Eugene A. Simonov and Thomas D. Dahmer - Apache 2 Test Page

442 Pages·2008·15.31 MB·English

Ecosystems Ltd.
Wetlands at confluence of Gorin and Amur-Heilong Rivers © WWF-Russia / Y. Darman
Amur-Heilong River Basin

Reader
Edited by
Eugene A. Simonov and Thomas D. Dahmer
February 2008
Copyright © 2008 by WWF, Copyright © 2008 by Ecosystems Ltd.,
Copyright © 2008 by Eugene A. Simonov, Thomas D. Dahmer
Maps Copyright © : Evgeny Egidarev, Andrey Purekhovsky, Eugene Simonov, WWF-Russia
Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written
permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged.
Recommended citation: Simonov, E. A. and T. D. Dahmer, editors. 2008. Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader.
Ecosystems Ltd., Hong Kong.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data.
Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader /
edited by Eugene A. Simonov and Thomas D. Dahmer
includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-988-17227-1-3
1. Amur River
2. Heilongjiang / Heilong River
3. River basin management
4. Biodiversity conservation
5. Natural resource conservation
Printed on recycled, acid-free paper
Design by Kathy Harestad, Selah, Washington, USA, www.kathyart.com
Manufactured in Hong Kong by Power Digital Printing Co. Ltd.
ii — Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader
Contents
Preface ...............................................................................................................................................................................................v
Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................................................................vii
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................xi
Part One: Natural Setting of the Amur-Heilong River Basin
Chapter 1 General Description ..............................................................................................................................................3
Chapter 2 Climate and Weather .........................................................................................................................................11
Chapter 3 Hydrology ..............................................................................................................................................................19
Chapter 4 Soils ...........................................................................................................................................................................31
Chapter 5 Biodiversity and biogeographic zones .......................................................................................................32
Chapter 6 Boreal Zone Ecoregions ....................................................................................................................................41
Chapter 7 Temperate Zone Forest Ecoregions ............................................................................................................48
Chapter 8 Global Daurian Steppe .....................................................................................................................................58
Chapter 9 Global 200 Russian Far East Rivers and Wetlands Ecoregion ..............................................................64
Part Two: Socio-Economics and Natural Resources
Chapter 10 Land Resources and Land Use Patterns ......................................................................................................75
Chapter 11 Socio-Economic Conditions in the Southern Russian Far East ...........................................................80
Chapter 12 Socio-Economic Conditions in Northeast China ..................................................................................108
Chapter 13 Socio-Economic Conditions in Eastern Mongolia ...............................................................................132
Chapter 14 Trade, International Investment and Tourism .......................................................................................146
Chapter 15 Case Study: Russia-China Cooperation in Forestry .............................................................................152
Chapter 16 Case Study: China-Russia Cooperation in Energy ................................................................................160
Chapter 17 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................................................168
Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader — iii
Part Three: Threats to Biodiversity
Chapter 18 This Review and Previous Threats Analyses ...........................................................................................173
Chapter 19 Water use and Water Infrastructure ..........................................................................................................178
Chapter 20 Water Pollution .................................................................................................................................................212
Chapter 21 Transport Infrastructure ................................................................................................................................237
Chapter 22 Conversion of Wildlands to Farmlands ....................................................................................................246
Chapter 23 Logging and Fires ............................................................................................................................................255
Chapter 24 Global Climate Change ..................................................................................................................................267
Chapter 25 Exploitation and Trade in Biological Resources ....................................................................................270
Chapter 26 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................................................278
Part Four: Options for the Future
Chapter 27 Essay Number One: Future economic development and nature conservation
in the transboundary ecoregion ..........................................................................................................283
Chapter 28 Essay Number Two: International Nature Conservation and River Basin Management ........295
Chapter 29 Essay Number Three: Amur-Heilong River Pollution: A Downstream Perspective
for Understanding and Managing Environmental Risks .............................................................320
Chapter 30 Essay Number Four: An Ecological Network Approach to Biodiversity Conservation ...........328
Chapter 31 Case Study Number One: Hinggan Gorge International Conservation Area –
High potential yet to be realized .........................................................................................................368
Chapter 32 Case Study Number Two: Dauria International Protected Area (DIPA) ........................................376
Appendices
Appendix One: Abbreviations .............................................................................................................................................383
Appendix Two: References ...................................................................................................................................................385
Appendix Three: Glossary .....................................................................................................................................................398
Appendix Four: Map References ........................................................................................................................................409
Appendix Five: Administrative Jurisdictions ..................................................................................................................418
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Preface
By Yury Darman
It is strange that the Amur-Heilong River is still unknown to the modern world, being one of the ten largest
rivers on Earth. Even its name conveys mystique and legend from historic times. European world maps use the
name Amur, whereas China uses the name Heilongjiang, or “Black Dragon River”, for the same river. Russians
believe the name “Black Dragon” has negative connotation related to its often unpredictable tendency to flood, but
for Chinese the Black Dragon is an important and positive symbol, a “good critter”! In Russia, the name “Amur”
is used only downstream from the confluence of the Shilka and Argun Rivers, after these main tributaries have
covered about ¼ of the overall river length. From this confluence the Amur flows under its controversial name and
unimpeded by dams several thousand kilometers to the Tatar Strait. Each of these two main tributary rivers has its
own mystery. The northern source of the Amur, the Shilka River, starts from Sokhondo Ridge on the Great Con-
tinental Divide. From this one ridge, the rivers flow either northward to the Arctic Ocean through Lake Baikal, or
eastward to the Sea of Japan. While the southern source, the Argun River, collects its flows from endless steppe of
Chingis Han’s (Genghis Khan) motherland.
