Protected Areas and World Heritage

VOLCANOES OF KAMCHATKA - RUSSIAN FEDERATION

COUNTRY Russian Federation

NAME Volcanoes of Kamchatka

IUCN MANAGEMENT CATEGORY
Kronotskiy Zapovednik Ia Strict Nature Reserve. Biosphere Reserve
Klyuchevskoy Zakaznik V Strict Nature Reserve.
Bystrinskiy Zakaznik IV Habitat/Species Management Area
Nalychevo Zakaznik IV Habitat/Species Management Area
South Kamchatka Zakaznik IV Habitat/Species Management Area
South Kamchatska Federal Zakaznik IV Habitat/Species Management Area
Southwest Tundra Zakaznik IV Habitat/Species Management Area
Natural World Heritage Site, inscribed 1996; extended 2001. Natural Criteria: i, ii iii, iv

BIOGEOGRAPHICAL PROVINCE Kamchatkan (2.7.5)

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION The Kamchatka Peninsula is in the Russian Far East between the Sea of Okhotsk and the north Pacific Ocean. Klyuchevskoy Zakaznik is in the central valley (55°55'N / 160°35'E). Bystrinskiy Zakaznik is in a major range west of the centre (56°00'N / 158°30'E). The other areas are on the mountainous shores of the Pacific Ocean: Kronotskiy Zapovednik (54°40'N / 161°00'E), Nalychevo Zakaznik (53°30'N / 159°00'E), South Kamchatka Zakaznik & South Kamchatka State Zakaznik (52°00'N / 157°50'E) and in the south-west, South Tundra Zakaznik (52°50'N / 156°50'E).

DATE AND HISTORY OF ESTABLISHMENT

AREA The Volcanoes of Kamchatka sites comprise: 4,378,115ha (MEPNR,1995)

Bystrinskiy Zakaznik 1,500,000ha (1,330,000ha*)
Kronotskiy Zapovednik 1,007,134ha (1,142,134ha*)
South Kamchatka Zakaznik 860,000ha
Klyuchevskoy Zakaznik 375,981ha
Nalychevo Zakaznik 265,000ha (285,970ha*)
South Kamchatka State Zakaznik 247,000ha (225,000ha*)
Southwest Tundra Zakaznik 123,000ha

(*UNDP, 2001; Newell et al. 2001)

LAND TENURE Federal, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MEPNR) since 2000, with some long-term lease concessions to tourist companies. Kluchevskoy Nature Park is under both regional and federal jurisdictions as the land belongs to the State Forest Fund (Menshikov et al.,2000).

ALTITUDE From sea level to 4,835m (Klyuchevskoy), 3,607m (Ichinskiy) and 3,528m (Kronotskiy).

PHYSICAL FEATURES The 1200km-long Kamchatka peninsula is almost an island running north-south between the north Pacific and the sea of Okhotsk. Its southern half is formed mainly by two parallel mountain ranges The western, Sredinniy range in the west centre of the island, is of dormant shield and strato-volcanoes of which Ichinskiy (still active) is by far the highest. The eastern Vostochniy range which parallels the sea with nearly 30 young volcanoes, has the greatest concentration of active vulcanism in Eurasia. Between the ranges is the wide Kamchatka river valley out of which, to the north of the eastern range, rises the highest group, the Klyuchevskaya range.

This 700km-long volcanic belt is the surface expression of the northwesterly subduction by 8-10cm a year of the Pacific Ocean plate under the Eurasian plate and shows a complete range of the vulcanism characteristic of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Since 1690 some 200 eruptions have been recorded. The peninsula has some 300 volcanoes of which 33 are currently active, most of explosive character and many of perfect pyramidal form. 34 of these and the 13 most active volcanoes on Kamchatka occur in the heritage areas. Most of them are basaltic composite stratocones and andesite stratovolcanoes; some are shield volcanoes. There are also calderas, scoriae cones, lava streams, cinder fields, over 160 thermal and mineral springs, geysers, solfataras, mud pots and many other volcanic features.

