WWF in the Amur ecoregion: step by step

On the 3rd of November, the Government of the Russian Federation has signed a decree «on the creation of the „Bikin“ National Park». More than 1.16 million hectares of forests in the Bikin basin are now protected, which is a key area for the Udege people and the Amur tiger.

• The President of Russia has signed a list of instructions on the conservation of Amur tigers and Far Eastern leopards.
• WWF became one of the participants in a project to video monitor leopard in the «Land of the Leopard» National Park. There are 16 short series about the life of a leopard family.
• WWF and the public have achieved an inclusion of Mongolian oak and Manchurian ash in the III Annex of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

• Amendments have been made to the legislation of the Russian Federation, which increased the punishment for the extraction and trafficking of especially valuable animals and criminalized possession, acquisition, storage, transportation, transfer and sale of rare species. WWF has been working on these changes since the early 2000s.
• WWF became one of the sponsors and participants of the winter leopard census in the whole range.
• On the basis of the Training Center of the Border Directorate of the FSB of Russia, with the assistance of WWF, a training class on «Fundamentals of Survival and Conservation of Wildlife» has been created in the Primorsky Krai.
• The Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia approved the Strategy for the Conservation of the Far Eastern Leopard in the Russian Federation. To implement it, leading scientists and experts with the participation of WWF have developed an action plan and a reintroduction program for this rare cat.
• WWF has published a report in Russian and English, containing information on illegal logging in the Far East, collected by the Fund’s experts during 10 years of work. Thanks to this publication, the legislation on the control of timber turnover was finalized.

• With the support of WWF, special groups for minimizing conflict situations between humans and large predators have been created in the hunting services of Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krai.
• With the assistance of WWF in Primorye, a national park «Leopard Land» has been established. The Foundation provided start-up support to the park in the fight against poaching and the creation of plans for biotechnology, and has handed over a visit center in Barabash village.
• A two-year campaign of WWF Russia and the Citi Foundation «Plant a forest for a leopard» has been completed in the Khasansky district of Primorsky Krai. Residents of the Khasansky district and volunteers from Vladivostok, Ussuriysk and Artem planted 1 million cedars in the habitat of this rare cat.
• A Srednesussursky Sanctuary with an area of 32,200 hectares has been created in the basin of river Ussuri in Primorsky Krai.

• A unique joint project, the «Northern Ark», between WWF and a Swedish zoo on the preservation of the northern tiger population in Russia has been launched in the Khabarovsk Krai.
• WWF initiated and organized the first ever Cedar Day, which launched the planting of 1,000,000 Korean cedar seedlings on Leopard Land in the Khasansky district of Primorye. The day has become a tradition and is celebrated in May by planting cedars by local residents and volunteers.
• The heads of Russia and Germany have signed a Memorandum on the implementation of a project for «Protection of the virgin forests of river Bikin to reduce the impact of climate change».
• 28 thousand people signed a WWF appeal to the Prime Minister v. V. Putin with a request to ban deforestation in the valley of river Bikin in Primorsky Krai and defended the fate of the «Russian Amazon.»

• WWF became one of the organizers and participants of the International Forum on Tiger Conservation in St. Petersburg, where the heads of government of 13 «tiger» states gathered. WWF helped to organize and hold a Youth Tiger Conservation Summit in Vladivostok.
• The Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia approved the Strategy for the Conservation of the Amur Tiger in the Russian Federation. WWF experts took an active part in the development and editing of the strategy.
• The Jilin Provincial Forestry Administration and the Department of Hunting Supervision of Primorsky Krai have signed an agreement on transboundary cooperation in the field of conservation of Far Eastern leopards and Amur tigers and their habitat.
• WWF, with a great public support, has achieved an introduction of Korean cedar into a list of breeds banned for logging.
• In the Khabarovsk Krai, the Aistinsky Sanctuary (19 130 hectares) has been established. It appeared due to the partnership of WWF with the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Hunting and Fur farming (VNIIOZ).

• With the support of WWF and the German Government, on indigenous small-group community «Tiger» took under lease 461154 hectares of cedar-broad-leaved forests of river Bikin for conservation of forest resources for 49 years. The Bikin basin preserves the habitat of 10% of all Amur tigers in Russia.
• WWF together with other public organizations created a reserve fund in Primorye to help hunting farms to prevent mass deaths of ungulates during severe winter conditions.
• To receive operational information about fires WWF has begun using a method of automatic processing of satellite imagery of MODIS scanner.

