, sandy bays of the coast of the Sea of Japan.

Ubsunur basin

The Ubsunur Basin, located on the territory of Mongolia and Russia, is one of the most original and unusual places in Central Asia. Video 70.

This region has preserved a unique complex of neighboring, closely interacting, extremely contrasting ecosystems - from taiga to desert. Glaciers, snowfields, mountain tundra of the alpine zone and subalpine meadows transform into a vast mountain-taiga belt, which gives way to forest-steppe, steppe, semi-desert and even loose sand ridges, creating a natural phenomenon of exceptional beauty and diversity. It is impossible to see such diverse landscapes in such close proximity anywhere else in Eurasia. This territory has an unusually high species richness for temperate latitudes.

The relative sparse population of the territory and the absence of industrial facilities make it possible to preserve the basin as a natural laboratory for the study of biosphere processes

However, the value of the territory lies not only in the unique nature of the Ubsunur basin. The cultural heritage sites located here are of great importance - archaeological monuments, many of which have not yet been studied. Nowhere else in Central Asia are mounds found in such concentration as here (according to a rough estimate, there are up to 20 thousand of them); most of them are older than the Egyptian pyramids. Thousands of rock paintings and stone sculptures, the remains of medieval settlements and Buddhist chapels form a unique natural and cultural landscape.

Natural system of the Wrangel Island reserve»

The Wrangel Island Nature Reserve is located on the border of the East Siberian and Chukchi seas on the Wrangel and Herald islands with an adjacent 12-mile sea area. Video 71.

The 180th meridian passes through Wrangel Island, so the island lies in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. The relief is predominantly mountainous, highly dissected, with coastal lowlands in the north and south. There are 1,400 rivers and streams on the island, about 900 small lakes. The unique combination of natural-historical and landscape-climatic conditions, as well as inaccessibility, have led to a large number of endemic, rare and relict plant species on the islands. On the islands, as part of the ancient landmass that once united the Eurasian and North American continents, both Euro-Asian and American species of flora and fauna are widely represented.

Putorana Plateau

The plateau is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. It is a large basalt plateau located at the northern limit of the taiga and almost completely untouched by human economic activity. Video 72. Trap landforms (5) intersected by huge canyons are unusual and extremely interesting. The scale and number of waterfalls are impressive (the largest concentration is in Russia). There is a 108 m high waterfall here - one of the highest in our country. There are many lakes on the plateau, with depths of up to 400 m; the lake fjords are very picturesque.More than 1,300 plant species have been recorded on the Putorana Plateau. Here is the northern limit of distribution of the flying squirrel, lynx, sable, and capercaillie. The migratory route of the world's largest population of wild reindeer, the Taimyr, runs through the plateau. It is also home to a little-studied, extremely interesting native form of bighorn sheep.

Lena Pillars

The Lena Pillars Natural Park is located in Central Yakutia, in the middle reaches of the Lena River. Video 73.

The park got its name because of the unique ridge of rocks - fabulous stone sculptures in the form of pillars and towers stretch along the banks of the Lena for tens of kilometers. The height of some reaches 100 meters. This natural monument is made of Cambrian limestone - a rock formed more than 500 million years ago.

In addition, in the park there are small areas of the desert landscape - unique permafrost ecosystems, as well as blowing sand-tuculans - isolated and independently developing sand ridges with slopes practically unfixed by vegetation. In the area of the Lena Pillars, scientists discovered burials of bone remains of ancient fauna: mammoth, bison, Lena horse, woolly rhinoceros.

The park is home to 21 species of rare and endangered plants listed in the Red Book. In the basin of the middle reaches of the Lena River, the fish fauna includes 31 species. Nesting sites for 101 species of birds have been established in the park. Animals common here are sable, brown bear, squirrel, elk, wapiti, chipmunk, musk deer, and the mountain forest form of wild reindeer.

Work to continue to include new areas on the World Heritage List continues. According to the rules, nominations for consideration by the World Heritage Committee must first be included in the national Tentative List. They are presented on the map of the World Natural Heritage of Russia (see above).