The Klyuchevskaya range has three of the highest and most active peaks. Klyuchevskoy itself is Eurasia's highest and most active volcano after Etna, and still growing: its 1988 height was 4,750m; in 2002 it was 4835m. It has erupted 25 times in the last 50 years and still erupts regularly, creating a wilderness of ash and lava. Its magma flow of about 60 million tonnes per year is half of all that produced by the intensely active Kuriliy-Kamchatka region. It has a variety of features: several lateral craters, shield volcanoes, scoriae and lava cones, extrusive domes and huge detached rocks. Despite this, the Klyuchevskaya group is the largest centre of glaciation in Kamchatka, with 47 glaciers covering 269 square kilometres, the largest being the Erman glacier which continues to advance at 30-50m per year. Two glaciation periods during the Pleistocene influenced much of its landscape, creating cirques, hanging valleys, u-shaped valleys, moraines and glacial till and almost all the types of ice formation common in volcanic areas. The drainage network of the Reserve consists of many dry-rivers, typical of volcanic regions, which are formed by the low water-holding capacity of the substrate. These only fully flow in the spring and after catastrophic snowmelt during eruptions.

Bystrinskiy Zakaznik in the Sredinniy range has quaternary volcanic formations in various states of conservation. Kronotskiy National Reserve is a rugged landscape with 12 active volcanoes and some 800 lakes, which also extends over 5 kilometers of coastal waters. The Uzon caldera within it is an enormous bowl ten kilometers across with sides rising to 900m and constant hydrothermal activity on its floor. The nearby spectacular Valley of the Geysers has 20 large geysers, over 100 hot springs, some with thermophilic algae, pulsating water funnels, mud cauldrons, poisonous miasmas, fumaroles, cascades, turquoise lakes and multicoloured algae fields (Ponomariva et al.). Nalychevo Zakaznik lies in a volcanic complex; on the upper reaches of the Nalychevo River is a 40 square kilometer depression with a great number of hot and cold mineral springs. The Southern Kamchatka Zakazniks include lava tableland formed during eruptions and volcanic cones, ten of Kamchatka's most active volcanoes with a wide range of geothermal activity and coastal habitats. Volcanic rocks throughout the protected areas are formed of basalts, andesite-basalts, andesites and andesite-dacites. Other features are eroded accumulations of volcanic ash, foothills, piedmont plains and coastal lowlands, Below the ash-covered slopes, soils are tundra gley, forest-tundra and brown forest types, podzols and peat. River valleys are thickly covered with fertile volcanic alluvium.

But the volcanic area is also one of the most pristine parts of the peninsula. The Klyuchevskaya group is beautiful as well as dangerous. Most of Bystrinskiy Zakaznik in the Sredinniy range is a mosaic of different mountain landscapes. Kronotskiy National Reserve, near the north end of the eastern range, is famous for its scenery. Lake Kronotskiy and Lake Kurilskoe (in the far south), are both very scenic and important fish spawning habitats. Nalychevo Zakaznik just north of the capital city has vigorous glaciers and good hunting and fish spawning grounds. The uninhabited Southwest Tundra Zakaznik is covered with lakes, pools and peat very attractive to migrant waterfowl. The South Kamchatka and South Kamchatka State Zakazniks encompass active glaciation, wild unpolluted rivers and a spectacular coastline with several islands, deltas and wide swampy estuaries.

CLIMATE The peninsula being all but surrounded by sea has a moist cool maritime climate moderated by the ocean. Central Kamchatka, enclosed between the two mountain ranges, has a climate similar to the continent, and is snow-covered from October to May. On the west coast, temperatures are lowered by the cold Sea of Okhotsk. The climate is windy, often foggy and subject to very heavy snowstorms. At sea level, the mean temperature in July is 12°C but can reach 20°C; the mean temperature range in January is -4° to -10°C. The central valley becomes both warmer and colder than this. The rainfall is less than 400mm in the centre of the peninsula, nearly 1000mm along the western coast and nearly 2500mm in the southeast which is in the path of monsoonal rains (Borodin, 1983).

