View source for Virgin Komi Forests

{{Infobox World Heritage Site
| WHS         = Virgin Komi Forests
| Image       = [[File:Four herous01.JPG|250px]]
| State Party = [[Image:Flag of Russia.svg|22px]] [[Russian Federation]]
| Type        = Natural
| Criteria    = vii, ix
| ID          = 719
| Region      = [[List of World Heritage Sites in Europe|Europe and North America]]
| Year        = 1995
| Session     = 19th
| Link        = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/719
| locmapin    = Russia
| relief      = 1
| coordinates = {{coord|64|25|N|58|59|E|format=dms|type:forest_region:RU_dim:500000|display=inline,title}}
| map_caption = Location of Komi forests in Russia
}}
The '''Virgin Komi Forests''' is a natural [[UNESCO]]  [[World Heritage site]] in the Northern [[Ural Mountains]] of the [[Komi Republic]], [[Russia]]. At 32,800&nbsp;km² it is the largest [[virgin forest]] in [[Europe]].

The Virgin Komi Forests belong to the [[Ural Mountains]] [[taiga]] [[ecoregion]]. Dominant tree species include [[Siberian Spruce]], [[Siberian Fir]] and [[Siberian Larch]], while the most prominent [[mammal]]s are the [[reindeer]], the [[sable]], the [[mink]] and the [[hare]].

The site corresponds to Russia's [[Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve]] and [[Yugyd Va National Park]]. Its [[World Heritage Site]] status was recognised in 1995, making it the first natural World Heritage site in the country. This  recognition brought the site additional funding from abroad and saved it from imminent logging by a French company ([[HUET Holding]]). However, conservation threats remain, [[illegal logging]] and gold-mining in particular. Deposits of [[gold]] in the northern part of the Yugyd-Va National Park were to be mined prior to 1995.

Despite the area's recognition as a World Heritage site, attempts at extracting gold are being actively lobbied by the Head of the Republic and Komi's Ministry of Nature. The regional government's attempts to move the site's borders so as to exclude the gold-rich parts and strip them of their protected status have been ruled out by Komi's Supreme Court.{{when|date=December 2014}}

==External links==
* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/719 Virgin Komi Forests] (at the UNESCO World Heritage site)
* [http://www.unep-wcmc.org/sites/wh/komi.html UNEP-WCMC World Heritage - Virgin Komi Forests]
*[http://www.nhpfund.org/nominations/komi.html Virgin Komi Forests] at [http://www.nhpfund.org/ Natural Heritage Protection Fund]

{{World Heritage Sites in Russia|state=uncollapsed}}

[[Category:Geography of the Komi Republic]]
[[Category:Ural Mountains]]
[[Category:Forests of Russia]]
[[Category:Old growth forests]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in the Komi Republic]]
[[Category:World Heritage Sites in Russia]]