It is obvious that effective protection of such territories is impossible without the active involvement of public organizations and as many citizens of the country as possible. Let us remember that we have individual and collective responsibility for the preservation of natural complexes.

Read the resolution of the International Non-Governmental Organizations Forum on World Heritage Sites (6).

What can we, the residents of Russia, do to support the conservation and development of specially protected natural areas?

Each of these places is unique in its own way, and together they function, making up the unity and integrity of the life support system on the Planet. They create its unique, still far from fully understood and understood appearance.

In 1994, Greenpeace Russia began work on the World Heritage project, aimed at identifying and protecting unique natural complexes that are threatened by the serious negative impact of human activity. Giving natural areas the highest international conservation status to further guarantee their preservation is the main goal of the work carried out by Greenpeace.

The first attempts to include Russian protected natural areas on the UNESCO World Heritage List were made in the early 1990s. In 1994, an all-Russian meeting was held “Modern problems of creating a system of objects of global and Russian
natural heritage", which presented a list of promising territories. At the same time, in 1994, Greenpeace Russia experts prepared the necessary documents for inclusion in the UNESCO List of the natural complex, called “Primeval Forests”
Komi". In December 1995, it was the first in Russia to receive the status of a World Natural Heritage Site.

At the end of 1996, “Lake Baikal” and “Volcanoes of Kamchatka” were included in the List. In 1998, another Russian natural complex, the “Golden Mountains of Altai,” was included in the List; in 1999, a decision was made to include a fifth Russian natural site, the “Western Caucasus.”
At the end of 2000, the Curonian Spit became the first international site in Russia (together with Lithuania) to receive the status of a World Heritage Site according to the “cultural landscape” criterion. Later, the UNESCO List included “Central Sikhote-Alin” (2001), “Ubsunur Basin”
(2003, jointly with Mongolia), “Natural complex of the Wrangel Island reserve” (2004) and “Putorana Plateau” (2010).

Virgin forests of Komi
2.

Location: western slope of the Subpolar and Northern Urals, Komi Republic
Square: 3.28 million hectares

The territory extends in the meridional direction along the western slope of the Subpolar and Northern Urals for more than 300 km. The Ural mountain system has a significant influence on the climate. On the eastern slopes, the typically Siberian flora sharply replaces the European species and forms of plants characteristic of the wet western slopes of the Urals. Natural complexes in some places form a complex mosaic: along narrow river valleys, taiga vegetation rises high into the mountains.

The main tree species - spruce and fir - are accompanied by Siberian cedar (cedar pine), which is located here at the northwestern limit of its distribution. The middle and northern taiga gives way to forest-tundra. Large areas are occupied by mountain tundra and are almost devoid of
vegetation of the kurum alpine zone. Here the crystal clear tributaries of the Pechora originate and receive.

The territory consists of two protected areas (Pechero-Ilych Biosphere Reserve, Yugyd Va National Park and their buffer zones), together constituting the largest remaining tract of primary forest in Europe, the appearance of which is almost unchanged by human impact.

6. National Park "Yugyd Va"

One of the main activities of the park is the development of nature tourism. The most popular tourist routes have long run through its territory: mountain, hiking, water, skiing.

8. Animals of the Yugyd Va National Park

Objects of attention include herds of deer, quartz deposits, and the splendor of flowering tundras and meadows. Visitors to the park are offered ethnographic routes introducing them to the sacred places of the ancient Komi and Mansi and the cultural and economic traditions of hunters and fishermen, geological tours dedicated to the history of the development of the riches of the Ural Mountains.

9. Pechora-Ilychsky Biosphere Reserve

Since June 1, 1973, a nature museum has been opened in the Pechoro-Ilychsky Nature Reserve. The museum consists of two departments, one of which presents the fauna of the reserve, the other (local history) reflects the history of the region, the life of local residents, and the history of the reserve.

10.

The reserve has 3 ecological routes in the flat and foothill landscape areas, each 10 km long.

