Proceedings of the World Heritage Boreal Zone Workshop Held in St. Petersburg, Russia 10-13 October 2003 June 2004 Table of Contents Table of Contents..........................................................................................................................................................i Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................................................2 I. Workshop Description.............................................................................................................................................2 A. Background..........................................................................................................................................................2 B. The Values of Boreal Forests in the context of the World Heritage Convention...........................................3 C. Workshop Methodology and Outputs ...............................................................................................................4 II. Workshop Outputs .................................................................................................................................................6 A. Site Specific Recommendations..........................................................................................................................6 B. The St. Petersburg Statement...........................................................................................................................10 C. Frameworks Developed at the Workshop.......................................................................................................13 1. Canada Framework of existing World Heritage sites and Values............................................................13 2. Canada Framework for World Heritage Values and Potential New Sites to Fill Gaps ..........................16 3. Russia Framework for World Heritage Values and Potential New Sites to Fill Gaps ............................18 Annex 1: Details on Sites for Potential Nomination................................................................................................20 Canada ....................................................................................................................................................................20 Atikaki/Woodland Caribou/First Nations Accord Area................................................................................20 Wood Buffalo.....................................................................................................................................................20 Nahanni..............................................................................................................................................................21 Muskwa-Kechika...............................................................................................................................................21 Hudson Bay........................................................................................................................................................21 Lake Superior....................................................................................................................................................22 Wabikimi............................................................................................................................................................22 Mealy Mountains...............................................................................................................................................23 Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary and Queen Maud Migratory Bird Sanctuary ...................................................23 Canada – US Transboundary Site: Ivvavik and Vuntut National Parks with Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.................................................................................................................................................................24 Finland ....................................................................................................................................................................25 Green Belt of Fennoscandia .............................................................................................................................25 The Northern Kvarken.....................................................................................................................................26 Saimaa-Pielinen Lakeland................................................................................................................................28 Aapamire Complexes of Northern Finland.....................................................................................................31 Norway....................................................................................................................................................................32 North Norwegian Fjord Landscape.................................................................................................................32 Russia ......................................................................................................................................................................33 Basegi Nature Reserve ......................................................................................................................................33 Kuril Islands ......................................................................................................................................................33 Magadansky Nature Reserve ...........................................................................................................................34 Malaya Sos’va Reserve .....................................................................................................................................35 The Putorana Plateau Natural Complex.........................................................................................................36 The Western Sayan ...........................................................................................................................................36 Tsentralno-Sibirsky State Nature Reserve......................................................................................................37 The Tungussky phenomenon............................................................................................................................37 Valdai – the Great Watershed..........................................................................................................................38 The Bikin River valley (for extension of "Central Sikhote-Alin" World Heritage site) .............................38 Annex 2. List of Participants ....................................................................................................................................40 Table 1. Natural World Heritage Sites in the Boreal Ecozone ................................................................................3 Table 2. Criteria for World Heritage Designation....................................................................................................5 Proceedings of the World Heritage Boreal Zone Workshop i 10-13 October 2003 Disclaimer The recommendations found in this report represent the output of a technical workshop and do not necessarily represent the official views of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention nor the organizations which provided financial support. The recommendations reflect the opinions expressed by the workshop participants, which are not necessarily those of IUCN or UNESCO. Moreover, the recommendations cannot preclude the outcome of the official IUCN process to evaluate World Heritage nominations. The designation of geographical entities in this report, and the presentation of material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Proceedings of the World Heritage Boreal Zone Workshop 1 10-13 October 2003 Acknowledgements IUCN gratefully acknowledges the financial contributions of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, the Ministry of the Environment in Finland, and the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade for the workshop. IUCN would also like to thank the Baltic Fund for Nature for logistical support in organizing the workshop. I. Workshop Description A. Background The Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted at the General Conference of the United Nations on 16 November 1972, and came into effect on 17 December 1975. Currently 176 States Parties have signed the Convention, making it one of the most representative conventions for environmental protection. In 1976, the World Heritage Committee and Fund were established to enhance the efficiency of the Convention. As a result, the first cultural and natural sites were inscribed in UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 1978. Over the past 30 years, sites and ecosystem types from many regions of the world have been nominated. However, not all sites of outstanding universal value have been identified and nominated. Therefore, the World Heritage Committee established the so-called ‘Global Strategy’ in 1994 to encourage nominations from regions and biomes that are not sufficiently covered under