Title Problems in the Maintenance and Sustainable Use of Forest Resources in Priamurye in the Russian Far East Author(s) Zyryanova, Olga A.; Yaborov, Victor T.; Abaimov, Anatoly P.; Koike, Takayoshi; Sasa, Kaichiro; Terazawa, Minoru Citation Eurasian Journal of Forest Research, 8(1), 53-64 Issue Date 2005-02 Doc URL http://hdl.handle.net/2115/22190 Type bulletin (article) File Information 8(1)_P53-64.pdf Instructions for use Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers : HUSCAP Eurasian J. For. Res. 8-1: 53-64,2005 © Hokkaido University Forests, EFRC Problems in the Maintenance and Sustainable Use of Forest Resources in Priamurye in the Russian Far East ZYRYANOVA Olga A.!,2 *, YABOROV Victor T?, ABAIMOV Anatoly p.z, 1 4 KOIKE Takayoshi\ SASA Kaichiro and TERAZAWA Minoru I Hokkaido University Forests, FSC, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0809, Japan 2 V.N.Sukachev Institute of Forest SB RAS, Academgorodok, Krasnoyarsk, 660036, Russia 3 Far Eastern State Agricultural University, Blagoveshchensk, 675005, Russia 4 Graduate School of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8589, Japan Abstract The forests of Priamurye, located in the southwestern part of the Russian Far East, are of great environmental and social importance. They are diverse in space, time and species composition and have large wood stock, which was traditionally exploited for timber harvesting. They are also a source of medicinal, food and technical resources, as well as being a location for hunting. In recent decades the productivity of the forests has been decreasing. This is a result of forest policy based on profit­ making from timber selling, and unsustainable methods of wood harvesting as well as on the disastrous impact of natural calamities such as forest fires, insect outbreaks and fungi infestations. In addition, the local forestry have faced a lack of co-ordination of federal and regional legislation, inadequate fmancing and the destruction of the forest management system during the period of reforms and the transition to a market-based economy. For sustainable use of the forest resources in Priamurye, a new system incorporating principles of practical forestry and forest management should be developed. The primary issues include: 1) the determination of the forms of forest ownership through the adoption of a new Forest Code of the Russian Federation; 2) the determination of sources and mechanisms for forestry fmancing, especially through forest resource lease; 3) the development of regional permanent forest surveying, fire protection and forest health monitoring systems. Key words: Priamurye, forest resources, biodiversity threats, sustainable use and management Introduction former tightly controlled management, based The territory of the Priamurye occupies the upper and exclusively on national ownership of forest resources, middle Amur River basin and is almost fully coincident is ineffective under these changing conditions. Thus with the Amurskaya administrative district, located in forestry faces negative consequences such as low cost the southwestern part of the Russian Far East (Fig. 1). of wooden resources and uncertainty in land ownership This is one of the most forested areas of the Russian (The First State Report 1997). Government and local Federation. The forests cover 31.64 mIn. hectares, authorities follow direct use forest policy, seeking which make up about 64% of the district's territory mainly to derive profit from timber selling. They fail to (Yaborov 2000) and 26.6% of the total Far Eastern estimate indirect use value, option value or, moreover, forested area (Tagil'tsev et al. 2004). The wood stock non-use value of the forests and forest ecosystems. of Priamurye is estimated to be 2.03 billion m\ which Recently, wood harvesting and processing, as well as equates to 17% of the total wood stock in the Russian reforestation activities have declined. This has resulted Far East. These forests are also rich in various foods in worsening social conditions and has created negative and medicinal plants and provide technical resources changes in the structure and dynamics of the forests and recreational possibilities, all of which have the (Korovin 1995, Perevertaylo 2004, Yaborov 2000). potential for local industrial development and export Urgent action is required in order to stabilize forestry commodities in the future (Kolesnikova et al. 2001, and forest purchasing enterprises, and to conserve the Kolomytsev 2004, Koryakin and Romanova 2001, forest environment and its resource potential. National Kurlovich 2001, Sukhomirov 2001, Philip'ev et al. programs of reforestation and forest protection 2001, Tagil'tsev et al. 2001, 2004). In order to conserve highlighted this need for action, but there