VEGETATION The moist climate and rich volcanic soils have produced a thick vegetation, very lush in the lowlands. With little human exploitation, the vegetation in the reserves is in largely pristine condition. It extends from extensive coastal wetlands and meadows of tall grass, with alluvial riparian forests of Siberian and Komarov poplar Populus suaveolens and P.komarov, aspen P. tremuloides, alder Alnus kamschatica and willows Salix sachalinense and Chosenia macrolepis; through maritime taiga of Kamchatcan and Cayander larch Larix kamtschatica, and L. cayanderi, ayan and yeddo spruce Picea ajarensis, P. jezoensis and white birch Betula kamchatica; then peat wetland covered with crowberry Empertum nigrum, to very extensive higher level forests of stone birch Betula ermani which is the dominant tree of the peninsula, interspersed with meadows. Above these are a zone of elfin woodland of Korean pine Pinus koraiensis and 'cedar', dwarf mountain pine Pinus pumila, mountain ash Sorbus scoparius, and sub-alpine meadows, scrub and mountain tundra, the degree of the freeze-thaw cycle determining the zoning of higher vegetation belts.

The total number of plant species is 1,168, 10% being endemic to Kamchatka. Klyuchevskaya Nature Park has an especially diverse range of Palaearctic flora and many species of Alpine and sub-Alpine scrub, including the rare Leontipodium kamtschaticum. In Bystrinskiy Nature Park in the western range, coniferous forests grow along with 615 species with 16 endemic to Kamchatka. Kamchatkan larch and ayan spruce are dominant on the eastern slopes; stone birch dominates the west slopes. Kronotskiy National Reserve has 745 species, with 16 endemics. Over half is densely covered with boreal deciduous and mountain tundra forest with Arctic-alpine and Bering vegetation. There are isolated groves of the rare endemic Kamchatkan fir Abies gracilis, also Sakhalin fir Abies sachalinensis, unusual thermally influenced caldera communities and several nationally threatened plants such as Cypripedium macranthon, Carex viridula, Fimbristylis ochotensis, Isoetes asiatica, Poa radula and Rhodiola rosea. In Nalychevo Nature Park 549 species of vascular plants have been recorded, with many rare orchids (Cypripedium macranthon, Epipactis papillosa, Neottia asiatica) and forests of the rare Asian white birch Betula platyphylla. The South Kamchatka Nature Park and South Kamchatka National Sanctuary are in mountainous forest where the Kurile larch Larix gmelinii var.japonica grows. Their flora is very rich, with 718 species, 85 species being considered rare, including Epipogion aphyllum, Gymnadenia camtschatica, Oreorchis patens, Nuphar pumila, Carex laxa, and Lilium dauricum (MEPNR, 1995).

FAUNA The terrestrial fauna is low in diversity, but high in subspecific endemism. In this, the Kamchatka Peninsula resembles an island. But some species are found in great abundance, including over 15,000 Kamchatcan brown bears Ursus arctos piscator, Arctic ground squirrel, Ochotona hyperborea, sable Martes zibellina, Kamchatcan wolverine Gulo gulo albus (VU), thousands of sea otters Enhidra lutris lutris (EN), 1,500 Kamchatcan reindeer Rangifer tarandus phylarchus (known as northern deer) and over 10,000 Kamchatcan snow sheep Ovis nivicola nivicola. There are no reptiles and only one species of amphibian, Siberian salamander, Hynobius kayserlingii.