11..

Natural and cultural heritage: Unya Cave, Paleolithic site, remains of old villages, traces of nomadic tribes of small nations, non-Christian religious monuments.

Lake Baikal
12.

Location: in the south of Eastern Siberia; Irkutsk region, Republic of Buryatia.
Square: 8.8 million hectares

Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996.
Baikal is one of the greatest lakes on the planet, the deepest (1637 m), the oldest (about 25 million years old), with the most diverse flora and fauna among fresh water bodies. The lake has a unique supply of fresh water in terms of volume and quality (23.6 thousand cubic km - more than 20% of the world's reserves).

13.

Of the more than 2,630 species and subspecies of animals and plants found so far at the lake, more than 80% are found nowhere else in the world. Who hasn't heard of the famous Baikal omul or Baikal sturgeon? Two unique species of viviparous fish, representatives of a family endemic to Lake Baikal - large and small golomyanka - are known to ichthyologists all over the world. The pyramid of the lake ecosystem is crowned by a typically marine mammal of origin - the seal, or Baikal seal.

14. Baikal seal

Component objects: Barguzinsky and Baikalsky biosphere reserves; Baikal-Lena Nature Reserve; Transbaikalsky, Pribaikalsky, Tunkinsky (partially) national parks; Kabansky and Frolikhinsky federal reserves.

15. Barguzinsky Biosphere Reserve

16. Baikal Biosphere Reserve

17. Tunkinsky National Park occupies the valleys of the Irkut River.

18. Reserve "Frolikhinsky"

Volcanoes of Kamchatka
19.

Location: in the mountains and on the coast of the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, Kamchatka Territory
Square: 4.3 million hectares

Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996.
The natural complex “Volcanoes of Kamchatka” consists of 6 sections, allowing you to get the most complete picture of the diversity of manifestations of volcanic activity in the region.

20. Volcanic eruption in Kamchatka

The Kamchatka Peninsula is located at the junction of tectonic plates in a zone of active volcanism, where modern natural processes and the history of our planet are inseparable. Here, 30 active and about 300 extinct volcanoes, as well as more than 150 groups of thermal and mineral springs are concentrated in a limited area. Dozens of geysers, hot springs, fumaroles, cascades of waterfalls, sharp peaks of ridges, mud pots and turquoise lakes, carpets of colorful algae give a fabulous appearance to the famous Valley of Geysers.

21. Valley of Geysers of Kamchatka

22. Waterfall, Kamchatka

Rare geological objects are accompanied by a unique wild living nature that has experienced virtually no human impact. Of the 1,168 plant species in Kamchatka, 10% are found only here. The peninsula is home to about half of the world's Steller's sea eagle population, over
10 thousand brown bears (the Kamchatka subspecies is one of the largest in the world fauna), as well as bighorn sheep, wild reindeer, sea lion, and sea otter.

23. Flora of Kamchatka

24. Kamchatka brown bear

25. bighorn sheep

26. Steller's sea eagle

Component objects: Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve, South Kamchatka Federal Reserve, natural parks “Bystrinsky”, “Nalychevo”, “South Kamchatka” and “Klyuchevskoy”.

27. Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve

28. South Kamchatka Federal Reserve

29. Natural park "Nalychevo". Bear Tundra

Golden Mountains of Altai
30.

Location: in the southeast of Western Siberia in the Altai mountains, Altai Republic
Square: 1.64 million hectares

Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998.
The nature of this mountainous territory, located at the junction of Central Asia and Siberia, is distinguished by its striking originality. There are few places in the world with such a contrasting combination of different landscapes in such a small space.

31.

The flora and fauna of the region are diverse and in many ways unique. In the basin of Lake Teletskoye, Altai cedar forests are still preserved - forests of Siberian cedar pine, providing food for numerous representatives of the animal world. Here are the largest meadows in terms of area in the Siberian mountains.
The color of the vegetation of the Southern Altai, where semi-deserts, steppes and tundra coexist, is also unique.
32. Southern Altai. Steppe in the river valley Narym

33. Lake Teletskoye is the largest lake in the Altai Mountains

About 60 species of mammals, 11 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 20 species of fish live here. Among the rare species of mammals, the snow leopard, or snow leopard, should be highlighted - this is one of the most beautiful cats of the world fauna. Very few of these animals have survived in Altai.

