***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Russia's
First World Heritage Site
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
December
23, 1995
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
Greenpeace
reports that UNESCO, after a long campaign on their
part,
has listed the largest untouched forest area in Europe as a
World
Heritage Site; saving it from logging companies, oil
exploration
and mining interests. The Komi Forest
is in Russia,
on the
western slopes of the Ural Mountains.
The 3.2 million
hectare
virgin Komi Forest (larger than Belgium) contains a
variety
of ecosystems and rare species; home to healthy
populations
of brown bear, beaver, otter, wood grouse and others.
Following
are two items on the matter posted on econet's bulletin
boards. The first is a short press release posted in
gp.press
conference
and the second is a longer background piece posted in
taiga.news. For further information on EcoNet
membership, a
nonprofit
online system, send any message to <econet-
info@igc.apc.org>.
g.b.
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TEXT STARTS HERE:
/*
Written 7:50 PM Dec 12, 1995 by web:greenbas in igc:gp.press
*/
/*
---------- "Russia's 1st World Heritage Site" ---------- */
************************
GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
************************
GREENPEACE
CELEBRATES RUSSIA'S FIRST UNESCO NATURAL WORLD
HERITAGE
SITE
Berlin/Moscow/
Friday, December 8, 1995. Greenpeace today
applauded
the decision of the UNESCO World Heritage
Committee
to add the Komi Forests, a huge expanse of pristine
forest
in European Russia to the World Heritage List.
The decision
by UNESCO supports Greenpeace's efforts to protect
the
largest untouched forest area in Europe from the impact of
logging
companies, oil exploration and mining interests in the
midst
of an environmental and economic crisis in Russia. The Komi
Forest
Listing, on the western slopes of the Ural Mountains,
covers
an area larger than Belgium.
The 3.2
million hectare virgin Komi Forest site, North East of
Moscow,
contains a variety of ecosystems and rare species. It is
one of
the most valuable stores of taiga forest and wetland
biodiversity
values in Europe. It is home to healthy
populations
of
brown bear, beaver, otter, wood grouse and sable, as well as
many
other rare or endangered species such as the arctic sorrel.
"This
decision by UNESCO will mean a safe haven for the rich
natural
heritage that the people of Komi have depended on for
hundreds
of years," said Volodya Chuprov, a member of the Komi
indigenous
people, and Greenpeace researcher who helped prepare
the
nomination.
The
virgin Komi Forests came under direct threat from many sides
in
1994. Foreign timber companies sought
contracts to begin
clearcut
logging along the Pechora and Ilych Rivers, while one of
the
world's largest oil spills destroyed the river and
villages
downstream.
While
Greenpeace campaigners exposed the oil destruction
downstream
of the nomination site, Greenpeace Forests staff
completed
a successful campaign to stop French and Austrian
logging
companies from using destructive and unsustainable
clearcutting
methods on Komi territory. The UNESCO
Komi listing
confirms
the importance of assuring the protection of this vital
natural
area in Europe for present and future generations.
"Greenpeace
is ecstatic that this huge virgin forest system will
now be
out of bounds for destructive industrial and commercial
development,"
said Sergei Tsyplenkov, forests campaigner with
Greenpeace
Russia.
"We
hope that other European governments will take note of
Russia's
leadership and be encouraged to make stronger measures
to
protect remaining old-growth forests from logging and
industrial
development in their own countries," said Patrick
Anderson,
forests campaigner with Greenpeace International. In
1996,
Greenpeace Russia will prepare a World Heritage
nomination
for the Green Belt of Fennoscandia, the enormous area
of
old-growth forest that border with Finland left untouched
during
the Cold War. These valuable forests are coming under
intense
pressure from timber interests in Scandinavia, while
existing
and planned logging operations in the region have been
deeply
opposed by scientists and environmental groups, including
Greenpeace.
A
further five World Heritage nominations were prepared by
Greenpeace
Russia in 1995, for potential listing by UNESCO in
1996.
In brief, these nominations are:
*
Pristine forests in Primorsky Krai in the Russian Far East (4
million
hectares and the principal habitat of the endangered Amur
tiger
and the Far East leopard).
* The
Volcanoes of Kamchatka (4 million hectares of stunning
forests,
salmon streams and volcanoes on the Kamchatka
Peninsula).
*
Sources of the Great Ob River in the Altai Mountains in Central
Siberia
(6.5 million hectares of mountain ecosystem).
