The expansion of ski resorts near Sochi has increased the danger of landslides and could cut off clean water to 100,000 people, according to a new World Wildlife Fund report published on Friday.



Construction on Sochi’s ski resorts began in 2006 ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and has continued since.

Ski resorts there are expanding even three years after the international sporting event as a result of increased tourism to the area.

In March 2017, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev allowed areas of the Sochi Reserve and the Sochi National Park — home to numerous, unique animals and plants — to be rented for 49 years to companies connected to the local Rosa Khutor resort.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have any information on what goals they have and what they plan to do on these territories,” Valery Shmunk, director of the WWF Russia’s Caucasus division, told The Moscow Times. “This is a big problem.”

Between 2006 and 2017 the areas of Sochi’s National Park, the Sochi Reserve and the Caucasus Reserve under development nearly tripled.