34. Irbis or snow leopard

The geological history of the region is unique, “recorded” in the rocks of different ages composing it and imprinted in unusual relief forms. Such, for example, are the high terraces of the Katun, striking in their grandeur. The grandiose Mount Belukha is the highest peak in Siberia (4506 m).

35. Terraces of Katun

36. Mount Belukha

Crowned with glaciers and snowfields, it rises almost 1000 m above the nearby ridges. The valleys of the Altai rivers, primarily the Katun and Chulyshman, are narrow, deep canyons. The Chulyshman Valley is picturesque, decorated with numerous waterfalls of its side tributaries. The true pearl of Altai is Lake Teletskoye. For its clear waters, majestic mountain frame and rich wildlife, it is called Small Baikal.

37. River valley Chulyshman

The exceptional diversity of nature left its mark on the culture and religion of the indigenous population of this territory - the Altai. The achievements of Altai folk medicine are highly valued. As H.K. wrote Roerich, “many peoples passed through Altai and left traces: Scythians, Huns, Turks.” Gorny Altai is called an open-air museum.

Component objects: Katunsky Biosphere Reserve, Altai Nature Reserve, natural parks “Mount Belukha” and “Ukok Plateau Quiet Zone”.

38. Altai State Nature Reserve

39. View of the Ukok plateau

Western Caucasus
40.

Location: western slope of the Subpolar and Northern Urals;
Krasnodar Territory, Republic of Adygea, Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia
Square: 0.30 million hectares

Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1999.
The western part of the Greater Caucasus in terms of the diversity of flora and fauna and their preservation has no equal not only in the Caucasus region, but also among other mountainous regions of Europe and Western Asia. This is an area where a large number of endangered people are concentrated
disappearance of rare, endemic and relict species of plants and animals. It is especially important that the little-changed habitat of the most vulnerable large mammals has been preserved here: bison, Caucasian red deer, Western Caucasian aurochs, chamois, Caucasian subspecies of brown bear, wolf, etc.

The Caucasus Nature Reserve is practically the only habitat in the world for the mountain bison; outside this territory it is almost completely exterminated by poachers.

41. Caucasian mountain bison (bison)

42. Caucasian red deer

43. Western Caucasian tur, or Caucasian stone goat

44. Caucasian brown bear

967 species of vascular plants grow in the high mountain zone alone.
Ancient and modern mountain glaciers played a large role in the formation of the relief of the Western Caucasus. Trough valleys, tarns, and moraines are common here.
In the limestone massifs of the northern part of the territory, numerous caves and cavities, including some of the longest and deepest in Russia (up to 600 m deep and 15 km long), form complex underground systems with rivers, lakes and waterfalls.

45. Shum waterfall in the Western Caucasus

The territory is rich in picturesque objects: powerful waterfalls, pointed mountain peaks (up to 3360 m), stormy mountain rivers with clear water, clear mountain lakes, huge trees (majestic fir trees up to 85 m high and more than 2 m in diameter), rare plants (orchids, etc. .) and many others.
An invaluable, unique natural complex has been preserved in the Western Caucasus.

46. Mountains and lakes of the Western Caucasus

Component objects: Caucasian Biosphere Reserve, Bolshoi Thach Natural Park, 3 natural monuments.

47. Caucasian Biosphere Reserve

48. Natural Park "Big Thach"

Russia, of course, is rich in unique natural complexes that have not been affected by economic activity. According to rough estimates, there are more than 20 territories in Russia that are worthy of the status of a World Natural Heritage Site. Among the promising territories, the following natural complexes can be noted: “Kuril Islands”, “Lena Delta”, “Volga Delta”.

