Virgin Komi Forests

Nowhere else in Europe does untouched boreal forest stretch so far: the Virgin Komi Forests spread across 3.28 million hectares of taiga and tundra along the western flank of the Urals. Conifers, aspens and birches roll unbroken over peat bogs, wild rivers and glacial lakes, a living laboratory that scientists have monitored for more than half a century. In 1995 the region became Russia's first natural UNESCO World Heritage Site.