unesco caucasus. Caucasus Mountains - mountains of amazing beauty
Caucasus. Western, Central, Eastern
The Caucasus is a mountainous country located along the border of Europe and Asia within Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The highest, axial part of the mountain system, stretching for 1100 km between the Black and Caspian Seas in the northwest - southeast direction, is called the Greater Caucasus.
The mountains of the Greater Caucasus are geologically young. Tectonic uplifts continue here, the relief is subjected to intense destructive action of glaciers, rivers, and wind erosion. The tops of the mountains, built of hard rocks, have the shape of peaks, turrets, pyramids. In areas of soft rocks, there are peaks of rounded or table-like forms, with a flat top and steep slopes. The profiles of river valleys are diverse - from wide trough-shaped, worked out by ancient glaciers, to narrow, sometimes impassable canyons. The entire region is characterized by relatively high seismicity.
The expansion of ski resorts will cause irreparable damage to the facility " Western Caucasus”, such a conclusion is contained in the decision of the 42nd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, held in Bahrain.
Draft decision of the 42nd session of the Committee world heritage According to the experts of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), UNESCO on the site "Western Caucasus" (42 COM 7B.80) generally reflects the existing threats to its outstanding universal value. In particular, the Committee expressed serious concern about the fact that the land plots of the Sochi National Park and the Sochi Wildlife Sanctuary were leased out to companies associated with the Rosa Khutor ski resort for the purpose of its further development. One part of these sites is located directly on the border of the World Heritage Site, while the other goes far up the valley of the Mzymta River, effectively threatening the ecological integrity of this territory.
In addition, Gazprom plans to build a ski infrastructure on Grushevoy Ridge, a unique area on the border of the site, which in 2008 managed to be protected from the construction of Olympic facilities thanks to the personal intervention of Vladimir Putin.
WWF welcomes the Committee's appeal to Russian Federation with a call not to allow the construction of tourism infrastructure facilities in specially protected natural areas (SPNA) due to the risk of negative impact on the Western Caucasus World Heritage Site. Risk assessment should be carried out in accordance with the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It should be noted that for the first time in the decisions of the World Heritage Committee, not only the heritage site itself (the Caucasian Reserve) appears, but also the protected areas bordering it. Thus, it is recognized that a negative impact on the object is also exerted by projects implemented outside the boundaries of the Caucasian Reserve in the adjacent territories.
« Our concern about the extensive development of ski resorts in the Krasnaya Polyana area has finally been noticed by the World Heritage Committee, as evidenced by the Commission's decision,- He speaks Igor Chestin, director of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). - Without a doubt, the expansion of the resorts will completely destroy the upper reaches of the Mzymta, where there are valuable habitats and a migration corridor for many species of animals, while the main part of the Caucasian Reserve will gradually become fragmented, losing its significance. We expect that the decisive position of the Committee will become an obstacle to further destruction of the unique ecosystems of the Russian Caucasus. The expansion of resorts is already underway, while an assessment of what is happening has not yet been given. There is no up-to-date and scientifically substantiated information about their impact on the environment neither for projects already underway nor for planned ones.» .
WWF Russia \ Sergey Trepet
Gazprom and Rosa Khutor have repeatedly publicly demonstrated design solutions for the further expansion of their territories, including through the territory of the Caucasian Biosphere Reserve. De facto, the construction of resorts is already underway. In addition, recently the Ministry of North Caucasus Affairs announced plans for the construction of a highway Mineral water- Adler, which can pass through the territory of the Caucasian Reserve. In this case, the Western Caucasus runs the risk of becoming almost completely cut off from the rest of this mountain system.
WWF Russia and Greenpeace Russia made a joint statement at the session that plans to build resorts and infrastructure on the territory of the Western Caucasus World Heritage Site, as well as in the surrounding areas, threaten its outstanding world value. Ecologists appealed to the members of the World Heritage Committee with a request to take the measures provided for by the World Heritage Convention and prevent the implementation of these projects.
WWF welcomes the adoption by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) of the document "Sport and Biodiversity guide", which regulates the work of the sports sector in the context of its impact on nature and the assessment of its conservation potential, as well as the inclusion in the reports of several World Heritage sites ("Western Caucasus" in Russia) , national park Pirin in Bulgaria) under threat due to the construction of large sports facilities. The document was developed as part of an agreement between IUCN and the International Olympic Committee aimed at the conservation and restoration of biodiversity in venues Olympic Games, as well as maintaining nature as a key factor in the conservation healthy lifestyle life.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites are objects created by nature or man that have cultural, historical or environmental significance for humanity. The Western Caucasus site was included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List in 1999. It includes the Caucasian State Reserve, the Bolshoi Tkhach Natural Park, the natural monuments Buiny Ridge, the Upper Tsitsa River and the Upper Pshekha and Pshekhashkha Rivers.