In fact, the Amur is the only river in Siberia which runs not from south to north, but from west to east. Thus it
forms the natural border between the severe boreal taiga and broadleaf temperate forests. Moreover, the river basin
delimits the northern border of forest-steppe and steppe ecosystems that support the unique migrations of Mongo-
lian gazelle. The floodplains of the Amur and its tributaries create the belt of wetlands, without which the millions
of migratory ducks and geese could not reach their breeding grounds on the tundra at the Arctic shores. And where
else in the world can you one find the Kaluga sturgeon – the king of freshwater fish, reaching 1000 kg? Even today
millions of salmons still rush upstream to spawning areas in mountainous tributaries through the un-dammed main
river channel!
But if you study a satellite image of the transboundary ecosystem, you will see that the Russian side of the
basin remains green with dense forests and expanses of grassland. In contrast, the China side is mostly fields and
settlements. The human population in northeast China has redoubled during last three decades. Finally, the color
of the steppe zone in the upper basin is scorched to yellow, indicating desertification caused by climate change and
overuse by people and their livestock. This contrast represents both the threat and the challenge. How can we use
some of the world’s successful examples to shift rapid development toward sustainability? How can we combine
the experience of China, Mongolia and Russia to save nature and benefit people? The time has come. We must
create a platform for international cooperation, to implement the Amur Green Belt as the system of protected areas
linked by buffer zones and corridors, and to keep the Amur-Heilong as one of the world’s last free-flowing rivers!
Mongolia, Russia and China can only solve the many problems facing the Amur-Heilong basin by working together
and adopting an integrated river basin management approach.
Fifteen years ago, the first international conference devoted to conservation of Amur-Heilong wetlands was
jointly organized by the International Crane Foundation of Baraboo, Wisconsin and Russia’s Socio-Ecological
Union on a big vessel, rafting downstream on the Amur-Heilong River. The conference was called “Amur 1992”.
This was the first time for conservationists from all over the world to listen and learn about the problems of this
Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader — v
forgotten region. This was also the first time we declared that the Amur-Heilong should be free of planned dams
on the main stream. A decade of intensive international contacts and cooperative research started at that meeting.
This resulted in many outcomes, including satellite-tracking of the majestic Red-crowned Crane, White-naped
Crane, and Oriental Stork. By 2000, WWF and IUCN had revitalized international interest in the Amur-Heilong
River, and this marked the starting point for a growing ecological program now supported by offices of WWF in
Vladivostok (WWF Russia), Harbin (WWF China) and Dadal (WWF Mongolia). In 2005, the PIA (Project Imple-
mentation Agreement) on the Amur-Heilong Ecoregional Program was signed between these offices and all major
donors from the WWF family. The coordinated work plan with three years of a committed budget became the tool
for implementation of cooperative efforts. In May 2007, Russia and China governments finally formed a special
working group on biodiversity and protected areas to coordinate planned joint activities and address conservation
problems in the Amur-Heilong River basin.
Of course, the first stage of any ecoregional program is evaluation of the current situation and review of exist-
ing documents. The Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader represents this compilation of information from many and
diverse sources available mainly in Russian and Chinese. In 2004-2005, WWF in Russia, China and Mongolia
hired experts to collect basic information on biodiversity and environmental problems under coordination of Eu-
gene Simonov. This work took considerable time to complete, due to tremendous fragmentation and incompatibil-
ity of available data. To ensure greater cohesion WWF also designed basic basin-wide GIS database with focus on
protected areas. The first outcomes of this project were used to illustrate this compilation.
The Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader is a first step, or reconnaissance effort for an ecoregional program.
But we hope that the Reader will also serve as a source of basic information about this extraordinary and biodi-
versity-rich ecoregional complex that is faced with the impending threat of economic development. We also hope
that the Reader will provide information and stimulus to challenge the path of such development and shift it toward
sustainable management through integration of river basin issues. In any case, the Amur-Heilong River has become
a global example of a sharp contrast between two civilizations, two approaches to land use, and two attitudes to
all of the life on Earth. It is possible to conclude that the border between Europe and Asia is no longer the Ural
mountains, but now it is the stream of the Amur-Heilong River. For this reason, the Amur-Heilong basin is among
the globally important testing grounds for resolving conflicts and contradictions, and paving the way to a more
ecologically sustainable future with biodiversity conservation as a top priority.
