Main results of the UNDP/GEF project “Strengthening of protected area system of the Komi Republic to conserve virgin forest biodiversity in the Pechora river headwaters region”

The results of one of the largest and successfully completed Russian environmental projects aimed at a representative and effectively managed network of protected areas to ensure conservation of virgin boreal forest and taiga ecosystems in the Komi Republic are described. To fulfill this task, it was necessary to achieve three outcomes: 1) The protected area system of the Komi Republic is redesigned for more effective preservation of globally significant biodiversity; 2) Increased institutional capacity for management of the protected areas within the protected area system of the Komi Republic; 3) Application of business planning principles results in diversified revenue streams for the protected area system of the Komi Republic.The significance of Komi forests for the whole of Eurasia has also been emphasized by the grant of the International Climate Initiative (ICI) sponsored by the German Government. As a result, the project has been supplemented with thefourth component “Improvement of the KR PA system to conserve globally significant biodiversity and manage carbon pools”. There is also a project componentaimed at conservation and restoration of permafrost ecosystems currently implemented in the Republic of Komi and in the Nenets Autonomous Area with the financial support provided by the EU “ClimaEast” Programme.The accomplishment of project tasks and the achieved outcomes will contribute to minimization of PA threats, conservation of globally significant biodiversityin the region, and to elimination of barriers to establishing an effective and sustainable network of protected areas in the Republic of Komi.The results of the UNDP/GEF KR PA project in the arctic and subarctic areasin the Republic of Komi are particularly topical. All its proposals on the establishment of new protected areas to conserve natural complexes and tundra sites(substantiation of the establishment of the regional complex reserves “Silova- Yakha” and “Bolshaya Rogovaya”, and the biological reserve “Seida”), as well asPolar Ural areas (the regional biological reserve “The Niyayu River Canyon” and the regional complex reserves “Ochenyrd” and “Bolshaya Lakhorta”) andPrePolar Ural areas (the regional complex reserve “Chernorechensky”) havebeen included in the Strategic Plan of the KR PA system adopted by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Republic of Komi.