The Great Vasyugan mire was recently proposed for inclusion into the UNESCO List of World Heritage. With over 60 000 square kilometers, the Vasyugan mire is the largest uninterrupted peatland of the world.
The absence of settlements in this inaccessible area guarantees a high level of safety for the ecosystem and its biodiversity. Economic activities are not carried in the area; there is no timber production and no proven oil and gas fields.
Traditional use of the mire includes berry and herb gathering and licensed hunting, coordinated by the Vasyugan reserve administration.
Gaining the status of UNESCO world heritage will allow enhanced safety of the area and protection from economic activities.
The Great Vasyugan mire is a unique system, with a high landscape complexity. The mire is located in a transitional belt between the small-leaved forest and the southern taiga zone. Differences in salinity and alkalinity of the subsoil and in peatland development have resulted in a high diversity of peatland types and forest-peatland complexes.
Besides harbouring important biodiversity on the species and particularly the ecosystem level, the Great Vasyugan mire also provides important ecosystem services in terms of Carbon sequestration and storage and water regulation and storage. The Vasyugan mire serves as the source of large tributaries to the Ob and the Irtysh Rivers.
Both the Russian and the global World Heritage Lists do not contain any similar objects. Minerotrophic peatlands of the northern hemisphere as a rule are transformed by economic activities, but still in pristine state within the Great Vasyugan mire. Many nominations include raised bogs, but they do lack the extent and significance of Vasyugan.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5114/