This Federal Biosphere Preserve protects the unique marine ecosystem of the Commander Islands 175 kilometers east of the Kamchatka Peninsula. The islands are known as the shipwreck site of the St. Peter captained by Vitus Bering who died there during the winter of 1741. The naturalist onboard for the 2nd Kamchatka Expedition, George Wilhelm Steller, spent his shipwreck time investigating and describing the natural history of Bering Island. The preserve is home to 15 species of marine mammals.  No less than 150 species of birds either nest or winter on the islands of Bering, Medny, Ary Kamen, and Toporkov. Twenty-five species of birds nest on the Commander Islands Preserve. These treeless islands are covered with lush tundra and beach vegetation and no less than 432 species and subspecies of plants have been documented on the island.

     The village of Nikolskoye on Bering Island has about 700 year round residents, many of whom are descendents of Aleut people. The Russian American Company brought Aleuts to Bering Island to harvest fur seals, sea otters and Arctic foxes. One of the animals they hunted is the now extinct Steller Sea Cow, a large docile relative of the manatee, which was first discovered in 1741 and became extinct within 28 years. Bering Island is famous for its fur seal rookeries, as well as Steller Sea Lion rookeries. Sea otters are also part of the rich marine life present surrounding the islands. From its inception the preserve was planned and created as a biosphere reserve, which means that on the territory's biosphere zones, there is the goal of support and continuation of traditional lifestyles by the local population. This allows local people to have influence in the use of natural resources, especially with certain species and traditional uses like  fishing, fur trapping and hunting,  gathering mushrooms and berries, and  the eggs of gulls and puffins, as well as some hunting of marine mammals.

     The Commander Islands are a birders' paradise. Abundant seabird colonies offer a chance to observe colonies of puffins, cormorants, auklets, gulls, alcids, and kittiwakes both blacklegged and red-legged. During summer, the fur seal rookeries are a cacophony with bawling pups, crooning adults, and roaring bulls. Along the shores one may see Arctic foxes, and offshore sea otters and endangered Steller Sea Lions.

      The scenery is reminiscent of the Pribilov Islands or the Aleutian Islands with dramatic high sea cliffs, crashing waves, and wildflower-filled tundra during summer. 

     It is possible to visit the grave and memorial to Vitus Bering and the other sailors who died during their winter ordeal. Also the village of Nikolskoye has an interesting small Aleut museum.