*
Vodlozero Park in the Northwest of European Russia (1 million
hectares,
Europe's largest intact wetland and old-growth boreal
forest
ecosystem).
*
Ubsunur Hollow in Tuva Republic and Mongolia (7.5 million
hectares,
of steppe and forest, a cultural and natural heritage
nomination
carried out in conjunction with the Mongolian
government).
ENDS
For
further information contact:
Patrick
Anderson c/o Greenpeace Berlin ++49 30 238 57
Sergei
Tsyplenkov at Greenpeace Russia ++7 095 978 3950
Desley
Mather at Greenpeace Communications ++44 171 833 0600
Item
#2:
/*
Written 7:55 PM Dec 12, 1995 by web:greenbas in taiga.news
*/
/*
---------- "Russia's Komi Heritage Site" ---------- */
TL: THE
VIRGIN KOMI FORESTS - FACTSHEET
SO:
Greenpeace International, Patrick Anderson, (GP)
DT:
December 8, 1995
FACTSHEET
THE
VIRGIN KOMI FORESTS
Forming
Europe's natural eatsern border along the Ural
Mountains,
the Virgin Komi Forests are the continent's largest
unfragmented
old-growth forests representing a wide variety of
integrated
ecosystems ranging from boreal forests in the
southern
part of the territory to subarctic taiga in the
north.
The forests, mountains, wetlands and river valleys that
make up
the system are a haven for dozens of rare species and
contain
one of Europe's most valuable stores of biodiversity.
In 1994
these forests came under direct threat from many
sides.
A foreign timber company began to carry out clearcut
logging
along the Pechora and Ilych Rivers while one of the
world's
largest oil spills destroyed the river and villages
downstream.
There was no help in sight: park officials can go
months
without pay and nature conservation has been forgotten in
the
economic crisis.
While
Greenpeace campaigners decried the destruction
downstream,
Greenpeace researchers got to work upstream to
organise
a nomination to UNESCO's World Natural Heritage List,
Russia's
first such nomination. Once word of the nomination
got
out, the loggers disappeared and efforts have turned
toward
developing a sound management plan for the enormous 3.2
million
hectare nature preserve.
World
Heritage Project
As part
of a major nature conservation project centered in
Russia,
Greenpeace has announced the first of a set of
territories
to be included in the World Natural Heritage List,
UNESCO's
"Nobel Prize" of natural objects. The Project's
intent
is the full protection of Russia's most valuable and
extensive
funds of biodiversity both in the short term as
Russia
suffers an environmental-economic crisis and in the
long
term as catalysts in the search for environmentally sound
alternative
investment projects.
FACTS
region:
Komi
Republic,
Russian
Federation
indigenous
people:
Komi
area:
3,200,000
hectares
ecosystems:
taiga,
boreal forest, wetland, subarctic and mountain tundra,
glacier
common
tree species:
spruce,
larch, birch,
silver
fir, cedar
common
animal species:
sable,
brown bear, elk, deer, white hare, beaver, wood marten,
otter,
ermine, squirrel, weasel, hazel-hen, blackgrouse, wood
grouse,
goose, widgeon, teal, salmon, umber
rare
and valuable species:
Caltha
arctic, Ranunculus Sulphureus, Saxifraga tenuis,
Cystopteris
gragilis, Woodsia, Cryptogramme, Permian aremone,
Boschniakia
rossica, Novotorularia, Erysimum pallasi,
Astragalus
gladcovi, Nemachius palia, gyrfalcon, Falco
peregrinus,
Haliaeetus alibicilla
economic
value:
salmon,
tourism, reindeer herding, berry, seed and pine-nut
gathering,
European genetic fund
threats:
deforestation,
oil exploration, mining, poaching
------------------------------
------------------------------
THE
VIRGIN KOMI FORESTS
Background
The
designation of World Heritage status for the virgin
forests
of Komi is a major victory for Russian and world
environmental
protection and an extremely prestigious
nomination
for the Komi Republic, the first natural World
Heritage
site on the
territory
of Russia.
The
Project also demonstrates an unconventional role for
Greenpeace,
working in the name of the Russian Federal
Government
to lay the foundation for the international
recognition
of Russia's vast and important ecosystems.
Greenpeace
campaigners have taken the lead in organizing
elected
officials, governmental authorities and regional and
local
groups in the push to save these valuable and unique
natural
areas that might otherwise be threatened by
uncontrolled
industrial development.
