Illegal Poaching of Tigers and Timber Continues in the Russian Far East

Illegal poaching of tigers and timber continues in the Russian Far East

By Helma Brandlmaier, Communications Officer for the European Forests Programme

1.8 million hectares of new protected areas will be created by 2005 in the Primorsky Region in the southern Russian Far East. Due to the significance of the area, this is being recognised by WWF as a Gift to the Earth on June 20. The forests in Primorye are home to a large proportion of the remaining Amur tiger population and many other rare and endangered species of plant and animal like the ginseng plant and the musk deer. However, they are still threatened by illegal logging and unauthorised trade in endangered species. Anti-poaching brigades, initiated by WWF 8 years ago, have been operating in the region since. They try to stop the illegal poaching of tigers and of the forests which are the tiger´s habitat.

“We usually operate at night, this is when the there is the most movement of log tracks carrying illegal timber”. Anatoly Kotlobay works for WWF Russian Programme Office and spent one and a half months accompanying the small group of courageous men who try to stop illegal timber trade in the Russian Far East. Up to 40% of timber is cut illegally in the Russian Far East and causes irreparable damage to the environment, to the people living in the area and the Russian economy.

The CEDAR brigade is operating under the authority of the Minister of Natural Resources and co-operates with the police in the region.

“We wait on the side of the road for the trucks to arrive. We stop them – check papers and escort them to the next police station. Sometimes police is already with us if we expect a big catch. You can imagine that this is very dangerous business as a lot of money is involved”, said Anatoly Kotlobay.

Raid of a truck suspected to carry illegally logged timber © WWF Russia

Depending on the type of tree the value per cubic meter of Oak or Ash on the black market is about U$ 80-200. Per truck illegal loggers cash in up to U$ 4000 or more. In China and Japan the timber is sold for about three to four times the amount. It is estimated that the Russian government looses over U$ 1billion due to illegal wood harvesting, processing, and trade. On June 17 President Vladimir Putin issued a warning against irresponsible wastage of Russia's vast forest resources, stressing that they were a key source of national income.

Anti-poaching brigade CEDAR in the Russian Far East

is drawing up a report on illegal logging © WWF Russia

Harvesting activities in the Far East occur mainly in the cold season from October to March. Real roads hardly exist and transportation is only possible on temporary tracks when the soil is frozen solid.

Raids are also taking place in illegal storage places which are collection points for export to Japan and China. Uncontrolled harvesting in general is a key problem in Russia. Every day 1 kilometer of trucks loaded with legal and illegal timber is crossing the border out of Russia.

1km of trucks loaded with legal and illegal timber cross the border daily © WWF Russia

“One of the big problems we face in Russia is that we don´t even know how much timber we have. The state forest inventory is very old and incomplete. How can you do planning for sustainable harvesting if you don’t know what you have got. So, for the moment timber is simply cut down. Legally or illegally. The situation is out of control”, Anatoly Kotlobay explains.

Every year 5,5 million m3 timber are sold to China, 6 million m3 to Japan and 1million m3 to Korea. WWF has traced the scale of illegal trade, published in the recent study Illegal Logging in the Southern Part of the Russian Far East. (

700,000 m3 more commercial timber were exported from the Primorye

region than officially registered as logged. For the Khabarovsk region the corresponding figure is 800,000 m3.

In the last year the brigade managed to confiscate 2-3000 m3, which for the small number of people involved is a huge success. “We hope that the model of the anti-poaching brigade can be adopted in other parts of the region as well as in Northwest Russia and the Caucasus. For this however we need support as WWF is currently carrying the main financial burden of the brigades”. Initiated by WWF’s report Illegal Logging in the Southern Part of the Russian Far East early this year, authorities started to co-operate more closely on the issue of illegal logging through a task force which brings together for the first time police, forest administration and the timber brigade to co-ordinate activities. “We hope that the momentum can be kept up now and authorities really take this seriously.”

A big problem in the Russian Far East is the difficult socio-economic situation. Economic hardship also hits people working for administration which opens the door for corruption and illegal activity. “People can not survive on a salary of 20 U$ per month. A normal salary for people would change a lot”, said Kotlobay.

Primorsky krai lies at the boundaries of two global bio-regions. Here the Amur-Sakhalin boreal biome meets the Manchurian/Asian biome to create one of the world's greatest areas of bio-diversity. It contains a unique forest of northern confers and semi-tropical deciduous trees of oak, maple, and ash. It is home to Siberian tigers, leopards, ginseng, rare birds, lotus, and pristine habitats long since vanished from the rest of North Asia. The region includes rugged mountains, stunning beaches, spectacular coastline, and clean, clear rivers with abundant fish.

Urgent action is needed:

An immediate response by federal authorities in developing an effective control system for tracing the legality of forest operations
Financial and institutional support for the establishment of anti-poaching brigades in other parts of the region
Countries who buy timber from the Russian Far East, in particular China, Japan and Korea, to take on responsibility for the destruction of nature and livelihoods in Russia. These countries are called upon to change their procurement policies, adopt bilateral trade agreements and to urge Russian federal authorities to stop illegal harvesting of timber in the Primorye and Khabarovsk regions