Russia

Putorana Plateau

WHS Score 3.46 Votes 3 Average 4.33

The Putorana Plateau is a vast, remote and pristine Arctic landscape.

The area holds a complete set of subarctic and arctic ecosystems like taiga, tundra and arctic desert, alternated with lakes, rivers and deep canyons. It is mostly covered by permafrost. Twice a year, migrating reindeer cross the property.

Community Perspective: Martina did an epic week-long trip to this site in Siberia, and has shared the practical details and the experience.

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Putorana Plateau (ID: 1234)
Country
Russia
Status
Inscribed 2010 Site history
History of Putorana Plateau
WHS Type
Natural
Criteria
  • vii
  • ix
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
Related Resources

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Natural landscape: Mountain
  • Urban landscape: Post-medieval European
  • Secular structure: Military and Fortifications
Travel Information
Reservation required
Reservation required
Visiting the area requires a permit from the FSB, as …
One thousand visitors or fewer
One thousand visitors or fewer
“In 2005, 437 people visited the reserve, including 30 tourist …
Recent Connections
View all (21) .
Connections of Putorana Plateau
Geography
  • Arctic
  • Siberia
  • Isolated WHS
    Roughly 1,500 KM from the Virgin Komi Forests
  • Glaciers
    "The modern glaciation of the Putorana, despite of good precondition for its development, is insignificant. In the northeastern and northern part of the mountains there have been noted only 22 small glaciers with the total area of only 2,5 sq.km."
  • Full White Nights
  • Yenisei Basin
    The Plateau feeds 3 river systems - “three river basins (Yenisei, Pyasina and Khatanga)” (Nom File) The main river feeding the Yenisei is the Khantayka whose source is is Lake Maloye Khantayskoye in the Putorana Massif.
Ecology
World Heritage Process
WHS on Other Lists
Timeline
  • Triassic
    The Putorana Plateau originates from a Permian- Triassic mantle plume, which is an immense upwelling of magma, resulting in extended tectonic movements and extensive volcanism. This created a basalt and tuff plateau in which rivers and streams carved valleys and canyons over millions of years. (AB ev)
Visiting conditions
  • Reservation required
    Visiting the area requires a permit from the FSB, as foreigners are officially not allowed to visit Norilsk - the starting point for tours into the reserve.
  • No road access
    By helicopter. AB ev: “The nominated property is only readily accessible by helicopter from an airport near to Norilsk, located about 200 km north-west from its western border, or by boat along the lakes, but navigation on the only water course (Norilka River) leading to the Lama Lake is difficult.”
  • One thousand visitors or fewer
    “In 2005, 437 people visited the reserve, including 30 tourist groups, 170 individuals and 3 scientifi c researchers.“ several thousand tourists visit the buffer zone per year. ” – may by now have risen well beyond 1,000: “y. More recent data is unavailable, however tourist numbers were growing rapidly at the time of inscription in 2010 (IUCN, 2010)” (IUCN Outlook 2020)
News

No news.

Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

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First published: 08/09/21.

Martina Rúčková

Putorana Plateau

Putorana Plateau (Inscribed)

Putorana Plateau by Martina Rúčková

Two unvisited WHSs in Russia remained for us: Wrangel Island and Putorana Plateau. The former is still off as far as what we're willing to spend, the latter was doable, though also not cheap, but a plan in our pipeline for a very long time. And since this year is supposed to be our final in Russia and given the extremely short window of when it is actually possible to visit as the season lasts about ten weeks of fleeting mild temperatures in summer, we started planning early.

And by we, I mean Ivan, who had a look around all Russian travel agencies and all of their tours. Putorana has started to become very popular amongst tourists and the demand surpasses offer, which doesn't make it the cheapest tour option out there, but on the other hand, you have several options: a boat tour from Svetlogorsk (so you can avoid having to get a permission from FSB to enter Norilsk), or a trip to any of the tour bases on the Lake Lama (transfer via hovercraft from Norilsk). Most of the commercial tours take place inside the buffer zone and you will most probably fly over the actual core zone area if you take the helicopter ride. We did and managed to do so. But to actually enter the core zone on foot would require even more permissions and planning as it is the zapovednik which is the most protected natural reserve category in Russia, would have to include …

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First published: 22/05/12.

Anonymous

Putorana Plateau

Putorana Plateau (Inscribed)

Photo in the Public Domain

Putorana Pleateau: In June of 2001 I was a tourist with the MIR Corporation and 6 of us tourists along with a MIR guide and a guide from Novosibirsk joined an 8 member crew on a small boat, the Zarya, to deliver food and oil packages to villages along the Yenesei River with the Russian/American endeavor called "Project-Aid Siberia." In Turukhansk we met a doctor who invited us to join him and his friends for a fishing trip along the tributaries of the lower Tunguska River. Of course, transportation was by helicopter. On the way home that evening, our pilot set our helicopter down on the edge of the Putorana Plateau and we made our

way over the rocks and tundra to the edge. The view was spectacular and it was an experience I will never forget.

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