Russia and China plan to create ecological corridors for Amur tigers

Russian and Chinese scientists have proposed creating ecological corridors for cross-border migration of Amur tigers.

The initiative includes the creation of a unified database on transboundary tiger groups, a joint assessment of habitat connectivity and the formation of a mechanism for managing ecological corridors.

The transboundary group of Amur tigers numbers about 20 individuals, regularly migrating between Russia and China, and is the most important link between parts of the population in the two countries.

MOSCOW, October 11 - RIA Novosti. Scientists from Russia and China have proposed creating ecological corridors for cross-border migration of Amur tigers, the Russian Ministry of Education and Science told RIA Novosti.

“Russian and Chinese scientists have come up with an initiative to protect the transboundary population of the Amur tiger. The document justifies the creation of a unified database on transboundary tiger groups, a joint assessment of habitat connectivity, and the formation of a mechanism for coordinated management of transboundary ecological corridors,” the statement says.

In addition, the initiative provides a rationale for the development of technical guidelines for tiger conservation and ecosystem restoration standards.

The document was sent to the Ministry of Nature and Ecology of Heilongjiang Province. After being reviewed by the Chinese side, the proposals should be sent to the State Council of the People's Republic of China.

It is clarified that the proposed measures were the result of ten years of joint work by a group of Russian and Chinese scientists at the Center for Environmental Innovation Research in Harbin, created on the basis of the Institute of Ecology and Evolution. A.N. Severtsov RAS (IPEE RAS) and the Institute of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Heilongjiang Academy of Sciences.

The department noted that today the cross-border group includes about 20 Amur tigers, regularly migrating between the two countries, and is the most important link between parts of the population living in the two countries. Today, about 750 tigers live in Russia, and in China, according to Chinese researchers, from 70 to 90.

According to scientists, transboundary groups are a necessary living mechanism for the exchange of genes, without which the population breaks up into isolated parts, which entails the risk of degradation even if the overall number is maintained.

According to the project coordinator, senior researcher at the Institute of Ecological Ecology of the Russian Academy of Sciences Anna Yachmennikova, this opportunity to move freely between states along a system of ecological corridors is a real alternative to translocation - the capture and movement of animals to restore the population in another region.

She noted that it is most logical and effective to connect areas of animal habitat with a system of ecological corridors that exclude intersections with anthropogenic infrastructure along their entire length in both countries.