Mammalsin Klyuchevskoy Nature Park include a herd of wild reindeer, the largest population of brown bears, east Siberian lynx Lynx lynx wrangeli, snow sheep, wolverine and ermine Mustela erminea. Bystrinskiy Nature Park encloses the Ichinskiy zoological zakaznik, and includes Canadian beaver Castor canadensis, collared lemming Dicrostonyx lorquatus, blackcapped marmot Marmota camtschatica, muskrat Ondatra zibethicus, american mink Mustela vison, Kolymskiy moose Alces alces buterlini and large numbers of domesticated reindeer.  Nalychevo Nature Park, which encloses the Three Volcanoes zoological zakaznik, has 33 mammal species. The Kronotskiy National Reserve has 60 mammal species, 900 bears and the largest population of wild reindeer in Kamchatka. It shares with the southern parks abundant marine life: Kamchatka crab Paralithodes camtschatica, sea otter (900 animals), sea lion Eumetopias jubatus (EN, 800 breeding animals), Kuril seal Phoca vitulina stejnegeri (500), spotted P.largha and ringed seals P.hispida ochotensis, Risso's dolphin grampus griseus, narwhal Monodon monoceros and walrus Odobenus rosmarus divergens.  Another 1,000 male sea lions live on the southernmost point of the peninsula and 2,500-3000 sea otters visit the South Kamchatka Nature Reserves during migration, where there are 57 other species of mammals. Offshore, at least ten species of whales occur: blue Balaenoptera musculus (EN), fin B.physalis (EN), sei B.borealis (EN), black right Eubalaena glacialis japonica (EN), humpback Megaptera novaeangliae (VU), bowhead Balaena mysticetus, minke Balaenoptera acutorostrata, grey Eschrichtius gibbosus, Stejneger's beaked whale Mesoplodon stejnegeri and Cuvier's beaked whale Ziphius cavirostris (MEPNR, 1995).

Tundra birds and seabirds are very numerous. Some 179 bird species have been recorded. Nine species noted in Nalychevo Nature Park are considered nationally threatened: emperor goose Philacte canagica, brent goose Branta bernicla, osprey Pandion haliaetus, Steller's sea eagle Haliaeetus pelagicus (VU), white-tailed eagle H.albicilla, gyrfalcon Falco rusticolis, peregrine F. peregrinus, and solitary snipe Gallinago solitaria. Other uncommon species are golden eagle Aquila chrysaetos, redlegged kittiwake Rissa brevirostris (VU), and spotted greenshank Tringa guttifer (EN).  Kamchatka, especially Lopatka Cape on its southern tip, is a major staging point on migration routes and a wintering ground for a great number of eastern bird species. There are numerous seabird colonies along the coasts of the reserves, several of which contain a notable portion of the world's population of certain species. More than half the world populations of Steller's sea eagle and of Aleutian tern Sterna aleutica nest on the peninsula. Other numerous species include the yellowbilled diver Gavia adamsii, whooper swan Cygnus cygnus, lesser whitefronted goose Anser erythropus, slatybacked gull Larus schistisagus, Kamchatka tern Sterna camtschatica, guillemot Uria aalge, thickbilled guillemot Uria lomvia, pigeon guillemot Cepphus columba, ancient murrelet Synthliboramphus antiquus, horned puffin Fratercula corniculata and tufted puffin Lunda cirrhata.  The eagles are attracted by the sockeye Oncorhynchus nerka, at the Kurilskoye Lake which is the largest spawning ground in the world for this species of salmon.

The rivers of western Kamchatka contain the greatest concentration and diversity of salmonid fish species on earth and are the only place on the Pacific rim where all the species of Pacific salmon coexist. Nearly all the rivers are exceptionally unpolluted spawning grounds for this key food source which sustains the very large populations of brown bears, sea otters, Steller's sea-eagles and dozens of other marine and terrestrial animals. One watershed adjacent to the Bystrinsky Nature Park contains eleven species of salmonid fish, several being considered nationally threatened: king Oncorhynchus tschawytscha, silver O. kisutch, both resident and anadromous forms of sockeye salmon O. nerka and steelhead and rainbow trout Salmo mykiss,  chum O. keta, pink O. gorbuscha and cherry salmon O. masu, Dolly Varden char Salvelinus malma, white-spotted char S. leucomaenis, and whitefish Coregonis ssp. The Nalychevo River and its tributaries also support great numbers of five of the above species plus Arctic char Salvelinus alpinus. Wild salmon are declining rapidly throughout their range along both the Atlantic and Pacific rims. Outside western Alaska, there are very few if any large areas left along the Pacific rim to preserve not only native runs of salmon and steelhead, but also the intact ecosystems they support and that support them (MEPNR, 1995).

