 |
 |
Under embargo as of the time of printing
Loss of Natural Habitat and Important Ecosystems
due to Anthropogenic Activity
Executive Summary
Great variety of biogeographic, socio-economic and other conditions are concentrated in the TumenNet Project Area, mainly in Tumen River Area and the adjacent territories. Two Ecoregions of the world significance for biodiversity conservation are recognized in the discussed area:
- Mixed (broad-leaved and coniferous) broad-leaved forests
of the Far East.
- Daurian Steppe.
Here in Tumen River Area and the adjacent territories, the last representative for the Northeast Asia native broad-leave and coniferous forests, which are the most important habitats of tiger, leopard and other species of Manchzurian flora and fauna, are left. Wetland ecosystems of the TumenNet Project Area have the key location in the East Asian flyway.
- Daurian steppe is one of the largest steppe ecosystems
left in steppe and forest-steppe belt of Eurasiua;
- The most part of the remained native forests and wetland ecosystems
are located on the territory of Russian Federation;
- The most part of the steppe and forest-steppe ecosystems as well as
the major part of wetlands are located on the territory of Mongolia.
In the TumenNet Project Area, there is a long-term tendency of the important for biodiversity conservation ecosystem's loss. Over the last 150 years, the long-term tendency of the natural ecosytems' area loss as well as deterioration of the quality structure takes place in the regarded territory at various rates. At the same time, within each national territory there is a specific set of threats to ecosystem biodiversity, which forms negative ecosytem loss and transformation tendencies.
The duration and scale of the existing tendencies within
the detailed objects of analysis presumes the following:
- High probability of further ecosystem degradation and habitats loss
within the Tumen River Area Development Program at new stage of economic
activity and load on the ecosystems;
- Necessity of fundamental changes in the system of land/nature management
vs. Conducting a series of nature protective measures (In other words,
just conservation of today's condition and tendencies in nature management
and ecosystem development does not guarantee conservation and, accordingly,
conservation of the whole related biodiversity complex);
- Necessity of serious changes in the system of land/nature management
not only in Tumen River Area and Daurian steppe, but also in the whole
region.
At negative tendencies occurrence, the most dangerous
threats for biodiversity of the regarded territories will relate to the
following loss in the ecosystem structure and area:
- Final fragmentation of Chernye Gory ecosystems and loss of its liaison
with the ecosystems of Sikhote-Alin and Southern part of Eastern Manchzurian
mountains (massif Changbai);
- Loss of areas occupied by important for biodiversity ecosystems in Southwestern
Primorye (SWP), Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture and Northern Hamgyong (slightly
or non-transformed broad-leaved and coniferous forests, wetlands (including
coastal) and deterioration of the ecosystems' quality structure;
- Reduction of the area occupied by ecosystems of Daurian steppe: mountain
forest-steppe, forests, wetlands;
- Aggravation of the natural aridization processes in Daurian Steppe Ecoregion
as a result of irrational nature management.
Main Threats Defining Loss of Important Habitats and Ecosytems:
Russian Federation-SWP: fires, poaching (including by
Chinese citizens), crisis of deer farming (important component of the
tiger's and leopard's food resource), poor infrastructure, and "wild"
recreation.
- Russian Federation-Daurian Steppe: fires, poaching, irrational farming,
aridization of climate;
- China-Yanbian Autonomous Perfecture: farming (loss of wetlands), felling
(restricted in 1998), forest recovery by means of single culture plantations,
urbanization and suburbanization;
- DPRK-Tument River Area: industrial felling, irrational agricultural
development.
Priority trends in important ecosystems and habitats conservation:
- Creation and support of the strategic ecological corridors
system;
- Improvement of the protected areas system, transfer to Econet formation;
- Conservation and recovery of ecosystems: wetlands, native forests, and
coastal wetlands with consideration of the most important habitats' recovery.
The most important tool to conserve valuable ecosystems
and biodiversity of the considered region is transfer to sustainable development.
The existing socio-economic conditions of the region, quality of natural
resources and the environment allow switching to sustainable development
in the nearest perspective.
These are:
- Favorable economic and geographic location, which allows
to actively using the transit function;
- Possibilities to develop industries with strict requirements towards
the condition of the environment;
- Presence of high quality natural resources (for instance resources of
coastal zone).
The following branches should have priorities and perspectives at transferring to sustainable development:
- Branches that implement transit functions-marine and
electrified railroad transport, as well as heavy hauler automobile transport
(taking into consideration close proximity of adjacent territories);
- Tourism, including ecological and balneal;
- Fishing industry, mariculture; marine products processing;
- Production of biologically active stuff (agents) and preparations with
its usage on the basis of the region's natural resources;
- Deer and horse farming;
- Plantation forestry and deep wood-processing.
Accepting these guidelines, as the priority ones for transfer to sustainable development of the region requires creation of favorable conditions and attraction of investments for the above branches, which has to be fixed in the national and regional legislation.
