4. Strongly Urges 5. the State Party to Rescind Decree No. 1
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4. Strongly urges the State Party to rescind Decree No. 1 “On the introduction of amendments to the list of activities prohibited in the Central Ecological Zone of the Baikal Natural Area”, which permits the disposal of wastewaters from paper mills into Lake Baikal; 5. Urges the State Party to immediately consider various mitigation scenarios for the mill, including rapidly developing and implementing a close-loop water system; 6. Encourages the State Party to develop and implement a long-term alternative livelihoods strategy for the town of Baikalsk, and notes that Lake Baikal has significant potential to develop sustainable tourism and other activities based on its natural and cultural values; 7. Reiterates its request to ensure long-term monitoring of the seal population and to halt illegal constructions on the shores of the Lake; 8. Requests the State Party to clarify the extent of the planned marina within the territory of the Republic of Buriatia and submit its Environmental Impact Assessment to the World Heritage Centre prior to granting permission for the development, in accordance with paragraph 172 of the Operational Guidelines; 9. Calls upon the Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to convene a meeting with the Russian authorities and relevant stakeholders, in cooperation with IUCN, to identify how the impacts of the recently re-opened Baikalsk Paper and Pulp Mill on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property can be addressed; 10. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre a report, by 1 February 2011, on the state of conservation of the property, and in particular progress made in stopping the discharge of toxic water into Lake Baikal, addressing continuing high-levels of pollution in the Selenga River, developing a comprehensive tourism strategy for the property, and monitoring the Baikal seal population and the impacts of climate change on the property, for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 35th session in 2011. 23. Volcanoes of Kamchatka (Russian Federation) (N 765bis) Year of inscription on the World Heritage List 1996; extension 2001 Criteria (vii) (viii) (ix) (x) Year(s) of inscription on the List of World Heritage in Danger N/A Previous Committee Decisions 30 COM 7B.25; 31 COM 7B.26; 32 COM 7B.23 International Assistance N/A UNESCO Extra-budgetary Funds N/A State of conservation of World Heritage properties WHC-10/34.COM/7B.Add, p. 40 inscribed on the World Heritage List Previous monitoring missions 1997: IUCN fact-finding mission; 2004: World Heritage Centre / IUCN mission; 2007: World Heritage Centre / IUCN mission Factors affecting the property identified in previous reports a) Illegal salmon fishing; b) Gold mining; c) Gas pipeline; d) Development of a geothermal power station; e) Forest fires; f) Boundary changes; g) Construction of the Esso-Palana road. Illustrative material http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/765 Current conservation issues The State Party submitted a detailed report on the state of conservation of the property dated 1 March 2010. This report provides an update on the implementation of the recommendations of the 2007 World Heritage Centre / IUCN reactive monitoring mission, particularly those aimed at strengthening the protection and management of the property, as well as clarification on the status of geological prospecting and mining within Bystrinsky National Park, a component of the serial property, as requested by Decision 32 COM 7B.23. The serial property is comprised of six protected areas, including two federal Nature Parks (Kronotsky State Biosphere Reserve and South-Kamchatka Sanctuary) and four National Parks (Nalychevo, Bystrinsky, Klyuchevskoy and South-Kamchatka). a) Legal protection and management The State Party reports on the implementation of the 2007 monitoring mission recommendation relating to protection and management of the property as follows: i) Establish an effective management structure for the entire property. The report notes that previously four Terrestrial State Institutions (TSIs) managed the four regionally administered Naturel Parks. These have been merged into a single ‘Volcanoes of Kamchatka’ TSI. The report also indicates that new Volcanoes of Kamchatka Regulations are being produced to improve the level of environmental protection of the property. According to the report this centralized management structure for the regionally administered components of the property will enhance their conservation and effective management and allow for the setting up of an improved monitoring structure. The report also announces the approval of new ‘Volcanoes of Kamchatka’ Regulations, which fix their specific protection and land use regime and regulates resource use restrictions for the 4 regionally administered nature parks. The report unfortunately provides no further details but IUCN has received information from other sources that the new regulations permit certain development activities which were previously banned, including geological prospecting and mining. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN are concerned by this information and recommend to request the State Party to submit copy of these regulations, in one of the working languages, to the World Heritage Centre as soon as possible. They note that the 2007 mission concluded that the protection status of the nature parks was not sufficient to protect their integrity and could allow certain activities that are incompatible with World Heritage status. Therefore the 2007 mission recommended State of conservation of World Heritage properties WHC-10/34.COM/7B.Add, p. 41 inscribed on the World Heritage List to upgrade them to National Parks, as originally foreseen in the nomination, or to revise their zoning, foreseeing adequate integrally protected zones to ensure conservation of the Outstanding Universal Value. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN consider that this issue needs to be addressed urgently. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN welcome the establishment of the centralized management structure for the 4 regional components of the property but reiterate the need to set up an overall coordination structure for the entire property, covering the two federal administered and the four regional administered components. ii) Develop an integrated management plan for the entire property. The report notes that an integrated management plan for the property is currently being drafted with the support of the UNDP/GEF project ”Demonstrating Sustainable Conservation of Biodiversity in Four Protected Areas in Russia’s Kamchatka Oblast” but is not yet finalised. However, it is not clear from the report if this plan will consider all 6 components of the property or only the 4 Nature Parks. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN reiterate that an overall management plan for the entire property is necessary, with management objectives based on the Outstanding Universal Value of the property. iii) Develop or revise the management plans for each of the component parks. The State Party reports that the management plans for all the component parks of the property have been updated. However, it is unclear whether the plans define their management objectives based on the Outstanding Universal Value and integrity of the property, as recommended by the 2007 mission nor how they will be resourced to ensure their implementation. It is also unclear whether the recently updated management plans for these parks include a revision of their zonation to better conserve their biodiversity values, as recommended by the 2007 mission. No information was provided on the recommendation of the 2007 mission to establish an access policy for the nature parks as part of their management plans. iv) Precisely set all boundaries for the property within the management plan through geo-referencing. The boundaries identified at the time of inscription were geo- referenced in 2009, as recommended by the 2007 mission. While no boundaries were changed, geo-referencing revealed that most of the property’s components are larger than originally indicated at the time of inscription: The World Heritage Centre and IUCN welcome this work and recommend the State Party to submit updated detailed maps of the entire property as soon as possible. v) Staffing and budgets of the property. The report provides information on the staffing of the property and the budgets of the 4 Nature Parks. The report notes that ranger numbers continue to be insufficient in relation to the size of the property. This is in particular the case for the nature parks. The report notes that to address this issue anti-poaching brigades were set up at the regional level, drawing on staff of other control agencies. Budgets of both the Federal and Regional components of the site also remain inadequate to meet management needs. b) Mining In 2009, the World Heritage Centre and IUCN noted NGO reports concerning plans to change the regulations of Bystrinsky National Park to allow geological prospecting, as well as plans to alter park boundaries in order to accommodate mining. The State Party confirms that no mining or geothermal projects is taking place in the property and that no geological prospecting has taken place in any of the component sites, nor is it foreseen in the future. The World Heritage Centre and IUCN welcome this confirmation but remain concerned about the new ‘Volcanoes of Kamchatka’ Regulations which according to information received by IUCN would permit geological prospecting within the Nature Parks. c) Salmon poaching State of conservation of World Heritage properties WHC-10/34.COM/7B.Add, p. 42 inscribed on the World Heritage List While the State Party has not submitted a scientific report on the state of conservation of the salmon population across the property, information is provided on the current status of these populations and the impact of poaching. While salmon fishing is prohibited in the two federal protected areas, regulated commercial, sport and indigenous fishing are permitted in the Nature Parks in line with set quotas established by the Federal Fishing Agency (and not by the administration of the Nature Parks) at specific fishing sites.