Virgin Komi Forests
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Virgin Komi Forests* | |
|---|---|
| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
| State Party | Image:Flag of Russia.svg Russian Federation |
| Type | Natural |
| Criteria | vii, ix |
| Reference | 719 |
| Region† | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1995 (19th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. | |
The Virgin Komi Forests is a natural UNESCO World Heritage site in the Northern Ural mountains of the Komi Republic, Russia. At 32,800 km² it is the largest virgin forest in Europe.
The Virgin Komi Forests belong to the Ural Mountains taiga ecoregion. Dominant tree species include Siberian Spruce, Siberian Fir and Siberian Larch, while the most prominent mammals are the reindeer, the sable, the mink and the hare.
The site corresponds to Russia's Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve and Yugyd Va National Park. Its World Heritage Site status was recognised in 1995, making it the first natural World Heritage site in the country. This recognition brought the site additional funding from abroad and saved it from imminent logging by a French company (HUET Holding). However, conservation threats remain, illegal logging and gold-mining in particular. Deposits of gold in the northern part of the Yugyd-Va National Park were to be mined prior to 1995.
Despite the area's recognition as a World Heritage site, attempts at extracting gold are being actively lobbied by the Head of the Republic and Komi's Ministry of Nature. The regional government's attempts to move the site's borders so as to exclude the gold-rich parts and strip them of their protected status have been recently ruled out by Komi's Supreme Court.
[edit] External links
- Virgin Komi Forests (at the UNESCO World Heritage site)
World Heritage Sites in Russia | |
|---|---|
Central Sikhote-Alin · Curonian Spit (with Lithuania) · Ferapontov Monastery · Golden Mountains of Altai · Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye · Kazan Kremlin · Kizhi Pogost · Lake Baikal · Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent · Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings · Moscow Kremlin and Red Square · Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent · Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments · Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands · Struve Geodetic Arc (with nine other countries) · Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad · Uvs Nuur Basin (with Mongolia) · Virgin Komi Forests · Volcanoes of Kamchatka · Western Caucasus · White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal · Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve · Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl | |
Coordinates: es:Bosques vírgenes de Komi fr:Forêts vierges de Komi ko:코미 원시림 it:Foresta vergine di Komi he:היערות הבתוליים בקומי hu:Komiföld őserdői nl:Maagdelijke Komiwouden ja:コミの原生林 ru:Девственные леса Коми fi:Komin aarniometsät vi:Rừng nguyên sinh Komi
