Russia
Putorana Plateau
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.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- Putorana Plateau (ID: 1234)
- Country
- Russia
- Status
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Inscribed 2010
Site history
History of Putorana Plateau
- WHS Type
- Natural
- Criteria
- vii
- ix
Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- rusnature.info — Putoransky Nature Reserve
Community Information
- Community Category
- Natural landscape: Mountain
- Urban landscape: Post-medieval European
- Secular structure: Military and Fortifications
Travel Information
Reservation required
One thousand visitors or fewer
Recent Connections
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Yenisei Basin
The Plateau feeds 3 river systems - “th… -
Full White Nights
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Strict Nature Reserve
Fully; no visitor restrictions seem to …
Connections of Putorana Plateau
- Geography
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Arctic
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Siberia
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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
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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.
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- Ecology
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Bears
brown bear -
Permafrost Mounds
See "Spatial distribution of Pingos in N Asia" ".....the Putorana Plateau (49 pingos; mean elevation 699 +/- 109masl)" -
Gray Wolf
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Strict Nature Reserve
Fully; no visitor restrictions seem to exist though numbers are low ("Within the Reserve itself, less than 500 people visited in 2005") -
Salamanders
Siberian salamander -
Mammal Migrations
"A major reindeer migration route crosses the property, which represents an exceptional, large-scale and increasingly rare natural phenomenon." (unesco website) -
Tundra
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Taiga
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Otters
Eurasian otter
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- World Heritage Process
- WHS on Other Lists
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Located in a TCC Territory
Russia in Asia
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- Timeline
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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)
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- Visiting conditions
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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)
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News
No news.
Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.Community Reviews
Show full reviews
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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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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