Reserve " Western Caucasus”covers an area of almost 175 square kilometers in the western part of the Greater Caucasus Range in the upper reaches of the Belaya and Malaya Laba rivers, where the conditional natural and climatic border of the Eurasian continent passes.
The central zone (almost 280 thousand hectares) is formed by the territories of Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Territory and Adygea. They are adjoined by the alpine landscapes of Bolshoy Thach, the upper reaches of the Pshekha and Pshekhashkha rivers, the Buiny Ridge, and the upper reaches of the Tsitse. The landscape structure of the Western Caucasus is created by several parallel mountain ranges stretching from the northwest to the southeast. The elevation difference varies from 250 meters to 3600 meters above sea level. The highest peaks: Akaragvarta, Tsakhoa, Chugush.
There are about 80 small glaciers, 130 mountain lakes of various sizes, age and origin (the largest Inpsi, Kardyvach, Bezmolvia) within the limits of the Western Caucasus Reserve. The rivers of the northern part of the reserve flow into the channel of the Kuban and exit into the Sea of Azov (Bolshaya Laba, Belaya, Malaya Laba, Zakan, Damhurst). The rivers of the southern slopes of the Western Caucasus flow straight into the Black Sea (Mzymta, Khosta, Sochi, Shakhe).
The territories of the Western Caucasus are located at the junction of temperate and humid subtropical climatic zones. The climate of the southern foothills and the coastal zone of the Black Sea has a subtropical character, and cold air masses coming from the north are delayed by mountain peaks, falling out of precipitation in mountain gorges. The air temperature depends on the height above sea level and drops by half a degree Celsius for every 100 meters you rise.
The vegetation cover, as well as the type of soil, passes from one to another when going uphill (descent). The foothill part of the Sochi National Park, stretching from Psou to the Ashe River, is characterized by an abundance of oak and hornbeam groves, chestnut. The uppermost zone of the Sochi Park (from 500 to 1500 meters) is formed by fir, spruce and beech forests. At an altitude of 2 thousand meters, the spruce forest is replaced by subalpine vegetation of a pine forest. Another 300 meters of height form open spaces thickets of rhododendron, birch and willow groves of subalpine meadows. The realm of alpine meadows stretches up to 3 thousand meters. The closer to the ice caps of the mountain peaks, the poorer the vegetation, the lower the temperature and the thicker the air.
The flora of the reserve counts more than one and a half thousand species of plants, 17 of which originate from these places (hog parsnip). A third of the flora and fauna of the Western Caucasus belongs to endemics and relics (endangered). In the forests of the subalpine zone, several types of tree-like vines grow (ivy, wild grapes, honeysuckle, nightshade and others).
The fauna of the Western Caucasus is extremely diverse. Among the local inhabitants there are many listed in the Red Books. The most numerous group of the population of the reserve are rodents and small animal species (badgers, noks, otters). Slightly less common are artiodactyls (bison, deer, roe deer, chamois, tours, wild boars). The limits of the Western Caucasus and the Sochi Park in particular serve as an important transit point on the way of migrating migratory birds. The waters of mountain rivers are inhabited by more than two dozen species of river trout.
Yesterday, at the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, without discussion, a decision was made on the inadmissibility of building natural sites "Western Caucasus" and "Golden Mountains of Altai" in Russia. However, environmentalists call these measures not tough enough. They hope that in 2020 UNESCO will present Russia with more serious requirements for the conservation of natural sites. Next year international organization should assess the threat across the five "most problematic" Russian natural areas for which Russian officials and companies have their own plans.
The meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has been held in Baku since the beginning of the week. Yesterday, an international organization issued decisions on several Russian World Heritage Sites. In particular, UNESCO welcomed the Russian side's confirmation that the planned Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline (formerly the Altai project) would bypass the Golden Mountains of Altai facility (see Kommersant on March 4). However, this time the committee recalled its position: any decision to pass the gas pipeline through a protected area will be the basis for transferring it to the World Heritage List in Danger. In this regard, the organization asked to provide documents that would confirm the alternative route.
UNESCO also “noted with concern” that the Russian authorities did not provide information on the Maly Kalychak gold deposit in Gorny Altai, and asked for this to be corrected by February 1, 2020.
In its decision, the committee recalls that mining is incompatible with World Heritage status.
As Kommersant previously reported, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced that the license for gold mining near Lake Teletskoye had been suspended. However, according to state register subsoil plots and licenses, the contract for the use of the Maly Kalychak field is valid until 2027.
