Virgin Komi Forests

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Virgin Komi Forests
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List

Type	Natural
Criteria	vii, ix
Reference	719
UNESCO region	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1995 (19th Session)
Location of Komi forests in Russia

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 ruled out by Komi's Supreme Court.

External links

Virgin Komi Forests (at the UNESCO World Heritage site)
UNEP-WCMC World Heritage - Virgin Komi Forests
Virgin Komi Forests at Natural Heritage Protection Fund

World Heritage Sites in Russia by federal district

	Central	Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye Moscow Kremlin and Red Square Novodevichy Convent Trinity Sergius Lavra White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal Historic Centre of Yaroslavl

	Southern	Western Caucasus

	Northwestern	Curonian Spit¹ Ferapontov Monastery Kizhi Pogost Virgin Komi Forests Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Surroundings Solovetsky Islands Struve Geodetic Arc²

	Far Eastern	Lena Pillars Volcanoes of Kamchatka Central Sikhote-Alin Wrangel Island

	Siberian	Golden Mountains of Altai Lake Baikal Putorana Plateau Uvs Nuur Basin³

	Volga	Bolghar Kazan Kremlin

	North Caucasian	Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent

¹ Shared with Lithuania ² Shared with nine other countries ³ Shared with Mongolia

Coordinates: 65°04′N 60°09′E / 65.067°N 60.150°E / 65.067; 60.150

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