The
Virgin Komi Forest system is the largest primary forest of
its
kind remaining in Europe, a habitat for a veritable
treasure
trove of taiga and wetland biodiversity and the
headwaters
of the major river-systems west of the Urals that
flow
toward the northern Arctic sea system, providing clean
water
and important salmon breeding-gounds for entire regions.
The
forests are also the homeland of the Komi people, for whom
the
entire region is named, linked to their natural
environment
and dependent upon its survival. The addition of
the
site to the prestigious World Natural Heritage List will
prove
to be an economical boost for the region and it's people
through
tourism, management investment and securing sustainable
use of
the rich biodiversity fund, as has proven true with many
other
World Heritage sites around the world.
The
Project
Greenpeace
has begun research on a series of natural sights
for
nomination to the list of World Heritage sites. World
Heritage
is a designation by UNESCO, a branch of the United
Nations.
Komi is the first of the series of nominations to be
made.
While the nominations must pass through and be approved
by the
Russian Government under UNESCO regulations, it is
Greenpeace
who are directing all aspects of the project.
Former
Status
The
Komi Virgin Forests comprise the Yugyd Va State National
Park,
the Pechora-Ilychsky Biosphere State Reserve, their
buffer
zones and several zones of forestry farms surrounding
these
natural areas, including the regions of the headwaters
of the
Pechora and Ilychsky River basins.
Present
Status
An
immense integrated virgin forest system, safe from all
industrial
and commercial development, the largest in Europe,
of
approximately 3.2 million hectares to be preserved as a
World
Heritage site, recognized by both the Russian government
and the
United Nations.
Dangers
Deforestation
through logging, poaching of rare species, oil
and gas
exploration and the building of roads connected to
these
activities all threaten the forests. The recent spills
in the
Komi Republic brought to world attention the precarious
situation
of the Russian taiga, an ecologicallly abundant but
at the
same time extremely delicate area. Regeneration of the
taiga
after an oil spill, logging or construction can take
hundreds
of years due to the slow growth of plants and the
shallowness
of the unfrozen soil.
Flora
and Fauna
The
area is a perfect example of northern taiga forest in an
integral,
natural state. The area counts 43 species of
mammals,
including the brown bear, sable and the highly
migratory
elk, 204 species of birds, including the White-
tailed
eagle, and 16 species of fish, the most valuable of which
is the
salmon that helps sustain the economies downstream. The
forests
consist of spruce, cedar and fir, filled with unique and
rare
slow-growth floral species.
Indigenous
peoples
Early
Russian chronicles from the tenth and eleventh centuries
record
the existence of native peoples in the area of what is
now the
Komi Virgin Forests. Up to the present day many place
names
as well record the passing of these peoples: the Pechora
River,
for example, is named for a tribe that has since either
disappeared
or has been incorporated into larger groups.
The
peoples that still live in the area, today known as the
Komi,
still depend upon the natural surroundings as they have
stood
for thousands of years. The herds of reindeer that need
the
vast forests to graze , the salmon and
other small-scale
fisheries,
the berries, nuts and mushrooms that are collected
seasonally,
and the hunting of wild hare and various wild
forest
birds all attest to the necessity of keeping the
forests
in their present, virgin state.
Aside
from protecting the traditional lifestyles and
livelihoods
of the peoples that live in the forests from the
destruction
that industrial development would entail, their
survival
stands as a tesimtony to human life in balance with
the
environment and may one day be able to teach the modern
world a
great deal about the sustainable development that has
been
called for, but which has proved as yet elusive to both
Western
and Eastern industrial cultures.
Some
History
While
there are records of native peoples of the Komi region,
the
Chyud, the Merya, the Vyess and the Pechyera, as far back
as the
tenth century, the first scientific research in the
region
took place as late as 1907. Until that time the nature
of the
region remained obscure, but in 1928 a special
commission
was formed to study the area and in 1930 the
Pechora
Nature Reserve was founded. The original reserve
comprised
only 1,135,000 hectares. Other nature reserves were
named
and the areas expanded until 1951 when the Soviet
government
began a general campaign against nature reserves,
reducing
their size and disregarding protective measures.
Finally,
in the 1970's and 80's, certain extensions and
protective
measures were taken to protect, for example, the
salmon
breeding grounds of both the Pechora and Ilych Rivers.
On 28
September 1990, the Ministers of the Komi Republic
signed
a decree founding the Komi National Park, which was
seconded
soon after by the Russian Federation.
Economic
Factors
The
area will benefit greatly from World Heritage designation:
tourism,
management investment, both from abroad and from
Russian
institutions, preserved resources and agricultural
areas
in the surrounding territory will help in the economic
development
of the Komi Republic, while not threatening the
sustainability
of the region, as has been the case further
downstream
from the forests.