CULTURAL HERITAGE The oldest Paleolithic settlement in the region is 21,000 years old. The Kamchatka Peninsula became part of Russia in 1699 and the first description of Kamchatka was given in 1742 by the explorer S.P. Krashenninnikov. At the beginning of the 18th century, the Itel’meni people settled in the central and southern parts of Kamchatka Peninsula, depending on fishing. Western Kamchatka and the Bystrinsky region were settled by the Eveni people, dependent on reindeer herding. There are also some Koryak people from the north, also reindeer herders. These indigenous populations were collectivised in Soviet times and had declined to 3,000 by 1995. Traditional economic activity is prohibited or limited to a few non-intensive forms such as reindeer raising in Bystrinsky Natural Park and extremely limited winter hunting of fur animals in three parks. Recently, traditional land use areas have been zoned for permanent settlements in northern part of the South Kamchatka Nature Park and in the Bystrinsky Nature Park.

LOCAL HUMAN POPULATION Until 1992 the peninsula was a closed military zone around the home base of the Russian Pacific submarine and main fishing fleets near the capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. This is the major city on the peninsula, with most of the region’s population. Almost the entire heritage area is uninhabited, except for protected area staff and in some parts of the South Kamchatka and Bystrinskiy Nature Parks, used by small numbers of Itel’meni and Eveni. This isolation, combined with few roads and settlements, has preserved much of the wilderness.

VISITORS AND VISITOR FACILITIES Approximately 15,000 tourists visited Kamchatka in 1995, 4,000 of them foreign. Kronotskiy Nature Park is the only site in Russia with large geysers, enhancing its tourist potential. Approximately 2,000 tourists visit the Valley of the Geysers each year where a helipad and board-walk have been built and some measures taken to protect it from overuse by tourists (Krever,1994). There are ecological education centres in both Kronotskiy Reserve and Nalychevo Park. Helicopter access to tourist cabins within Nalychevo and Southern Kamchatka Nature Reserves is available. Between 1993 and 1999 the Klyuchevskaya group averaged about 250-300 visitors a summer, 100 being foreigners, but it does not yet cater for many tourists. Projects to promote eco-tourism are now underway, partly to supplement reduced government funding. The reserves are normally reached by helicopter.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND FACILITIES The Kamchatka Institute of Ecology and Nature Use and the Institute of Volcanic Geology and Geochemistry of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences are the main bodies conducting research in the territory. Kronotskiy Zapovednik has academic staff who pursue research with these two institutions (MEPNR, 1995). The Klyuchevskaya range has been monitored for 68 years and been the subject of much research: 16 previously unknown minerals have been discovered there. A network of seismic stations and geological monitoring sites is located within the boundaries of several protected areas, including the Kluchevskoy volcanology station. The Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team in Petropavlovsk has since 1972 constantly monitored the condition of volcanoes in cooperation with the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Many other studies have been made in the territory and in 2001 a large field symposium was held on plants and vulcanism, a subject for which the area is ideally suited.

CONSERVATION VALUE The heritage areas cover one of the last largely unexploited and relatively pristine wildernesses in the world, and also one of its most active volcanic zones. They include a great number of unpolluted river systems with a large number of endemic species and subspecies of both plants and animals, including globally important spawning grounds for the world’s greatest diversity of salmonid fish and a variety of wetlands exceptionally attractive to migratory birds. The continuing tectonic and volcanic activity constantly creates new areas for pioneer settlement by plants and animals. As a result, a range of different successional biological communities co-exist, developing in relative isolation. The only freshwater salmon species in Asia, in Kronotskiye Lake, may be the result of these processes and the wide variety of organisms living in the hot springs are another unusual feature.

CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT Protected areas were initially established in many places to protect dwindling numbers of animals; later to preserve a range of the Peninsula's most important natural areas.The Kronotskiy National Reserve was originally founded for the strict protection of its resources. The South Kamchatka State Nature Sanctuary was founded to preserve and breed species for hunting. Nalychevo Nature Park combines the conservation of freshwater wetlands, recreation and education. Bystrinskiy Nature Park was to combine conservation with traditional sustainable uses. Kronotskiy and South Kamchatka State Reserves are managed by the Kronotskiy Zapovednik Administration. The Kamchatka Regional Board of Nature Parks, a non-profit institution, manages the Klyuchevskoy, Bystrinskiy, Nalychevo and South Kamchatka Nature Reserves for the Kamchatka regional adminstration; the Federal Forest Administration manages the Southwest Tundra Park. Management is based on the Russian Federation Law 'On Strict Nature Reserves' of 1995, Kamchatka Oblast Law 'On Strict Nature Reserves' of 1997, revised 1999, and the Klyuchevskoy Nature Park statute of 1999.

Hunting, licensed fishing, and the gathering of mushrooms, berries and fuel wood occurs in the three Nature Parks, and management plans are being developed to regulate these activities in Bystrinsky, Nalychevo, and South Kamchatka Nature Parks. Bystrinskiy Park is important in stabilising the diverse ecosystems of its many headwaters. Each of the three Parks is zoned into conservation, tourist, recreation and service zones and allows limited hunting of brown bear and sheep and limited winter trapping of fur animals. There are also deer raising farms in Bystrinskiy Nature Park. Mining, military use and tourism have all impacted Kronitskiy Nature Reserve in the past. A long-term scientific monitoring program is underway for both it and the South Kamchatka Nature Sanctuary. There are also programs for species protection, the renewal of the indigenous peoples' traditional use of nature, and to develop tourism in all the territories within the nominated area, to make up for insufficient government funding, partly in cooperation with international organizations.

MANAGEMENT CONSTRAINTS Over the 12 years since the end of the Union, Federal funding has decreased by 90% with drastic consequences for the parks. There are as a result two opposing concepts for the future development of Kamchatka: expanded extraction of minerals (largely on land traditionally held by the native people) to help finance the regional administration, and activities based on protecting the environment which should sustain native populations and create sustainable tourism. When the National Committee for Environmental Protection was abolished in 2000, environmental issues became the responsibility of the Regional Committees on Natural Resources, and the mining interests hostile to conservation in Kamchatka gained strength (Murashko, 2001). The southern boundary of the Bystrinskiy Nature Park has already been revised 50km inwards to permit gold mining on its edge and there is pressure for nickel mining within the Park. The frequent fires in this park, a proposed new road which would expose the area to poaching and the granting by local authorities of 12 out of 24 hunting leases to business interests from outside the region cannot be monitored since the Park has no staff (IUCN,2001). Logging, and oil and gas extraction in the Sea of Okhotsk near the coast have also started and a gas pipeline with road to Petropavlovsk is projected, crossing 20 salmon rivers. Geothermal exploitation is also developing at Nizhnekoshelevsky in the South Kamchatka Nature Park and State Nature Sanctuary, an area earmarked for scientific work and regional monitoring. Any of these industrial activities might pollute salmon spawning grounds and begin to degrade the pristine wilderness.

Human-set forest fires are also a constant threat. Illegal highly organised campaigns of logging and the poaching of bears for gall-bladders and salmon for caviar; illegal sea fishing, uncontrolled commercial tourism with well-organised hunting from helicopters in the Geyser Valley, and general tourist littering, degradation and petrochemical and sewage pollution have all increased in recent years (Newell, 1996). Geothermal and other rare flora are also disappearing. Management is drastically underfunded with too few personnel, too little infrastructure, training or equipment. The public is economically challenged and lacks environmental awareness. There is no community involvement in management, and an inadequate legal and policy framework. Management plans are lacking for Kluchevskoy Nature Park, and still only in development for Bystrinsky, Nalychevo, and South Kamchatka Nature Reserves. Bystrinsky, where the boundaries are unmarked, zoning is unresolved and ecologically and valuable areas are excluded "exists only on paper" (Newell et al., 2001). Park staffing and finance levels for all the reserves are under pressure.