Russia is a unique country. It ranks first in the world in terms of territorial area and ninth in terms of population. As of 2012, there are 25 specially protected sites in Russia. Fifteen of them have the status of a cultural attraction, the remaining ten are of a natural nature. Six of the fifteen UNESCO cultural sites in Russia are marked “i”, that is, they belong to the masterpieces of human civilization. Four out of ten natural objects have the highest aesthetic criterion “vii”.

The nature of the country is distinguished by a variety of plant and animal forms: northern mosses and lichens coexist with southern palm trees and magnolias, coniferous forests of the taiga form a striking contrast with the steppe crops of wheat and sunflowers.

Climatic, natural and cultural diversity has led to interest in it from both domestic and foreign citizens. Natural and man-made attractions, river cruises and rail travel, beach and health, sports and extreme tourism make the country attractive to all categories of vacationers.

The main attractions of Russia are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Anyone who wants to discover a great country can start by getting acquainted with twenty-five natural and man-made sites that have a cultural, historical or environmental degree of global significance. and is compiled in order to preserve and show modern people the full depth of our common civilizational heritage.

UNESCO sites in Russia - PHOTO

The northern capital of Russia was included in the UNESCO List of 36 monuments located not only in St. Petersburg itself, but also in its neighbors - Pushkin and Shlisselburg. The palace and park ensembles of the villages of Gatchina and Strelna, the Koltuvskaya and Yukkovskaya uplands, the Lindulovskaya Grove and the Komarovskoye village cemetery - all this makes up one huge cultural and natural formation, territorially and historically connected with the northern capital of Russia. It is itself represented on the UNESCO List by the historical center and old part of the city, the Pulkovo Observatory and the palace and park ensembles of Peterhof, Shuvalovsky Park and the Vyazemsky estate, local fairways and numerous city highways.

Two wooden churches and a bell tower, built in the 18th-19th centuries in Kizhi, were included in the UNESCO List in 1990. The cultural heritage of Karelia is known throughout the world for the Church of the Transfiguration, built, according to legend, without a single nail. Since the mid-20th century, the Kizhi State Historical and Architectural Museum has been operating on the basis of the Kizhi Pogost. Along with ancient original buildings, it includes objects of wooden religious architecture that were brought and erected in the immediate vicinity - for example, an eight-wing windmill built in 1928. The wooden fence of the Kizhi churchyard ensemble was reconstructed in 1959 in accordance with the principles of organizing traditional churchyard fences.

Symbols of an entire country and era - the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square - are among the most significant cultural attractions of Russia and the whole world. It seems that there is not a person on Earth who does not know what they look like. When visiting Russia, most foreigners first go to Red Square. The Moscow Kremlin is one of the oldest architectural monuments in Russia. Its majestic walls and numerous towers, its Orthodox cathedrals and palace buildings, its squares and gardens, the Armory Chamber and the Kremlin Palace of Congresses reflect the centuries-old history of the country. Adjacent to the north-eastern wall of the Kremlin, Red Square is famous not only for the Mausoleum and the Eternal Flame, but also for the numerous events organized there recently. Victory parades, concerts dedicated to Russian Independence Day, New Year's skating rinks - all this can be afforded by one of the largest pedestrian areas in Moscow.

Veliky Novgorod and its surrounding areas are included in the UNESCO list with more than ten cultural sites that are predominantly of a religious nature. Znamensky, Zverin, Antoniev and, the Church of the Nativity on the Red Field, the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa, St. John the Merciful and the Annunciation on Myachina and many other Orthodox buildings belong to ancient periods of Russian history and represent unique architectural complexes. The Novgorod Detinets (that is, the Kremlin) and the part of the city related to it are interesting from the point of view of historical and architectural heritage.

