UN - A Siberian plateau that contains pristine tundra, forest and cold-water lakes and is the site of a major reindeer migration route was today added to the United Nations World Heritage List.The World Heritage Committee of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), continuing its meeting in Brasilia, today inscribed the Putorana Plateau in Russia. The committee also approved an extension to the Monte San Giorgio site in Switzerland, which has been on the list since 2003.
Announcing its decisions, the committee noted that the Putorana Plateau, which lies about 100 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, “harbours a complete set of sub-Arctic and Arctic ecosystems in an isolated mountain range, including pristine taiga, forest tundra, tundra and Arctic desert systems, as well as untouched cold-water lake and river systems.”
The extension to the Monte San Giorgio site is contiguous with the existing site, but on the Italian side of the border with Switzerland. The mountain is regarded as the best fossil record of marine life from the Triassic Period, which took place between 245 million and 230 million years ago.
Today’s additions to the World Heritage List join 27 other natural, cultural and mixed sites that have been inscribed or extended during the current session of the committee, which wraps up tomorrow.