STAFF The Nature Parks Board has a staff of 18 with a Director based in Petropavlovsk; each Park has an allocation of 5 field staff, but for Bystrinskiy for example the Director has only two staff for an area of 13,300 square kilometers. Federal areas have a Director and about 40 office and field staff.

BUDGET The Kamchatka Regional administration finances the Board of Nature Parks. In 2000 this totalled Rub.585,000 (US$21,000), but there were no funds for the maintenance and development of the Klyuchevskoy extension. In 2000, 20% of the revenue for Kronotskiy and South Kamchatka Reserves came from helicopter tourism. In 2001 the GEF proposed funding for the first stage of two projects: to promote sustainable conservation of biodiversity in four protected areas and to improve the development and management of salmonid fish in four western watersheds for a first stage total cost to GEF of US$2,333,700, and, with co-financing, of US$5,324,0270. The whole 7-year project could cost US$13,175,700 from all sources (UNDP, 2001).

ADDRESSES

Ministry for Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, 4/6, Gruzinskaya Ul., Moscow, 123812.

Kamchatka Institute of Ecology and Nature Use, Prospekt Rybakov,19A, Petropavlovsk 683040.

Kamchatka Board of Nature Parks . 29/1, Karl Marx Avenue, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy 693006.

Kronotskiy Zapovednik Administration, Ul.Ryabikova 48, Elizovo 684010, Kamchatka.

Forest Management of the Kamchatka Region Administration, Lenin Sq. 1, Petropavlovsk 683040.

REFERENCES

Borodin, A. & Syroechkovski, E. (1983). Zapovedniki SSSR. Moscow. Lesnaya Promyshlennost Publishing house. 249 pp.

Gyppenreiter, V. & Perkins, R. (1989). Kamchatka: Land of Fire and Ice.

IUCN (2001). Report on the State of Conservation of Natural and Mixed Sites Inscribed on the World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger. Gland, Switzerland

Krever, V. et al. (1994). Conserving Russia's Biological Diversity: An Analytical Framework and Initial Investment Portfolio. WWF, Washington, DC. 207pp.

Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve. (1984). Data sheet for UNESCO-MAB nomination. 7pp.

Menshikov, V., Efimenko, A. & Nikiforov, V. (2000). Nomination. Nature Park Kluchevskoy for Inclusion in UNESCO World Heritage List. For the UNESCO World Heritage Committee. 22pp.+ Appendices 28pp.

Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Russia (MEPNR) (1995). Nomination of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka  for Inclusion in the World Heritage List. 28 pp.

Murashko, O. (2001). Disturbing news from Kamchatka. Indigenous Peoples' World. Living Arctic, 4.

Newell, J.,Chernyagina,O.,Zykov,V.,Lazarev,G.,Mosolov,V. & Rassokhina, L. (2001). Saving Russia's Far Eastern Taiga: Deforestation, Protected Areas and Forest 'Hotspots'. V: Kamchatka Region. 22pp

Newell, J. & Wilson, E. (1996). The Russian Far East. Friends of Earth - Japan. Tokyo. 197 pp.

Ponomareva,V. et al. (n.d.). Eruptive History of Kamchatka Volcanoes. Institute of Volcanic Geology & Geochemistry, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. 3pp.

Simkin, T. & Seibert, L. (1994). Volcanoes of the World. Geoscience Press, Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.

UNDP (2001). Demonstrating Sustainable Conservation of Biological Diversity in Four Protected Areas in Russia's Kamchatka Oblast. GEF, Washington, U.S.A. 75pp.

Wilson, M. & Halupka, K. (1995). Anadromous fish as a keystone species in vertebrate communities. Conservation Biology 9(3): 489-497.

Wilson, M., Gende, S. & Marston, B. (1998). Fishes and the forest. Bioscience. 48(6): 455-462.

DATE November 1996. Updated 1/2000, 4/2001, November 2002.