By Newell and Zhou / Sources: Ministry of Natural Resources, 2002; ESRI, 2002. MAGADAN OKHOTSKY Ketanda Russian Far East Arka Novaya Inya Novoe Ustie ! Okhotsk KHABAROVSK SAKHA Ulya ¯ Aim Kurun-Uryakh km 200 Tsipanda Kekra Nelkan Kemkara AYANO-MAISKY Aldoma Map 3.1 Batomga Ayan Khabarovsk Krai 788,600 sq. km S n t a r I s l a e h a n d S s a Antykan Bolshoi Shantar Algazeya o Udskoe Nikolaevsk-on-Amur f TUGURO-CH Torom Mnogovershinny UMIKANSKY NIKOLAYEVSKY O Kulchi Bolodek Tugur k Takhta !. Baikal Mago h Tyr Burukan SAKHALIN -Amur Mainline Kherpuchi Susanino o Guga Oktyabrsky Ukhta t IM. POLINY OSIPENKO Solontsy Lazarev s Polina Osipenko Bulava Agnie-Afanasevsk k AMUR Sofiisk Mariinskoe ULCHSKY Berezovy De-Kastri Duki Kiselyovka Sofiisk VERKHNEBUREINSKY ! Novoilinovka Evoron Gorin Tsimmermanovka t Boktor i Sredny Urgal Ust-Urgal CHNY Khurmuli Nizhnetambovskoe a !Chegdomyn r Urgal Gorny Nizhnie Khalby t Chekunda Trans- SOLNE ! S Solnechny !. Komsomolsk-on-Amur Siberian Railroad Mogdy Khurba Vysokogorny r Sogda a Izvestkovy !. KOMSOMOL t ! Amursk a Alanap VSKY Elban SKY Kur Bolon Malmyzh T Tyrma AMURSKY KHABARO INSKY Selgon Innokentevka Talakan Troitskoe Slavyanka VAN Uska-Orochskaya Vanino Talandzha Dogordon Sanboli Naikhin ! Kukan Gatka !. Sovetskaya Lesnoi NANAISKY Gavan Pobeda Elabuga Sinda Koppi Novokurovka Innokentevsky Anastasevka SOVETSKO-GAVANSKY JAO P! KHABAROVSK Mukhen Kruglikovo Grossevichi Nevelskoe !Khor ! Nelma r Pereyaslavka Amur Rive Gvasyugi VYAZEMSKY Bichevaya ! Vyazemsky LAZOVSKY Lermontovka ! Bikin CHINA BIKINSKY Lesopilnoe PRIMORSKY 144 Ⅲ THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST Newell, J. 2004. The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development. McKinleyville, CA: Daniel & Daniel. 466 pages CHAPTER 3 Khabarovsk Krai KHABAROVSK Location Khabarovsk Krai, the second largest administrative region of the Russian Far East (rfe), stretches 1,800 km from north to south along the Tatar Strait and the Sea of Okhotsk. Its northern zone extends to within 430 km of the Arctic Circle, and its southernmost tip is approximately on the same latitude as Seattle in the northwestern United States (47° n). Size 788,600 sq. km; approximately 4.6 percent of the entire Russian Federation, one and a half times larger than France, and equal to the combined area of the states of Oregon, Washington, the western third of the province of British Columbia, and the Alaskan panhandle. Climate Winters are cold and dry. January temperatures average –23°c in the south and between –36°c to –40°c in the north. Summers are warm and humid, with July temperatures in the south approximately 21°c and in the north about 15°c. The southern portion of the region has approximately 130–150 frost-free days per year; in the north-central region and at higher elevations, the number of frost-free days drops to 90–130. Geography and ecology Because Khabarovsk Krai extends a great distance north to south, it has a wide diversity of plant and animal species. Mountains in the northern part of the krai are covered with tundra and fi elds of lichen-covered rock called goltsi. Further south one fi nds sparse Da- hurian larch (Larix gmelini) forests interspersed with Japanese stone pine (Pinus pumila) on mountain slopes, and then denser Dahurian larch forests (which cover 15 percent of the north) with grass, small marshes, and meadows. Most of the region lacks roads and is therefore largely inaccessible. The towns are along the coast. Population density is low. The central part of the krai includes the lower part of the Amur River valley, one of the world’s largest river basins. The headwaters of the Amur are in Chita Oblast and China. Here, in the broad Amur Valley, the region and its forests are infl uenced by the monsoon climate. East Siberian fi r (Abies nephrolepis) and Ayan spruce (Picea ajanensis) forests gradually mix in with the Dahurian larch. Usually spruce and fi r are dominant on the wetter eastern slopes, while larch grows on western slopes. Birch (Betula) and aspen (Populus tremulae) grow back fi rst after logging or fi re. The Baikal-Amur Mainline (bam) and adjacent rail spurs have greatly increased access. Population density is higher here than in the northern regions of the krai. 145 Newell, J. 2004. The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development. McKinleyville, CA: Daniel & Daniel. 