Spaso-Preobrazhensky Solovetsky Monastery was built in the 20-30s of the 15th century. It is spread over four islands of the Solovetsky archipelago. The cultural and historical ensemble "Solovetsky Islands" includes the main monastery, the Ascension and Savvatievsky skete, St. Isaac's, Makarievskaya and Filippovskaya hermitages on Bolshoi Solovetsky Island, Sergievsky monastery on the island of Bolshaya Muksalma, Trinity and Golgotha-Ruspyatsky monastery and Eleazar's hermitage on Anzer and Andreevskaya deserts and stone labyrinths on Bolshoi Zayatsky Island. During Soviet times, the largest special-purpose forced labor camp in the USSR, the Solovetsky special-purpose camp, operated on the monastery territory. Monastic life became possible here only at the end of 1990.

Eight architectural monuments of ancient Russian architecture, mostly of a white stone nature, were included in the UNESCO list in 1992. All of them are located on the territory of the Vladimir region and belong to the Orthodox culture of Russia. In Vladimir there are three UNESCO-protected sites: the Dmitrievsky Cathedral, built in the 12th century, as well as the Golden Gate. In Suzdal there is a 12th-century Kremlin with the Nativity Cathedral and the Spaso-Efimievsky Monastery, built in the 16th-17th centuries. The village of Bogolyubovo is known to Orthodox pilgrims for the Palace of Andrei Bogolyubsky and the magnificent. The Church of Boris and Gleb in the village of Kideksha is the first white stone building in northeastern Rus'.

Built in the 16th century, the Church of the Ascension of the Lord is the first stone Orthodox church to use a tent instead of a classic dome. According to legend, it was erected on the occasion of the birth of Ivan the Terrible. The place for the temple was chosen on the right bank of the Moscow River, famous for its miraculous spring. The Church of the Ascension of the Lord has the appearance of a centric temple-tower, rising above the ground to a height of 62 meters. The architectural design of the church shows features of the early Renaissance. The temple is surrounded in a circle by a two-tiered gallery-promenade.

The Holy Trinity Lavra of Sergius was founded by St. Sergius of Radonezh in 1337. Currently it is the largest Orthodox monastery in Russia. The Trinity-Sergius Lavra is located in the center of Sergiev Posad, a city in the Moscow region. The designation “Laurel” indicates the crowded, large population of the monastery. The architectural ensemble of the monastery consists of fifty buildings of various functional purposes. Among them there are Orthodox cathedrals, numerous bell towers, and royal palaces. Boris Godunov and members of his family found their final refuge in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

The virgin forests of Komi are known as the largest intact forests growing in Europe. They occupy an area of 32,600 square kilometers in the north of the Ural Mountains, within the Pechero-Ilychsky Nature Reserve and the Yugyd Va National Park. In terms of their composition, Komi forests belong to the taiga ecosystem. They are dominated by coniferous trees. The western part of the forests is in the foothills area, the eastern part is in the mountains themselves. The Komi forest is distinguished by the diversity of not only flora, but also fauna. More than two hundred species of birds live here, and rare species of fish are found. Many forest plants are protected.

For the whole world, Baikal is a lake, for the residents of Russia, who are in love with a unique natural object, Baikal is a sea! Located in Eastern Siberia, it is the deepest lake on the planet and, at the same time, the largest natural reservoir of fresh water by volume. The shape of Baikal looks like a crescent. The maximum depth of the lake is 1642 meters with an average depth of 744. Baikal contains 19 percent of all fresh water on the planet. The lake is fed by more than three hundred rivers and streams. Baikal water has a high oxygen content. Its temperature rarely exceeds plus 8-9 degrees Celsius even in summer in the surface area. The water of the lake is so clean and transparent that it allows you to see at a depth of up to forty meters.

The volcanoes of Kamchatka are part of the Pacific volcanic ring of fire - a large chain of the main active volcanoes of the planet. Unique natural sites were included in the UNESCO List in 1996, along with adjacent areas characterized by picturesque views and biological diversity. The exact number of volcanoes on the peninsula is unknown. Scientists talk about several hundred and even thousands of objects. About thirty of them are classified as active. The most famous Kamchatka volcano is Klyuchevskaya Sopka - the highest volcano in Eurasia and the most active on the peninsula. The volcanoes of Kamchatka have different volcanic origins and are divided into two belts superimposed on each other - the Middle and East Kamchatka.