• In the Far East, a full Canine Unit of the Far Eastern operational customs has appeared. Assistance to customs authorities in training dog handlers and training dogs to prevent contraband of wild fauna and flora became one of the priority areas of WWF’s work.
• WWF has launched a project to restore forests in the Far Eastern leopard range. The area of the project site is 45.3 thousand hectares.

• With the assistance of WWF, three national parks have been established: «Call of the Tiger» and «Udege Legend» in Primorye and «Anyui» in the Khabarovsk Krai with a total area of 600,122 ha.
• WWF became one of the sponsors and participants of winter leopard census across all of its range.
• WWF has announced the launch of the «Cedar — Tree of Life» campaign, aimed at deciding whether to ban all types of logging of Korean cedar pine.
• In the Amur Region, the Tashinsky Reserve has been expanded (by 98640 ha). Also, a protective zone of the Amur Nature Reserve (20300 hectares) has been created.

• Together with the Primorsky Krai Administration, mobilization and biotechnical plans have been introduced into the practice of hunting farms, a set of measures to support ungulates during severe winter conditions. A full-fledged educational work with hunting providers on the basis of hunting farms has been initiated.
• WWF has opened a visit-center «Leopard Land» in Barabash village of Khasansky district. The main task of the center is to teach local residents and guests of the south-western Primorye to have respectful and careful attitude towards leopards.
• With the assistance of WWF, a decision has been made to introduce a moratorium on logging in the Amur Region wildlife sanctuaries.

• WWF became one of the sponsors and participants of winter tiger census across all of its range. A tested and approved state method of accounting of Amur tiger has been created.
• WWF announced the launch of an information campaign «Far Eastern leopard. To save every one that is remaining» and has begun work with a coalition of environmental organizations of the Far East and the departments of public education in the south-west of Primorye. A book «Far Eastern leopard. Life on the edge» has been published.

• WWF Russia and the TRAFFIC program have initiated a project on the use of service dogs for the detection of goods of animal and vegetable origin at the Vladivostok Airport customs post.
• Within the framework of cooperation with UNESCO, a draft of a transboundary reserve «Leopard Land» has been prepared. WWF began to conduct extensive educational work among the local population and school children in leopard habitats.
• On the entire lease area of OAO «Terneyles» (about 1.4 million hectares) forest management audit has carried out according to FSC standards.

• With the financial support of WWF an anti-poaching brigade «Sobol» has been created in the Jewish Autonomous Region, an analog of the «Kedr» brigade successfully working in Primorye.
• WWF has organized and hosted the first ever «Leopard Day» festival, which became an annual holiday in the Khasansky and Nadezhda districts of Primorye.
• A large-scale interagency anti-poaching operation has been carried out jointly with the employees of the Internal Affairs Department, state inspectors of the Head Department for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation for the Primorsky Krai, the inspectors of the «Kedr» group, journalists of regional media, press service of the regional administration and WWF.
• The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection in the Jewish Autonomous Region has organized an anti-poaching group «Sobol», whose activities has been supported within a project of WWF and IKEA furniture concern «Partnership for the Promotion of Responsible Forest Management».

• WWF for the first time conducted a large-scale sociological study aimed at analyzing the effectiveness of anti-poaching brigades for the protection of Amur tigers and its habitats in the Far East.
• WWF together with other public organizations developed an «Action Plan for the conservation of Far Eastern leopards in the south of the Far East for the period until 2020». A project to monitor leopards using photo traps has been launched.
• An all-Russian WWF program to combat illegal logging has begun. Violations discovered by WWF experts have forced the leadership of the Federal Forestry Agency to take measures to combat forest poaching.
• According to a model of an anti-poaching group «Kedr» in the Primorsky Krai, 14 specialized forest protection groups have been formed on the territory of 22 most problematic forest farms.
• Together with the National Working Group on Voluntary Forest Certification, an approbation of a draft of national standards has been done in the lease areas of OAO «Terneyles». WWF assists in the development and implementation of environmental policy and certification of this largest timber industry company.
• To protect coastal birds and water birds, including the Oriental stork, «Aldikon» water and marsh complex with an area of 275,000 hectares has been created in the Amur Region.

• WWF and a hunting farm «Medved» have begun an experiment to increase the number of wild ungulates that are the main source of food for the tigers. Later this experience was replicated throughout the south of the Far East.
• With the support of WWF and other conservation organizations, the Hunchun Reserve (China) has been established. The main task of the reserve is to preserve the range of Amur tigers and Far Eastern leopards, and to restore their populations in northeastern China.
• During three years of work, «Kedr» group inspectors have made 257 protocols, and confiscated 2739.5 m³ of illegal timber.
• WWF has published first results of a study of the situation with illegal logging in Primorsky Krai and an analysis of Russian-Japanese timber trade. Publications have has a wide resonance in the press.