has been these forests as a viable natural resource, effective insufficient financial allocation to fulfill this need methods of forest management and sustainable use must (Korovin 1995). be established. In this report, we summarize the current state of the At present, whilst Russia is in transition to a market­ forests in the Amurskaya administrative district, provide economy it is also in a major economic crisis. The a short history of their usage and dynamics, describe the (Received; Jan. 21, 2005: Accepted; Feb. 16,2005) * Corresponding author: [email protected] 54 Zyryanova Olga A. et al. Eurasian J. For. Res. 8-\ (2005) 600 Okhotsk sea Fig. 1. Location ofPriamurye (Amurskaya administrative district) in the Russian Far East. main threats under changing economic conditions and stands have a history of fire. By the mature age the fire outline the perspectives of forest maintenance and can influence larch stand 2-3 times. Pinus sylvestris rehabilitation. New proposed methods of forest stands occur on drier or sandy sites (Qian et al. 2003) management are also discussed. and are more abundant in the central and northwestern We follow the nomenclature of Latin names of both regions (Yaborov 2000). Picea ajanensis accompanied plant species and pest-insect names established by with Larix gmelinii, Abies nephrolepis and Betula Czerepanov (1985) and Baranchikov et al. (2002), platyphylla stands appear as small patches on different respectively. slopes throughout the region, usually near the timberline (Qian et al. 2003, Yaborov 2000). Mixed spruce-fir Forests of Priamurye and the main tree species forests are distributed, mainly, in the mountainous north Natural condition: This region is composed of and northeast. The vertical zonation involves Larix different geomorphological units. The northern and gmelinii reaching 900-1000 m, Pinus pumila from 900 western parts are mountainous, with elevations ranging to 1300 m, and alpine tundra above 1300 m. In the from 50 m in the Amur River Valley to 2412 m in the south, on southerly slopes, broadleaved Quercus Stanovoy range. The eastern part of the region is mostly mongolica forests at 300-500 m may interrupt the larch lowlands, whilst the southern part includes extensive forests and dark-conifer Picea ajanensis forests at 400- wet plains in the central Amur River Valley. 800m. The configuration of the relief strongly affects the Broadleaved and mixed cool temperate forests climatic features. In the north and west the climate is represent the zonal vegetation in the south, particularly continental with severe winters, whilst towards the east in the Amur lowlands (Qian et al. 2003). Pinus the climate changes to subcontinental with cold winters koraiensis, Quercus mongolica, TWa amurensis, Betula and warm summers. The mean temperature of the davurica_and B. costata are major components of these warmest month (July) ranges from 15 to 20°C, and that forests. Despite physiognomic differences in zonal of the coldest month (January) from -25 to -32°C vegetation types, the presence of temperate species in (Zhakov 1982). Even though this is an interior region, it the boreal forests is a characteristic feature of the region. is influenced by Pacific air masses that go up the Amur Azonal vegetation in the region includes the extensive River Valley in summer. In winter the extensive grass meadows in the Amur valley. Broadleaved forests Siberian anticyclone controls the northwestern part of dominated by Ulmus japonica, Fraxinus mandshurica the region. Annual precipitation ranges from 400 mm in and Juglans mandshurica as well as Populus the west to 650 mm in the east, most of which falls in suaveolens, Chosenia arbutifolia, Salix rorida and S. summer (Zhakov 1982). udensis occur widely in the valleys of the various Amur Vegetation: The large topographic and climatic tributaries (Qian et al. 2003, Yaborov 2000). differences result in diverse vegetation. The zonal Natural forests absolutely dominate in the forest vegetation of the northern and western parts of the cover with man-made forests being equal to 0.2% in region is boreal forest, represented by various types of area (Yaborov 2000). Endemic vascular species in the Larix gmelinii forest (Qian et al. 2003). It occupies 60- region include 13 plants (Qian et al. 2003). 80 % of the forested area (Yaborov 2000). Most forest Forest resources in Russian Far East 55 Characteristics of tree species cold soil, its anatomical structure and metabolic Larch (Larix gmelinil) adaptation of the fine roots, its tolerance of very low There is confusion over which Larix species occupies winter temperatures, its shallow root system and its the Priamurye, owing to the great variability in its ability to develop adventitious roots above the root morphological