A large biosphere reserve in the Primorsky Territory was originally created to preserve the sable population. Currently, it represents the most convenient place for observing the life of the Amur tiger. A huge number of plants grow on the territory of the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve. More than a thousand higher species, more than a hundred mosses, about four hundred lichens, more than six hundred species of algae and more than five hundred fungi. The local fauna is represented by a large number of birds, marine invertebrates and insects. Many plants, birds, animals and insects are protected species. Schisandra chinensis and edelweiss Palibina, spotted deer and Himalayan bear, black kite and Japanese starling, Sakhalin sturgeon and swallowtail butterfly - they all found shelter in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve.

The three most significant areas of the Altai Mountains - the Altai and Katunsky reserves and the Ukok plateau - were included in the UNESCO list in 1998 under the name “Golden Mountains of Altai”. Mount Belukha and Lake Teletskoye were also included in the list of protected geographical sites. The Altai Mountains received the natural criterion “x” for the most fully presented picture of alpine vegetation. In this area, five belts follow one after another: steppe, forest-steppe, mixed, subalpine and alpine. The territory of the golden mountains of Altai is home to rare species of animals - snow leopard, Siberian mountain goat and others.

The basin of Lake Uvs-Nur, located in the Republic of Tyva, belongs to both Russia and Mongolia. On the part of the Russian Federation, it is represented by the Ubsunur Basin biosphere nature reserve, which includes both the waters of the lake itself and the land areas adjacent to it. The latter is home to a unique and, in many ways, diverse ecosystem of the region - here you can find both glaciers and the northernmost deserts in Eurasia. On the territory of the Ubsunur depression there are taiga zones, forest and classical steppes, alpine tundra and meadows. The area of the reserve is replete with several tens of thousands of unexcavated burial mounds of ancient nomadic tribes.

Located in the Western Caucasus, the natural biosphere reserve belongs to the category of state ones. It is a large natural formation belonging to two climatic zones - temperate and subtropical. More than 900 species of vascular plants and 700 species of fungi grow on the territory of the reserve. Initially, the Caucasian Reserve was called the bison reserve. Nowadays, it was decided to abandon this definition, since, in addition to bison, there are a large number of other mammals in the Western Caucasus, each of which requires state protection. Today, on the territory of the reserve you can find wild boars and roe deer, Western Caucasian tur and brown bear, Caucasian mink and bison.

Not only the Moscow and Novgorod Kremlin are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Kazan Kremlin is also among the culturally significant objects of world significance. Its historical and architectural complex, consisting of a white-stone Kremlin, temples and other buildings, is a monument of three historical periods: XII-XIII, XIV-XV and XV-XVI centuries. The Kremlin territory of Kazan has the shape of an irregular polygon, coinciding in outline with the hill on which the ancient settlement is located. Initially, the Kazan Kremlin was a Bulgarian fortress. Then it came under the rule of the Kazan Khanate. After the capture of Kazan by Ivan the Terrible, the first Orthodox churches appeared on Kremlin territory. In 2005, in honor of the millennium of Kazan, the main mosque of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kul Sharif, was built within the Kazan Kremlin.

Currently, the Ferapontov Monastery is one of the inactive monasteries. The Ferapontovsky branch of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve and the unique Museum of Dionysius' Frescoes located there became a stumbling block between the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Russian Orthodox Church. In 2000, the Ferapontov Monastery was included in the UNESCO List, which finally gave it the status of not so much a religious, but a cultural heritage of humanity. The architectural ensemble of the monastery is represented by the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, painted by the famous Moscow icon painter of the 15th-16th centuries - Dionysius, the monumental Church of the Annunciation, the treasury chamber and service buildings.

