Kamchatka’s protected areas are recognized as world heritage
On January 11, Russia celebrates the Day of Nature Reserves and National Parks. The first specially protected area in tsarist Russia was established 108 years ago.
On January 11, 1917, the first Russian Barguzin Nature Reserve was established on the shores of Lake Baikal to save the sable population. This date is considered the birthday of the entire nature reserve system of the country.
Already in the USSR, in 1934, the Kronotsky Reserve was established in Kamchatka to restore the population of the Kamchatka subspecies of sable. These animals were rescued from uncontrolled fishing.
The Kronotsky Nature Reserve is one of the oldest and largest in Russia. Its area exceeds one million hectares, and everything Kamchatka is famous for is preserved on its territory – volcanoes, geysers, Pacific salmon, one of the most numerous groups of brown bears, and rare marine mammals.
Today, the country has 108 nature reserves, 72 national parks and 63 nature reserves of federal importance. In addition to Kronotsky, the Kamchatka Territory includes the Koryak Nature Reserve, the South Kamchatka Federal Reserve, the Commander Islands National Park, and several nature parks.
In December 1996, the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, the Yuzhno-Kamchatsky Federal Reserve, the Nalychevo, Yuzhno-Kamchatsky and Bystrinsky nature parks were recognized as a World Natural Heritage Site as part of the Volcanoes of Kamchatka. Later, the Klyuchevskaya Nature Park became another heir.
Photo by Alexey Maslov/Kronotsky Nature Reserve.