Golden Mountains of Altai!

View cards of UNESCO sites always make me happy! Today I received of a view of Mt Belukha which is in the Golden Mountains of Altai in Russia from Oleg Tam via a Facebook swap. It was inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1998, reference #768.

Golden Mountains of Altai (UNESCO WHS #768) 

The Altai mountains in southern Siberia form the major mountain range in the western Siberia biogeographic region and provide the source of its greatest rivers – the Ob and the Irtysh. Three separate areas are inscribed: Altaisky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Lake Teletskoye; Katunsky Zapovednik and a buffer zone around Mount Belukha; and the Ukok Quiet Zone on the Ukok plateau. The total area covers 1,611,457 ha. The region represents the most complete sequence of altitudinal vegetation zones in central Siberia, from steppe, forest-steppe, mixed forest, subalpine vegetation to alpine vegetation. The site is also an important habitat for endangered animal species such as the snow leopard.