Russia Plans 2014 Olympics Road Through World Heritage Site

The planned road to the Olympic Ski Complex on Psekhako Ridge would cross the Western Caucasus UNESCO World Heritage Site as well as its protected buffer zone.

The investor behind this road is the state company Gazprom, the world's largest gas company. The ridge is the location of Gazprom's new mountain resort, ski slopes, ski lifts and buildings, as well as the Olympic Ski Complex. Construction of the Olympic Ski Stadium with operating facilities is scheduled for completion in 2010.

The Western Caucasus World Heritage Site is marked by the red circle. The small dots are other UNESCO World Heritage sites. (Map courtesy UNESCO)

Andrey Rudomakha, coordinator of Environmental Watch on North Caucasus, says, "At this time, Gazprom is actively trying to coordinate construction of the road with the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment."

"Three kilometers of the road will intersect the Caucasus Reserve, beginning near the bridge over Achipse River and the Grand Hotel Polyana. The road will then lead to the Laura Cordon, a small settlement for Caucasus Reserve's rangers, and the planned bridge over Laura River. After the bridge, the road should cross over onto the territory of the Sochi National Park," explains Rudomakha.

"These plans are not advertised but nor are they concealed," says Rudomakha.

The plan that places the road in the Caucasus Reserve is available on the website of Olimpstroy, the state corporation responsible for design, construction and operation of the Sochi Winter Olympic venues and for development of Sochi city as a mountain resort.

The road is also shown on two recent maps of the mountain area in Krasnaya Polyana district of Sochi. One map shows the land plots allocated for Olympic and investment objects, and the other shows the planned location of the objects themselves. These maps show the relevant segment of the road and a large adjacent plot of land openly marked for Olympic usage.

"But in reality," says Rudomakha, "only Gazprom needs the road to go via this specific route" because Gazprom's management is unwilling to have the road cut through their elite Grand Hotel Polyana complex on the left bank of Achipse River, since it will disturb their clients.

"In this way," he says, "corporate interests end up above Russian legislation, which strictly forbids construction of roads in nature reserves."

In a letter to the Olympic and UN authorities earlier this month, Environmental Watch on North Caucasus asks them "to address the Russian authorities and ask them to abandon the harmful road project to Psekhako Ridge through the World Heritage Site 'Western Caucasus' as well as its protected buffer zone.

Gazprom's new resort hotel in the Achipse River valley. The second construction stage includes the ski stadium and other facilities at Psekhako Ridge. (Photo courtesy Gazprom)

From May 14 through 16, Chair of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee Maria Jesus San Segundo and Director of the World Heritage Centre Francesco Bandarin visited Sochi in connection with a separate problem of conservation at the Western Caucasus World Heritage site.

Rudomakha says they also took an interest in the plans for road construction to Psekhako Ridge and visited a site on the reserve where the construction of this road is planned.

They had a meeting with Yury Trutnev, the Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, where this issue was considered among other problems.

In this connection, Environmental Watch on North Caucasus has directed the official appeal to San Segundo and Bandarin.

In their letter of appeal, the group says, "This is not the first time Gazprom is threatening the Caucasus Reserve and the Western Caucasus World Heritage Site.

Ski lift in the Alpine skiing area Krasnaya Polyana (Photo courtesy Wikimedia)

"In 2000-2001, the company radically altered the course of the Laura River in violation of Russian laws and without notifying the World Heritage Committee. The alteration of the river, which falls in its entirety into the Caucasus Reserve, led to a reduction of the Reserve's territory, and, therefore, the territory of the World Heritage Site," the letter states.

"As was made clear during the UNESCO monitoring mission done last year, Gazprom plans to expand its skiing complex by developing territories inside 'Western Caucasus' property reaching as far as the Kholodny Glacier. What we are seeing now is another attempt to use World Heritage territories in needs of the gas company," the group says in its letter.

"Unfortunately, the company's project is de-facto supported by various state agencies despite the fact that constructing roads in protected areas is prohibited by Russian national legislation," the letter states.

During the July 2008 meeting of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, a decision was taken calling upon Russia to “halt all activities affecting the values and integrity of the property, in particular, the extensive risks to the property from the current plans for the developments for 2014 Winter Olympic Games, and road plans."

At the time, Julia Marton-Lefevre, Director General of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, which is the technical advisory body on natural heritage to the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, said,  “The decision to move some events and construction away from the Western Caucasus World Heritage site is an encouraging sign from the Russian authorities. The Olympic spirit is well served when nature conservation is taken into consideration.”

Western Caucasus World Heritage site (Photo courtesy UNESCO)

The bobsleigh and luge track for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games as well as the Mountain Olympic Village will not be constructed in the buffer zone of the World Heritage Site as first planned.

But Environmental Watch on North Caucasus points out in its letter of appeal that if the road to the Olympic Ski Complex on Psekhako Ridge is built, this UNESCO decision would not be fulfilled.

"Preparations for the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi are still being carried out while ignoring basic environmental norms, leading to irrevocable damage to unique natural ecosystems of Western Caucasus. All of this flagrantly contradicts the principles of the Olympic movement," the group warned Olympic and UNESCO officials.

The group also has addressed a request to stop the road to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Russian Premier Vladimir Putin, but says "removing this threat without participation of international organization seems unlikely."

Listed in 1999, the Western Caucasus World Heritage Site extends over 275,000 hectares of the extreme western end of the Caucasus mountains about 50 kilometers (30 miles) northeast of the Black Sea. It is one of the few large mountain areas of Europe that has not experienced significant human impact.

Its subalpine and alpine pastures have only been grazed by wild animals, and its extensive tracts of undisturbed mountain forests, extending from the lowlands to the subalpine zone, are unique in Europe, according to a description by UNESCO. The site has a great diversity of ecosystems, with important endemic plants and wildlife, and is the place of origin and reintroduction of the mountain subspecies of the European bison.

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