Also, UNESCO made a decision on the object "Western Caucasus". Recall that at last year's session, the international organization expressed concern about the plans of Russian companies to build mountain tourism infrastructure on the territory of the Sochi National Park and the Sochi Reserve. As Kommersant reported, Gazprom was studying the possibility of laying ski slopes near the World Natural Heritage site (see Kommersant dated June 5, 2018). However, the Russian authorities reported: there are no plans to develop tourism infrastructure near the protected area of international importance.
This year, the committee urged Russia to send again confirmation that the companies had abandoned these plans for good. In addition, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee again recommended that the construction of a road to the site of the Biosphere Science Center be abandoned. Activists of the Environmental Watch for the North Caucasus, as well as Novaya Gazeta and Radio Liberty, have previously stated that the science center, whose construction began in 2002, is the Lunnaya Polyana ski resort, which was allegedly built for the recreation of President Vladimir Putin . As Kommersant wrote earlier, last fall, the construction of the road to Lunnaya Polyana resumed again.
“We welcomed the decision of the committee, but also drew attention to the facts that are not taken into account either in the decision of UNESCO or in the report of the Russian side,” Valery Shmunk, head of the Russian Caucasus branch of WWF Russia, told Kommersant. Moonglade” from the south, another section of the road is being built, which actually runs into the boundaries of the World Heritage Site.”
According to him, such construction may entail "hard to predict consequences", in particular, the road will interrupt the migratory routes of animals and violate the integrity of the World Heritage site.
Environmentalists call the committee's decision this session "not tough enough." “Last year it was said that if Russia does not provide an unequivocal answer about the lack of plans for the construction of tourist facilities, then the Western Caucasus will be transferred to the list of world heritage under threat,” says Greenpeace Russia expert Mikhail Kreindlin. “But this year the decision was accepted without discussion, and it was rather weak. Although the construction of this road is a direct violation of the decisions of two sessions of the committee.” However, Mr. Kreindlin draws attention to the fact that in 2020 UNESCO will make decisions on the most “problematic Russian objects”. It's about about the objects "Western Caucasus", "Golden Mountains of Altai", "Virgin forests of Komi", "Volcanoes of Kamchatka" and "Lake Baikal". Kommersant about the various plans of Russian officials and companies for these protected areas. Ecologists hope that the international organization will make a "more serious decision" next year.
The Caucasus is one of the largest mountain systems in the world. It occupies a huge area, and its peaks are the highest in our country - Elbrus, belonging to the Central Caucasus system, even surpasses the European Mont Blanc. The Western Caucasus is part of the Greater Caucasus and also has interesting characteristics.
Location and composition
The mountains of the Western Caucasus are part of the vast system of the Greater Caucasus, which stretches for more than 1 thousand km. In width, this mountainous country can exceed 150 km. Most high mountains systems are located in the central part of the Caucasus. The mountains of the Western Caucasus lag behind in height, but they are distinguished by a high diversity of flora, fauna, and impressive views.
In addition to the western Caucasus, the Greater Caucasus is also divided into a central part and an eastern part. The territory of the Caucasus is located on a huge continental uplift, which exceeds the height of all the surrounding plains. The slopes of the mountains are composed of rocks of different ages, from the most ancient to the youngest. Ancient rocks come out where it depends on the geological processes of folding, mainly in the inner regions of the Caucasus. The outer slopes are composed of younger rocks.
The northwestern Caucasus received its present form as a result of modern geological processes. Glaciers play an important role in this, covering a significant area and feeding most of the local rivers.
In addition, glaciers contributed to the formation of modern landscapes - thanks to them, such types of formations as trough valleys, cirques, cirques, moraines appeared in many. Some of them are still filled with glaciers, while others below may contain glacial lakes with clear water.
Features of the Western Caucasus
The mountains of the Western Caucasus are part of such Russian regions, as the republics of Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, as well as the Krasnodar Territory. On the territory of this mountain system there are several nature protection zones designed to protect rare and endangered species of animals and plants that are found only there, or preserved from ancient times.
The western part of the northern Caucasus is distinguished by an abundance of nival-glacial landscape types created by the passage of glaciers. Often in valleys of this origin, there are lakes with crystal clean water. All rivers originating in these mountains are distinguished by great purity and transparency of water, since the amount of solid runoff is minimal.
The Western Caucasus is distinguished not only by the habitat there of many species of rare animals and plants, the very nature of this mountain system is striking in its grandeur and beauty. In these places you can see snow-capped mountains, gigantic trees, fast mountain rivers with impressive waterfalls.