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| The Commander Islands are located approximately 200 miles (333 km)from the Aleutian Islands off Alaska, in the Bering Sea, approximately 1000 miles from Anchorage, Alaska. The landscape of the Commander Islands is really impressive. Unusual coastal cliffs and rocky outcroppings, vast plain tundra, low mountains with steep slopes and narrow valleys of multiple rivers and streams forming dozens of beautiful falls. Unstable marine sceneries and even frequent fogs create particularly attractive images of the Commander Islands. |
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The unique harmony of all landscapes of the tundra North are represented on these relatively small pieces of land. A traveler sees, or at least hears the ocean in any point of the islands. In any season, the dramatic beauty of the islands will take your breath away, and they will remain with you forever. |
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| The history of mastering and exploiting the Commander Islands is abundant in irreversible losses. Merciless whaling, sealing, and harvest of the sea birds actually began since the moment of the islands' discovery. In 1755, a mere thirteen years after the islands were discovered, a trader by the name of Piotr Yakovlev visited the Commander Islands and wrote a report about the urgency of banning the manatee harvest. His warning was neglected The nature of the northern insular communities is extremely vulnerable. Any imprudent human interference in this fragile world may result in severe deterioration of its harmony and unity. |
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The Steller's sea cows and Steller's cormorants were completely exterminated. Bald eagles and Canada geese were lost from the bird fauna of the islands. Northern fur seals and sea otters declined in number dramatically. Many whale species are seriously endangered. |
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The Commander Islands are not easily accessed. Due to this fact, along with protective measures undertaken, their natural complexes are well preserved now. However, intensive development of commercial activity in the region, commercial trades in particular, causes deep concern over the fate of the Commander's environment. |
 The problem of conserving this valuable nature can be solved by the "Komandorskiy" Terrestrial and Marine Nature Reserve created in 1993. Its total area is 3.5 million hectares. The specified area will become a Biosphere Reserve in the event the UNESCO resolution on this item is positive. |
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The Komandorskiy Natural Reserve seems to be the sole sea reserve in Russia, where the protected water area considerably exceeds the protected land. Almost all insular living creatures are connected with the sea or depend upon it. That is why the possibility of preservation of clear ocean waters and untouched marine environment will determine the fate of the Commander Islands unique nature |