World Nature Heritage is a relatively recent subject of interest in Russia. The first site – the Virgin Komi Forests – was inscribed into the List of World Heritage in December 1995. In the last four years, three more areas were added to the list: the Volcanoes of Kamchatka, Lake Baikal, and the Golden Mountains of Altai. Several other sites have been nominated, such as the forests, mires and lake systems of the Vodlozero National Park and, in co-operation with Lithuania, the Curonian Spit. Further nominations are being prepared and the family of World Heritage sites in Russia is growing.

However the managers of World Heritage areas know little about the concept and the possibility of locating financial support. As a result of this situation, and similar difficulties in many other countries, the World Heritage Committee approved at its eighteenth session a training strategy for natural heritage. The main focus of World Heritage training activities are regional and sub-regional training workshops, which will enable site managers to better understand the World Heritage concept and the obligations under the World Heritage Convention, learn about international cooperation in the framework of the Convention, and to receive updated information. The first training workshop for Russia is now being organized by the UNESCO Moscow Office and the UNESCO World Heritage Center in cooperation with the State Committee for Nature Protection and the Russian National Commission at Lake Baikal.

The seminar consists of two parts on different levels. The first and basic part will be held in Ulan Ude on July 5–6 and the second part, to be primarily for site managers and which will concentrate on practical issues, will occur immediately following the first part and will continue until July 10 in the town Ust Barguzin on the lake’s shore. Emphasis will be set on monitoring and reporting and on the so-called "Limits of Acceptable Changes". Representatives from over 30 protected areas, which are clusters of existing or planned World Heritage areas, are invited, as well as representatives of several scientific institutes and governmental organizations. The training courses will be organized by environmental protection specialists from the UNESCO World Heritage Center and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Managers from the Everglades National Park and the Plitvica National Park have been invited to share their experience. In addition, representatives of several other international organizations, such as the European Community, UNDP, and the Global Environment Facility, are invited as resource people.

UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Igor Ivanov on May 13 in Moscow signed an agreement on the conditions governing the implementation of UNESCO-assisted projects for the preservation and protection of cultural heritage in the Russian Federation. The agreement provides exemption for project equipment and materials provided by UNESCO in the framework of relevant projects through voluntary financial contributions from customs duties, levies and other taxes or fees imposed upon entry into the Russian Federation. The agreement will help facilitate UNESCO’s efforts in the restoration and modernisation of, and fund-raising for, outstanding cultural institutions in the Russian Federation. The first projects expected to profit from the agreement are the Russian State Library, the Bolshoi Theatre, and the State Hermitage Museum.

Among the recent activities of the Modernisation Project of the Russian State Library was the May 14 inauguration for the restoration work on the reserve collections building, which holds some 45 million volumes of books. The UNESCO Director-General, the Director of the UNESCO Moscow Office Wolfgang Reuther, the Russian Federation’s Minister of Culture Vladimir Egorov, the Etablissement francais Cunin Director Serge Cunin and the media, were present at the event.

The international fund-raising campaign for the Bolshoi/UNESCO Project also took place on May 14. Guests and speakers who gathered in the renowned theatre included the UNESCO Director-General, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Valentina Matvienko, the Mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov and the General and Artistic Director of the Theatre Vladimir Vassiliev. Mr. Mayor noted that among the supporters of the Bolshoi Project are people from the world’s artistic community such as Montserrat Caballe, Sir Peter Ustinov, and Caroline Carlson. The UNESCO Director-General also welcomed the contributions of Alexandra C. Vovolini-Laskaridis, a Greek patron of the arts who is chairing the Steering Committee for the campaign, and the committee members: Gianfranco de Bosio, Gotz Friedrich, Jugues Gall, Lofti Mansouri, Sir John Tooley and Zurab Tsereteli. Mr. Mayor emphasized that UNESCO "cannot be indifferent to the plight of the Bolshoi which not only forms a unique part of the world’s artistic and cultural heritage but also is vested with the high mission of transmitting to the present and future generations an exceptional legacy of achievement in the field of dance and the lyric arts" and has "therefore decided to make every effort to mobilise support for the preservation and restoration of this great theatre".

A groundbreaking international conference entitled "Problems of a Culture of Peace, Human Rights and Democracy in the Armed Forces, Ministry of Interior and Security Services of the Russian Federation" took place in Moscow on April 21–22. Under the auspices of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation, and through the sponsorship of the UNESCO Moscow Office and UNESCO National Commission of the Russian Federation, the conference was organised by Vladimir Kartashkin, Chairperson of the Commission of Human Rights under the President of the Russian Federation. Nikita Chaldimov was Chairperson of the Conference. Officials of the Russian Federation’s Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Internal Affairs, Federal Security Service (FSB), Foreign Intelligence Service (CVR), Federal Border Service (FPS), delegations from the United Nations and UNESCO and other Russian and foreign experts gave presentations and formulated recommendations as to how to promote a Culture of Peace within military structures and institutions in the Russian Federation. The participants emphasized the need to provide humanitarian law and human rights education for military officials and personnel, the primary goal of which would be to encourage peaceful resolutions to domestic and international conflicts.