By Dr. Natalia M. Litvinenko and Dr. Yuri V. Shibaev Senior Researchers, Rrussian Academy of Sciences
Southwest Primo sky Territory and the unique ecosystem of the Russian Far East are increasingly exposed to development. The area's birds, which are an important part of the local biota as well as an international biological resource, are seriously affected.
Peter the Great Bay, where the ice edge forms during winter months, has an indented shoreline full of inlets and shallow bays, rocky outcrops and forested islands. The bay is home to more than 370 bird species. Colonies of sea birds dominate during nesting, with up to 150000 individuals. The number of birds wintering at sea varies between 100000 and 200000. during spring and fall mass migration, numerous ducks, geese, swans, herons and other sea birds stop here to rest and feed. The wetlands around the bay were included in the international Ramsar Convention in 1971 because of their ornithological signficance.
A special feature of Peter the Great Bay is its role as an interface between bird species. Pelagioc cormorant, slatybacked gull, common guillemot, ancient murrelet and hornbilled puffin breed inte northern Pacific Ocean and Peter the Great Bay is the southern limit of their distribution. On the other hand, streaked shearwater, Swinhoe's storm petrel, island grasshopper warbler and watercock are 'southerners' for whom Peter the Great Bay is the northern habitat limit.
At the same time, coastal areas of Peter the Great Bay are the most populated and developed parts of the Russian Far East. Several port towns and large polluted rivers cause damage to the marine ecosystem, as does effluent form ships and ferries. As a result, conservation of the bay's biodiversity and most vulnerable bird species is urgent.
The most important wetlands in the Russian Far East are located in the far southwest of Primorsky Territory. More than 300 bird species have been recorded in this area during migration, nesting and wintering. Located along the Asia-Pacific flyway, these wetlands are used by thousands of waterfowl and shorebirds to rest during migration because of their diversity and adequate food resources. The area includes swamped plain, meadows, hills, brackish lagoons, snowplowing streams, sandy and pebbly beaches, shallow inlets, and the Tumen River Delta.
The lagoons maintain a large number of birds form early spring until ice formation, including migratory ducks, cranes, herons, terns, gulls, coots, grebes and sandpipers. The shallow inlets of Posiet Bay and the Tumen River delta are also very important for waterfowl. Flocks of geese stop every year on river islands, and migratory shorebirds use the belt of beaches and lagoons which stretch for kilometers from the Tumen River mouth.
The lower reaches of the Tumen River is one of the most important stopover sites for migratory waterfowl along the Asia-Pacific flyway. During fall migration, 26 species of duck are found here, up to 100000 individuals. Swans stop every year in Ptichye Lake, hundreds of individuals at a time, as do bean geese and white -fronted geese. Spring migration of shorebirds is concentrated in the second half of May, with abundant dunlin, rufous-necked stint, Mongolian plover, grey plover, wood sandpiper and common greenshank.
The lower reaches of the Tumen River and neighboring areas serve as habitat for approximately 50 bird species included in the international red book of endangered species. Every year, red-crowned and white-naped cranes stop here to rest during migration. In spring, the Tumen River Area sustains 15-20% of the world's red -crowned cranes, when they stay for a month or longer to feed on crucians that have perished in the ice during winter. The area's freshwater lakes and brackish lagoons provide nesting places for the rare Baer's pochard. Siberian ruddy crake and Japanese red bunting are common in the swamp meadows; Chinese egret has also been found in the area. In addition, southern Primorsky Territory is home to a number of rare birds of prey which winter in the area, including black vulture, white-tailed eagle, Steller's sea eagle, golden eagle and gyrfalcon. In recent years, artificial feeding has become necessary because of mass deaths resulting form the closure of a number of deer and fur farms which used to provide ready fodder for the vultures.
Major threats to migratory birds are international in nature and are often related to 'the human factor'. They include transformation of natural landscapes through logging, forest and grass fires, and infrastructure development; increasing road and water transport; poaching; the impact of spring hunting; and the difficulty of establishing refuges for birds. The situation is complicated by inadequate international legal agreements, a lack of cross-border coordination of the efforts of specialists, and the absence of a coordinated monitoring system and a region-wide system of management and conservation. In addition, there is a shortage of information about individual species and groups of migratory birds, including their seasonal distribution, the state and dynamics of the populations, and data related to hunting in the Asia-Pacific flyway.
Development of industry, trade and transport dramatically increases the stress on natural communities in the Tumen River Area wetlands. A proposed project to develop a titaniummagnetitie field within the 300 metre wide belt of beach between the mouth of the Tumen River and the boundary of the Far Eastern Marine Reserve has the potential to be very damaging. Sand extraction could lead to the disappearance of ducks and shore birds from the beach area, cranes would lose their stopover places if the lagoons disappear with the sand, and the roads leading to the mine would cut through the wetland ecosystem and make it accessible to the public. There is no doubt that this area-a habitat for many rare bird species and a resting place for migratory birds -is in need of protection.
Although the Khasan Natural Park was established to protect birds, hunting takes place inside it. The most immediate step to conserve the area should be prohibition of spring hunting.
Apart from the immediate effects of hunting, many of the spring fires that rage through 60-90% of the far wouthwest of the area every year are caused by hunters. Spring fires cause immense damage to the birds which begin to breed at that time of year.
Secondly, the islets in Peter the Great Bay that support colonies of sea birds should be included in the Far Eastern Marine Reserve, because the birds suffer the large number of tourists that descend on these islands every summer.
The most important task at present, however, is to create an international working system for the system for the management and conservation of birds of the Asia-Pacific flyway, to try to ensure that the migratory birds of East Asia have a future.
Readers interested in The Kingdom of Birds tours sponsored by the World Wide Fund for Nature in the Russian Far East and the United States Agency for International Development can contact office@rfe.wwfrus.ru or vzmorie@vl.ru.