Eco-tourism,
a huge new industry, may have the largest
economic
impact. Agriculture, drinking water and animal
husbandry
(especially the raising of the elk) in the Komi region
are all
dependent upon the protection of the forests.
As the
source for the river systems that flow into the Arctic
sea
system west of the Urals, the Komi Forests protect the
pure
drinking-water and necessary irrigation water for several
of
Russia's northern regions. The rivers within the forests
are the
breeding grounds of the salmon that the entire region
is
dependent upon as a food source and for export.
World
Bank studies have shown that the Komi region is nearly
self-sufficient
in food resources and entirely dependent upon
what
they grow themselves. The people of Komi have very few
sources
of outside income, thus increasing exponentially the
value
of the clean waters provided by the forests upstream.
Once
again, the destruction brought by oil and gas extraction
as well
as clearcut logging downstream show what would happen
to the
Komi Forests if they are not preserved: full-scale
destruction
for the next several decades.
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
GREENPEACE
RUSSIA'S WORLD HERITAGE PROJECT
As part
of a major nature conservation project centered in
Russia,
Greenpeace has announced the first of a set of
territories
to be included in the World Natural Heritage List,
UNESCO's
"Nobel Prize" of natural objects. The Project's
intent
is the full protection of Russia's most valuable and
extensive
funds of biodiversity both in the short term as
Russia
suffers an environmental-economic crisis and in the
long
term as catalysts in the search for environmentally sound
alternative
investment projects.
After
six years of unsuccesful attempts by the government to
prepare
the nomination for Lake Baikal and at the same time
risking
the environmental balance of the lake and, in fact,
the
majority of intact ecosystems left in Russia, this
ambitious
project aims to protect some of Russia's most
valuable
natural spaces. Greenpeace Russia has taken the lead
in
organising the nominations of several natural areas to the
List by
tapping into the resources and guiding the efforts of
dozens
of local and national conservation groups, indigenous
peoples
and government agencies.
The
list, administered by the United Nations' organisation,
UNESCO,
also contains such natural wonders as the Grand Canyon
and the
Great Barrier Reef and provides a forum for protection
and
recognition of the world's most important natural and
cultural
sites. In order to carry out the project, Greenpeace
has had
push for the creation of entire new park and
conservation
zone systems, lobby local governments to devote
the
areas and promise to conserve them and animate researchers
and
conservation planners to make the project effective.
Indigenous
peoples and local communities have played an
important
and leading role in the development of nearly all of
the
sites, demonstrating the need for a fuller consideration
of the
sustainability of life-styles outside of both Western
and
Eastern industrial paradigms and based on closer
relationships
to nature.
Greenpeace
has already made the first nomination to the list,
the
Virgin Komi Forests, 3.2 million hectares of pristine
forest
along the Ural Mountains in the Republic of Komi in the
Russian
Far North. The forests comprise the largest untouched
area in
Europe and contain a variety of ecosystems and rare
species.
In making the nomination, Greenpeace completed its
successful
campaign to stop French and Austrian logging
companies
from using destructive and unsustainable clearcut
methods
on Komi territory and demonstrated the need to assure
protection
for these vital natural areas.
Current
proposed nomination sites for the list:
Primorsky
Kray, Far East: a vital habitat of the endangered
Amur
tiger and the Far East leopard, 4 million hectares
including
the Sikhote-Alin Natural Complex and the Bikin
Valley,
the home of the Udege Indigenous people.
The
Volcanoes of Kamchatka: active and dormant volcanoes,
geysers,
thermal and mineral springs and bubbling mud
cauldrons
among perfectly conserved transforming coastal and
forest
ecosystems. 4 million hectares.
The
Sources of the Great Ob, Altai Mountains, Central Siberia:
6.5
million hectares of virgin mountain taiga, glaciers and
the
sacred Telestkoye Lake.
Vodlozero
Park, Northwest of European Russia: Europe's largest
intact
old-growth boreal forests and pristine wetlands. 1
million
hectares.
Ubsunur
Hollow, Tuva Republic: a Cultural-Natural project
carried
out in conjunction with the Mongolian government, 7.5
million
hectares, one of the largest intact watersheds in
Central
Asia where 40,000 archeological sites can be found
from
histroically famous nomadic tribes such as the Scythians,
the
Turks and the Huns.
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TEXT ENDS###
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