Two mudslides on Sunday buried nearly two-thirds of the world-renowned Geyser Valley with some 200 thermal pools and 90 geysers in the Kamchatka Peninsula, in Russia’s Far East.
Photo: Ivan Fomin
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Geysers Reappear in Kamchatka Peninsula after Disastrous Mudslide
Some of the geysers in Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula have reappeared four days after a mudslide put them out, a Russian environmental official said, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported Thursday.
Two mudslides on Sunday buried nearly two-thirds of the world-renowned Geyser Valley with some 200 thermal pools and 90 geysers in the Kamchatka Peninsula, in Russia’s Far East. Russian environmental officials have described the event as a calamity for the country and the region.
Russia will strive for international recognition of the Geyser Valley as a threatened natural world heritage site, according to Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of Russia’s environmental protection agency said Thursday. “A regular UNESCO session will be held in New Zealand on July 2, and Russia will at that time raise the issue of classifying the Geyser Valley as an endangered natural site,” Oleg Mitvol said.
Mr. Mitvol added that no expense should be spared to save such an important piece of Russia’s natural heritage.
“In this case, we have encountered a situation in which we need to use all of our financial resources,” he said. “If the money allocated so far proves insufficient, our ministry will ask the government for additional funds.”
However, despite widespread expressions of pessimism that the site could ever be restored to its former grandeur, Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev on Wednesday ordered a commission to assess the extent of the damage and to take a decision on its possible restoration.
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