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BROC Report 7

BROC Report 7

Continued development of local NGO capacity to monitor forestry hotspots in Krasnoarmeiski district

REGION: Primorsky

DISTRICT: Krasnoarmeiski

DATES OF RIDES: July 5th - 8th, 2003

PARTICIPANTS:

Anatoly Lebedev (BROC)
Anna Sitak (BROC)
Fyodor Kronikovsky (Taiga)
Andrei Laletin (FSF)
Jonathan Barnard (Forests Monitor)
Bente Molenaar (Forests Monitor)

Summary

Riders focused on the forest area set aside in 1991 for the creation of a national park to be called Udege Legend. For the past few years areas of the designated national park have been leased for short term logging to Roschinski lespromkhoz. The local NGO, Taiga, has identified alternative sources of income, such as eco-tourism including sport fishing, and learning more about indigenous culture in the area. The second area visited was a depressed tungsten-mining town called Vostok. The mining company is diversifying into timber and is reportedly constructing a logging road in the restricted nut-harvesting zone.

Purpose

To investigate logging activities in the areas designated to become national park. Riders will also meet with officials of the tungsten mine to learn more about where the logging road is being constructed.

Introduction

In the course of previous field missions, riders met with specialists and officials responsible for leasing the forest in the area reserved and intended to become a national park. Activists argued that leasing should only be permitted if it was on a very limited scale intended for selective salvage logging or other non-commercial cutting. It now appears, however, that companies are exploiting the slow government process of creating a national park by harvesting as much valuable timber as possible.

Findings

In the area set aside for the creation of the national park Udege Legend, fieldwork identified some forest law violations on the plot leased by Roschinski lespromkhoz. A logging road had been constructed very close to a creek, which is not permitted. In addition, field workers identified Korean pine among the harvested timber. It is forbidden to log Korean Pine. The current logging on the area set aside to become a national park points to a flaw in current forestry law. While the lengthy government process of creating a national park is on-going, logging in the area should be banned. Instead, alternative income-generating activities such as eco-tourism should be developed further. There is a recreational area with cabins where the Ust River meets its tributary the Armu, and this should be further developed. The traditional harvesting of NTFP by the Udege should also be encouraged as this would be more sustainable and ensure the future of this biodiverse forest area.

n Vostok we met with the management of the tungsten mine to discuss their plans to diversify their activities and build a timber processing facility in Vostok. To ensure a steady supply of timber for the processing plant, the management explained that they must construct a logging road to the forest plot allocated to them. The plot is some 200 km from Vostok. The riders were impressed by the environmentally friendly attitude of the companies' management. The tungsten mining is financially not sustainable and the world market for tungsten is very depressed. The inhabitants of Vostok largely worked for the mine and a new industry would be a welcome development in order to reduce unemployment.

The riding group found that the road, although it did not completely conform to all the legal requirements should be supported, since the managers of the newly created lumber processing plant have demonstrated their commitment to environmentally friendly methods during the many years of operating the tungsten mine. Moreover, it was felt that granting them the exclusive right to access their forest plot as well as to the logs harvested during the construction of the logging road could work to limit illegal operations in the area.

Timberjack on the territory of designated national park, July 2003, photo ©BROC

Recommendations

  • Promote the experience of the Vostok mine, located amongst highly restricted forest zone, to develop a complex and sustainable resource use culture.
  • Continue to monitor logging operations on the leased plots of national park and campaign to cancel all the logging permits in the area set aside for the national park.
  • Look for funding to restore the traditional indigenous village Ostrovnoye and involve young members of indigenous community in the NTFP harvesting and marketing.