• With the help of WWF, a training and methodological center for customs support for wildlife conservation has been established In the Vladivostok branch of the Russian Customs Academy, to control the movement of natural resources across the border more effectively.
• WWF, together with other organizations, held the Day of the Tiger in Vladivostok and over the next years supports it not only in the capital, but also in other cities and villages of Primorye, in Khabarovsk.
• At the initiative and with the financial support of the Foundation, the «Leopard» group has been set up and begun operating under Primorsky Krai Hunting Management, an operational unit to combat poaching in the Far Eastern leopards’ habitats.
• With the support of the Foundation, the Forest Certification Center has been established in Khabarovsk. Since that moment, an educational program is being conducted in the region o sustainable forest management, in which representatives of the largest Far Eastern forestry companies participate.
• WWF has developed a «National Strategy for working with the population to prevent forest fires».
• In the Primorsky Krai, the area of the Khanka Reserve has been expanded to 1,300 hectares.
• In the Amur Region, the Andreevsky Regional Wildlife Refuge has been established with an area of 60,000 hectares; there, the most northern cedar-broad-leaved forests exist that are suitable to be inhabited by Amur tiger and potential for its release.

• Far Eastern Operational Customs and WWF have signed an agreement on cooperation in the field of conservation of rare and endangered species of wild animals and plants and control over the movement of bioresources across the border of Russia.
• In the Amur region, Orel Federal Wildlife Sanctuary with an area of 121,456 hectares and Birminsky Regional Wildlife Sanctuary with an area of 101450 hectares have been established.
• In the Jewish Autonomous Region, Zabelovsky Regional Wildlife Sanctuary has been established with an area of 35,324 hectares. In 2011, it was transformed into a cluster of «Bastak» Reserve.
• In the Khabarovsk Krai, a Matai Regional Wildlife Sanctuary with an area of 11,400 hectares has been established.

• WWF began to participate in organizing and conducting annual monitoring of tigers at 16 model sites in the Khabarovsk and Primorye Krai.
• WWF worked with partners to develop a «Strategy for the Conservation of the Far Eastern Leopard in Russia».
• With the support of WWF, at the end of the year, the «Bikin» Group of Hunting Management of Primorsky Krai has begun its operations. Its task is to patrol the territories of the state hunting fund of Primorye in the middle and upper reaches of Bikin.
• A forest program has been opened in the WWF office in Vladivostok. WWF created an anti-poaching group called «Kedr» as part of the Tiger Inspectorate, whose activities were regularly supported by the Foundation for subsequent years.
• In the Amur region, Norsky Reserve with an area of 211168 hectares has been created, the only marshy wildlife reserve in the Far East, which protects the summer habitat and calving of migrating roe deer and moose.
• In the Khabarovsk Krai, Chukenskiy Regional Wildlife sancutary has been established with an area of 219700 hectares, where indigenous cedar and broadleaf forests of Sikhote-Alin and relic species that existed in the Tertiary period are located.

• WWF and the Vladivostok branch of the Russian Customs Academy have developed a training course «The work of customs authorities to identify and suppress smuggling and customs violations related to the movement across the customs border of animals and plants».
• In the Khabarovsk Krai, the Bologna Reserve has been created with an area of 103,600 hectares. Here the Oriental stork breeds; up to 80% of the birds nesting in the Khabarovsk Krai migrate through its territory. WWF purchased a building of the central manor for the reserve in the city of Amursk.

• With the initiative and support of WWF, the first «Strategy for the Conservation of Amur Tigers in Russia» has been developed and adopted. The document summarizes half-century experience of protection and study of Amur tigers in Russia, outlines the main principles and determines measures to preserve it in the long term.
• In Vladivostok, the first International Conference on problems of preserving Far Eastern leopards took place. Governmental and non-governmental environmental organizations of Russia, South Korea, Great Britain and the USA have participated in it.

At the initiative and support of WWF in Russia, the Federal Target Program «Conservation of Amur Tigers» has been adopted.

WWF provided initial assistance to the anti-poaching brigades of Lazovsky and Sikhote-Alinsky reserves, in whose territory Amur tigers reside, to the «Tiger» inspectorate and the operative group of the Primorsky Krai Hunting Management, who worked in the Bikin River basin.