466 pages The southern part of the krai, which includes part of the Ussuri River basin and the southeastern sea coast Key issues and projects from around the town of Vanino, is strongly infl uenced by the monsoon and has warm, humid summers. It Pollution of the Amur River escaped glaciation during the last Ice Age and has high The Amur River is one of the world’s ten largest levels of biodiversity. The Ussuri Taiga, named after the rivers. It is also among the former Soviet Union’s Ussuri River, is one of the most unusual and species-rich most polluted (see pp. 154–55). temperate forests in the world. Logging by multinational corporations Flora and fauna Of all the regions in the RFE, Khabarovsk has at- KHABAROVSK There are about 2,000 species of vascular plant (ter- tracted the most multinational logging companies. restrial and nonterrestrial) and 650 vertebrates (includ- The giant Malaysian company Rimbunan Hijau ing freshwater fi shes) in the krai, including many rare recently secured over 1 million ha of prime forest- and endangered species. There are approximately two land and has begun logging (see pp. 175–77). hundred different types of woody plant species and a large diversity of forest cover, including: deciduous Increased road building (broadleaved) and mixed forests, forests of Mongolian Rapid road construction in the southern oak (Quercus mongolicus), forests of Korean pine (Pinus Khabarovsk, much of it federally funded, continues koraensis), secondary aspen and birch forests, thickets to fragment the critically important forests there, of Japanese stone pine, regions of stone birch (Betula opening up new areas to logging. ermani), poplars (Populus), chosenia (Chosenia arbuti- folia), elms (Ulmus), and ash (Fraxinus) forests, spruce Forest fi res and fi r forests, peat bogs with sparse larch trees, complex Forest fi res, most caused by humans, plague forests with Ayan spruce dominant and birch, alder Khabarovsk. Fires in 1998 were particularly (Alnus), and mountain ash (Sorbus). Key species include destructive with millions of hectares burned the Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica), Oriental white throughout the krai. stork (Ciconia boyciana), and Steller’s sea eagle (Haliaee- tus pelagicus). Other mammals include the Himalayan Foreign investment in the timber industry bear (Ursus thibetanus), brown bear (Ursus arctos), and As Khabarovsk is the largest timber-producing wild boar (Sus scrofa), as well as many smaller mammals region in the RFE, the World Bank, USAID, the such as river otter (Lutra lutra), American mink (Mus- Canadian International Development Agency tela vison), yellow-throated marten (Martes fl avigula), (CIDA), and others are funding projects (see sable (M. zibellina), wolverine (Gulo gulo), red fox pp. 171–72). (Vulpes vulpes), raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), Eurasian lynx (Felis lynx), Eurasian squirrel (Sciurus Indigenous land rights vulgaris), and variable hare (Lepus timidus). Numerous Even though the Khabarovsk government began whale species feed in the rich waters around the Shan- determining borders of Territories of Traditional tar Islands. In the krai’s estimated 120,000 rivers and Nature Use (TTPs) in 1992, indigenous peoples still 50,000 lakes, there are over 200 species of fi sh.1 do not hold title to or own their own territory and do not have the right to allocate resources from Largest cities their traditional territories (see pp. 173–74). Approximately 85 percent of the krai’s population is urban, distributed among the seven major industrial centers.2 The administrative center is Khabarovsk, the largest territorially (400 sq. km) and in terms of population (pop. 617,800). Khabarovsk is also a center for petroleum refi ning, meat, dairy, and fi sh processing, 146 Ⅲ THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST Newell, J. 2004. The Russian Far East: A Reference Guide for Conservation and Development. McKinleyville, CA: Daniel & Daniel. 466 pages and light industry. Particular industries are associated with each urban area, for example: Komso- molsk-on-Amur (pop. 309,400) is a center for petroleum refi ning, fer- rous metallurgy, meat, dairy, and fl our production, fi sh processing, and chemical production; nonfer- rous metallurgy is associated with the town of Solnechny; gold, silver, KHABAROVSK and platinum refi ning are central- ized in Mnogovershinny; Okhotsk, with a 245,000 -ton handling capacity, is a center for fi shing and seafood processing. Amursk (pop. 57,900) is a center of the krai’s defense industry. Nikolaevsk-on- Amur (pop. 35,600), Vanino (pop. 22,000) and Sovetskaya Gavan (pop. 34,400) are the krai’s three major port cities. Population As of 2001 the population was 1,506,700, almost 25 percent of the rfe total.3 Eighty percent of the population is Russian, approxi- mately 8 percent Ukrainian, 2 percent Jewish, and, very approx- Khabarovsk Forest Service imately, 2 percent a combination of The 1998 fi res devastated huge areas of Khabarovsk. Nanai, Nivkhi, Ulchi, Evens, and Negidal ethnic groups. Density varies from the sparsely populated northern regions (approximately 1 person per 10 sq. km) to the warmer and more industrialized south (approximately 10 to 30 people per sq. km). Most people (1,223,700 ; about 80.6 percent of the krai’s total) live in cities; the rest in vil- lages. The population is, however, decreasing; the local death rate exceeds the birth rate by 1.9 times. Approximately 50.6 percent of the krai’s population is considered of employable age. Of this population, 86.9 percent was employed (663,000 people), with the remainder, according to the International Labor Organization, unemployed.