Utrish Wildlife Reserve in the Krasnodar Territory has never had to be regarded and treated as a national park.

      It has had neither tourist infrastructure nor capital facilities.

      This small nature reserve with the area of only 10,000 ha was established to preserve unique juniper pistachio forests of the Mediterranean type. In fact, it is the last untouched land with such forests in Russia.

      “This wildlife sanctuary never functioned as a national park, but it has been included in the suggested list of national parks. We will do our best to debar the intended transformation of Utrish into a national park and we are sure that dozens of thousands of Russians who care about this unique nature reserve will support us” - the head of the Russian Greenpeace program for Special Protected Natural Areas Mikhail Kreindlin stated.

      Transforming Utrish into a national park will inevitably lead to the fact that all the most commercially attractive (especially coastal) areas may be turned into the so-called recreational areas, where tourism infrastructure, including camp sites and hotels is permitted. In addition, such lands can be leased. It is in coastal areas, where unique 400-year-old thickets of juniper and pistachio have remained.