Kronotsky

The Kronotsky zapovednik was established in 1934 on the Kamchatka peninsula, in Russia's far east, and protects some 11,000 km² of one of the most volcanically active territories on the planet. It takes its name from Kronotsky volcano, a stratovolcano of almost perfect cone shape that many volcanologists consider the most beautiful in the world.

Its most famous element is the Valley of Geysers, a canyon discovered in 1941 that holds the second largest concentration of geysers on the planet, after Yellowstone, with dozens of spouts, hot springs, fumaroles and sinter formations within just a few kilometres. In 2007 an enormous landslide buried part of the valley and formed a temporary lake, disrupting the workings of several geysers; the system has been partly recovering since, in a process closely followed by scientists.

The reserve also takes in Lake Kronotskoye, the largest freshwater lake in Kamchatka, along with calderas, lava fields, stone birch forests and high-altitude tundra. Its fauna is exceptional: it holds one of the greatest densities of brown bear in the world, drawn by the mass salmon runs up its rivers, alongside Steller's sea eagle, one of the largest raptors on the planet, and an abundant coastal birdlife. It forms part of the natural property Volcanoes of Kamchatka, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1996.