Summary of Recommendations
Gneneral Recommendations:
The first stage task-is to cease negative tendencies of the floral structure
transformation, which lead to loss of important ecosystems. Priority actions
here are the following:
- Conservation and recovery of the forest and wetland ecosystems' structure
in the areas of Ecological corridors;
- Impart the nature-protected status to Ecological corridors, primarily
to the international ones;
- Create a coordinated plan of NPA formation as well as the boundary-adjacent
NPA coordinated management system;
- Along with commercial value of forests, consider importance of the created
forest ecosystems when defining the forest recovery policy;
Second stage task-is to alter the system of land/nature
usage and switch to sustainable nature management. The following activities
are a priority here:
- Forest and meadow covering of the eroded slopes, currently used for
arable land;
- Plain lands productivity increase;
- Pesticide and herbicide level decrease in rice-growing;
- Development of mariculture and aquaculture;
- Recovery of the natural forest biodiversity structure at rational usage
of utilities;
- Broadening the specter of utilities at usage of nature resource potential
of the ecosystems;
- Natural resources processing
- Active support of deer farming, transforming them into complex nature
usage enterprises;
-Ecotourism and recreation development.
Concrete Recommendation:
Russian Federation, Southwestern Primorye:
1. Create a unified NPA in the leopard and tiger habitat on the basis
of the existing NPAs, including:
- Impart the given unified NPA the biosphere status, include it into East
Asian network of biosphere reserves;
- On the first stage the unified NPA in leopard and tiger area (in SWP)
is created by the territory structure optimization of Kedrovaya Pad reserve,
zakazniks (hunting reserves) Barsovy and Borisovskoye Plateau;
- On the second stage of the SWP Econet structure optimization, the status
of Khasansky Nature Park is improved.
2. Improvement of NPAs territory arrangement in the leopard area, considering
the necessity to form:
- Ecological corridor, connecting the northern and southern part of Eastern
Manchzurian Mountains;
- Ecological corridor Chernye Gory-Sikhote-Alin.
1. Creation and implementation of the SWP natural ecosytems' recovery
plan:
- Creation of fire fighting brigade of non-departmental subordination
within the Khasansky District administration;
- Development of the plan for reconstruction of the low-value plantations
into important habitats-broad-leaved and coniferous forests;
- Start implementing the low-value plantations reconstruction plan;
- Build a system of fire prevention belts in the territory of SWP;
- Develop and implement the small-leaved (birch and etc.) plantations
harvesting plan with regard to the needs of wild ungulates;
- Approve the regional standard Act "On responsibility of land users
for fire safety in the leopard area";
- Conduct the regional fire prevention educational campaign;
- When processing the formalities for obtaining the land usage rights,
sign the additional contract, in which it is necessary to state the following
responsibilities of the land user.
2. Conservation and recovery of the important ecosystems and habitats:
3. Fire fighting.
Pople's Republic of China: Tumen River Area, Yanbian
Autonomous Rrefecture
(Recommendations for Chinese part of Tumen River Area are compiled with
regard to material of the "Wild Tiger Population in Northeastern
China Recovery Plan Creation" meeting in Harbin, 2000).
1. Creation of the reserve in Huiniun district along the Russian-Chinese
border;
2. It is necessary to create the system of ecological corridors on the
Russian-Chinese border, taking into consideration the fact that the tiger
and leopard population in Yanbian Autonomous Prefecture is supported,
to a great extent, by migration from the territory of SWP;
3. Create ecological corridors:
- Around the forest range Jinsyn, which adjoins Tument River (in the place
where the distance between DPRK and Russia is 15km.);
- Southern Laoelin-Cnangbai Mounation area.
4. Develop and commence implementing the natural habitats/important ecosystems
recovery plan:
- Define and secure the native forests;
- Transfer to a polidominant forests planting practice;
- Limit the practice of monodominant plantation creating;
- Develop the plan of blocking a number of local roads with regard to
felling volumes decrease and closing a number of logging settlements.
This will reduce the ecosystem fragmentation;
- Purposeful reconstruction of the low-value forests by creating cedar
and oak forests.
5. Consider recovery and conservation of important ecosytems-tiger and
leopard habitats as the main trend in conservation of these species;
6. According to the fact that in Changbai Mountain (Pec-Tu-San) NPA, where
the habitats has been preserved and the tiger tracks has not been recognized
since 1994, it is necessary to create the ecological corridor Changbai
Mountain
- Mundanlin-Veihulin and Changbai Mountain-Inelin-Hargalin.
DPRK-Russian Federation, Tumen River Area
Note: There is no official information presented by DPRK, so all the information
on this territory is based on the analysis of remote sensing and the Econet
general concept.
1. Cesstion of intensive cutting, primarily in the mountain belt of broad-leaved
and coniferous forests;
2. Development and implementation of Incentive Measures for Peoples of
DPRK for conservation of the forests;
3. Refusal of the new agricultural development of the slope lands;
4. Provision of the limited nature usage regime along the Eastern Manchzurian
watershed on the Russian-DPRK boarder: Pec-Tu-San/Changbai Mountain;
5. Provision of 20-30% of coastal lagoons by NPA regime in Northern Hamgyong
province for the period of the spring fly by of birds.
Russian Federation-Daurian Steppe
1. Consolidation of Daurian Reserve;
2. Creation of the local Econet on the basis of Daurian Reserve;
3. Refusal of the new arable lands development, taking into consideration
the long-term tendency of the climate aridization;
4. Create the system of transboundary ecological corridors.
Peoples Republic of Mongolia-Daurian Steppe
1. Development of NPA system" Daurian Steppes" in Mongolian
part of the Ecoregion;
2. Formation of trans-boundary Econet;
3. Reduction of the existing arable lands, transfer to perennial herbs,
as the long-term aridization is registered;
4. Consider forest ecosystems as the top-priority conservation object
in the mountain forest-steppe zone.
 |