First park established in Russian Far East
First park established in Russian Far East
mongabay.com
June 8, 2007
Russia has established the first national park in the far eastern part of the country. The initiative seeks to protect endangered Amur tigers from extinction due to poaching and habitat loss.
According to WWF, an environmental group that has worked for years to establish the park, The Zov Tigra (Call of the Tiger) National Park encompasses 82,152 hectares of forest area in the Sikhote-Alin mountain range in the far eastern Primorye region.
“The main purpose of the national park is to conserve biodiversity and develop eco-tourism in the region,” said Yurii Bersenev, protected areas coordinator for WWF-Russia’s Far Eastern office.
“Thanks to the positive cooperation between WWF and the Russian authorities, we were successful in establishing the park. We are happy to see this unique natural area finally getting the protection it deserves.”
The Russian Far East is home to around 500 Amur, also called Siberian, Tigers.
Russia plans to add 21 protected areas by 2010 according to WWF. Zov Tigra is the third to date.
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