The Curonian Spit is a long, narrow strip of sandy land that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. According to its geographical status, this natural object is sometimes classified as a peninsula. The length of the Curonian Spit is 98 kilometers, the width is from 400 to 4 kilometers. The saber-shaped strip of land belongs half to Russia, half to Lithuania. On Russian territory, the Curonian Spit contains the national park of the same name. The original peninsula was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List due to its biological diversity. Numerous landscapes, from deserts to tundra, a large amount of flora and fauna, as well as the ancient migration route of birds make the Curonian Spit a unique natural complex that needs protection.

The southernmost city of Russia, located in the Republic of Dagestan, Derbent, is one of the oldest cities in the world. The first settlements on its territory arose at the end of the 4th millennium BC. The city acquired its modern appearance in 438. In those distant times, Derbent was a Persian fortress, consisting of the Naryn-Kala citadel and double walls descending to the Caspian Sea. The ancient fortress, old town and fortifications of Derbent were included in the UNESCO List in 2003. Naryn-Kala has survived to this day in the form of ruins, an ancient fire-worshipping temple, a mosque, bathhouses and water reservoirs located on its territory.

Wrangel Island, located in the Arctic Ocean, was discovered in 1849. In 1926, the first polar station was created on it, in 1948 the island was inhabited by domesticated reindeer, and in 1975 by musk oxen. The latest event led to the fact that the authorities of the Magadan region decided to establish a nature reserve on Wrangel Island, which also included the neighboring Herald Island. At the end of the 20th century, the adjacent water areas also became part of the Wrangel Island nature reserve. The island's flora consists mainly of ancient plant species. The fauna of the area is poorly developed: most often, birds and walruses are found here, which have established their main Russian rookery on Wrangel Island.

The Novodevichy Mother of God-Smolensk Monastery was founded in 1524 in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God “Hodegetria”. The location of the Orthodox women's monastery is the Maiden's Field in Moscow. In the center of the monastery is the five-domed Smolensk Cathedral, from which the creation of the entire architectural ensemble of the religious monument of the Russian capital began. In the 17th century, the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Church of the Transfiguration, the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a bell tower, a refectory, the Lopukhinsky, Mariinsky and Funeral Chambers were built around it.

The historical center of Yaroslavl, consisting of Rubleny Gorod (the local Kremlin) and Zemlyanoy Gorod, was noted by UNESCO in 2005 as an outstanding architectural example of urban planning reform carried out under Catherine II. Construction from the time of classicism took place near the parish church of Elijah the Prophet, in front of which there was a semicircular square. Streets-beams were drawn to it, each of which ended with an architectural monument that was earlier in construction - the Assumption Cathedral on Strelka, the Znamenskaya and Uglichskaya towers, the Church of Simeon the Stylite.

A network of 265 geodetic reference points, created in the first half of the 19th century to study earth parameters, is currently found in many European cities. On Russian territory it is represented by two points - “Point Mäkipällus” and “Point Z”, located on the island of Gogland. Of more than two hundred objects of the Struve arc, only 34 points have survived to this day, which served as the basis for including a unique scientific monument of humanity in the List of especially valuable cultural objects of our time.

Like many natural sites in Russia included in the UNESCO List, the Putarana Plateau was included in it due to the unique combination of different ecological systems. Located within an isolated mountain range, the Putorana State Nature Reserve combines within its territory the subarctic and arctic zones, taiga, forest-tundra and arctic desert. The Putorana subspecies of the snow leopard, listed in the Red Book of Russia, lives on the territory of the reserve. The world's largest population of wild reindeer also winters on the plateau.

The Lena Pillars, located on the territory of the Sakha Republic, are the most recent Russian site included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2012. The geological formation, located on the banks of the Lena, is a multi-kilometer complex of vertically elongated rocks. The basis of this unique natural monument is Cambrian limestone. Scientists attribute the beginning of the formation of the Lena Pillars to the Early Cambrian, a time 560 million years distant from ours. The relief form of the Lena Pillars was formed much later - only 400 thousand years ago. Near the Lena Pillars there is a natural park of the same name. On its territory there are blowing sands and the site of an ancient man. Fossilized remains of mammoths are also found here.

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