The West­ern Cau­ca­sus, extend­ing over 275,000 ha of the extreme west­ern end of the Cau­ca­sus moun­tains and locat­ed 50 km north-east of the Black Sea, is one of the few large moun­tain areas of Europe that has not expe­ri­enced sig­nif­i­cant human impact. Its sub­alpine and alpine pas­tures have only been grazed by wild ani­mals, and its exten­sive tracts of undis­turbed moun­tain forests, extend­ing from the low­lands to the sub­alpine zone, are unique in Europe. The site has a great diver­si­ty of ecosys­tems, with impor­tant endem­ic plants and wildlife, and is the place of ori­gin and rein­tro­duc­tion of the moun­tain sub­species of the Euro­pean bison.