UNESCO visit to Altai manipulated to silence environmentalists

An Indigenous Woman on the Altai Plateau

On September 4, 2007, the UNESCO delegation began its official visit to the Altai Republic to review the state of the World Heritage Site “Golden Mountains of Altai.”  Members of the delegation included Mr. Kishore Rao, Deputy Director of the UNESCO World Heritage Center.  On September 7th, the delegation planned to conduct a round-table with community leaders to discuss issues faced by the Altai’s World Heritage Site.  Local non-governmental organizations planned to use this meeting to voice their position regarding current plans to build the Altai pipeline, a gas pipeline that will cut across the Ukok Plateau, which is part of the World Heritage Site.  Suddenly on September 6, in a coordinated move, the round table event was moved from the capital of the Altai Republic, Gorno-Altaisk, to Ust-Koksa, an extremely remote village in Ust-Koksa region. 

As a result, no local NGO representatives were able to attend this meeting.  The location was changed by government officials and their motive was obvious: to prevent local organizations from sharing their concerns about the Altai pipeline with UNESCO officials. Instead, what was an opportunity for open media and public engagement became a closed room, with corrupt negotiations between UNESCO, Gazprom’s intermediary companies, and the government of the Altai Republic.  The results of this round-table have not been made public. 

Just this morning, the UNESCO delegation continued their visit with a special flight to the Ukok Plateau.  In the moments just before takeoff, representatives from Greenpeace-Russia were denied participation and told they must remain in Gorno-Altaisk.  A local NGO “Chyndyk” (Integrity) were present at the airport with posters to protest the way the UNESCO visit has been handled.   

Pacific Environment, along with its partners in Altai, expresses its deep disappointment with the way the UNESCO World Heritage delegation’s visit has been handled.  As a highly respected international representative body designed to ensure the protection of natural and cultural heritage based on a special treaty adopted in 1972, it is extremely disheartening to see that the delegation allowed the local government and Gazprom to control this important visit.  In light of resource extraction mega projects being undertaken in today’s Russia, it is crucial that international organizations such as UNESCO remain committed to their mission within the region, supporting local communities and protecting natural and cultural heritage.

Please stay tuned for more information!

For more information, please contact Meerim Kylychbekova at mkylychbekova@pacificenvironment.org