World Wildlife Fund

Commander Islands Biosphere Reserve
Size: 322,917 square miles
Year designated: 2002

The Commander Islands biosphere reserve is situated in the Bering Sea, east of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and covers mountain tundra, motley-grass meadows, wetlands, coastal and marine zones. The flora and fauna of Commander Islands are remarkable because of the unusual combination of species of Asian and American origin. Its coastal ecosystems are unique because of their diversity of marine mammals and birds. The Commander Islands were discovered by the expedition of the famous navigator Vitus Bering due to tragic circumstances since his ship broke on the reefs here.

The main objective of the biosphere reserve is the improvement of socio-economic conditions of the local people while keeping and developing traditional and ecologically sound forms of natural resource use, such as small-scale coastal trading, fishing, agriculture, crafts and recreation. Human impacts in the area derive from the introduction of northern reindeer and red vole, amateur hunting, the collection of berries and mushrooms, off road vehicles and tourism. Within the UNDP/GEF long-term project “Conservation and Sustainable-use of Coastal Biodiversity in Russia’s Commander (Komandorsky) Islands,”a management plan for the biosphere reserve will be created. The 800 inhabitants of the biosphere reserve (2001) will be involved in development of the plan and the management of the area.