Yury Darman, Director
World Wide Fund for Nature — Russia, Amur Branch
Vladivostok, Russia
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Acknowledgements
From the compiler, Eugene Simonov
When the Amur/Heilong Initiative (AHI) was launched by WWF in 2002, the Russian Far East office (WWF-
RFE) was tasked with developing a basin-wide knowledge base covering all requirements for the planning of inte-
grated river basin management (IRBM). A substantial body of information has been collected on the Amur-Heilong
River basin related to water management, wetland protection, infrastructure development projects, fisheries, for-
estry, protected areas, species diversity, and projects of domestic and international agencies. Due to uneven levels
of knowledge on similar subjects in different parts of the basin and the virtual absence of basin-wide analyses or
comparable materials this knowledge base after five years is still a patchwork of different pieces of information. It
is very useful when specific information is needed, but does not tell an objective story on major features and trends
in the basin as a whole.
In an attempt to fill this gap we took the risk of compiling this volume, the Amur-Heilong River Basin Read-
er, to provide the first basin-wide description of the status of natural resource use and conservation problems in
the Amur-Heilong basin. A multitude of studies, published and unpublished reports, governmental programs and
various other sources were used to supplement the material compiled from the three country studies. The source
documents somewhat better reflect English and Russian language sources, since processing volumes of Chinese
and Mongolian material was often impeded by language barriers and time and resource constraints. The resulting
text is somewhat uneven because information on some subjects was plentiful and reliable, while other important
subjects were only superficially covered in the literature. However we believe that the current version reflects the
availability of information on different integrated river basin management (IRBM) subjects in the basin and can be
used as a guide by anyone who wants to get familiar with basin-wide environmental issues as they stand at year-end
2006. We must add a disclaimer that this document is by no means a WWF standard “Ecoregional Assessment”,
but rather is a preparatory stage for such an assessment that will require a much larger group of experts and greater
resources.
Many sources were used to compile this text, therefore it is difficult to attribute the authorship to a certain
small group of individuals. As a complier I want to express my sincere gratitude to all managers, donors, experts,
officials, NGO-activists, photographers and GIS-wizards who supported this work and provided essential pieces for
its compilation, provided advice and review. Making a full name list will contribute another chapter to this already
rather thick volume, therefore I need to apologize to those whose names are only mentioned in references.
WWF Living Waters Programme supported country overviews subsequently commissioned by WWF China
and Mongolia in 2004-2005, which, along with RFE Ecoregional Conservation Action Plan (RFE ECAP 2003),
formed the initial framework for this compilation. The original RFE ECAP was prepared by Yury Darman, Vladi-
mir Karakin (WWF RFE), Andrew Martynenko (Far Eastern National University) and Laura Williams. Addi-
tional country reports were prepared in 2004 by Li Xiaomin (North East Forestry University, Harbin, China) and
Tseveenmyadag Natsagdorj (Institute of Biology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Ulan-Baatar). Mongolian data
were expanded and updated by WWF’s Mongolia team under leadership of Chimed Ochir in 2006.
Much was drawn from the eight volume Russia-China Scheme for Water Resources Management in Trans-
Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader — vii
boundary Amur and Argun Rivers (Ladygin et al. 1996) which was reviewed by experts on WWF request (Gotvan-
ski 2004; Podolsky et al. 2006) to formulate WWF’s position on a Comprehensive Scheme for Amur Water Use
(Ladygin et al. 2006, cancelled prior to completion). At the same time, the China Academy of Engineering pub-
lished the ten volume “Strategic Questions on Water, Land Allocation and Environment in relation to Revitalization
of North East China Old Industrial Bases” (CAE 2007), the Summary from which was provided by the CAE Secre-
tariat in 2006 and helped to asses the situation and economic plans on China’s side of the Amur-Heilong River.
Substantial information and case-studies were provided by the editor Tom Dahmer (Ecosystems Ltd., Hong
Kong, China), who relied heavily on reports of various projects he participated in on the China side of the basin.
Asian Development Bank, Global Environment Facility, United Nations Development Program and United Nations
Environmental Program were the primary funding agencies for these projects. Additional contributors included
Alexander S. Sheingauz (Institute of Regional Economy RAS, Khabarovsk, Russia), S. S. Ganzey, V. Karakin,
Alexey Lankin (Pacific Institute of Geography, Vladivostok, Russia), Liubov Kondratieva (Insitute of Water and
Environment Problems, Khabarovsk), and Tatiana Strizhova (IPREK, Chita).
Anatoly Mandych (Institute of Geography, Moscow) and Aleksey Kokorin (WWF Russia) contributed to
general analysis of climate change influence on ecosystems and land-use.
Critically important material on nature reserve management and species and ecosystem process research was
contributed by Russian zapovedniks (strict scientific nature reserves), more particularly by: the Research team of
Khingansky Nature Reserve (led by Sergey Ignatenko, Mikhail Parilov and Vyacheslav Kastrikin); Dauria Inter-
national Protected Area (DIPA) (Vadim Kiriliuk, Olga Kiriliuk, Oleg Goroshko (all Russia), Odmaa Badamjav
(Mongolia), Liu Songtao (China); Lake Khanka International Nature Reserve (Irina Maslova (Russia), and Wang
Fengkun (China).
Some essential information was collected in cooperation with Green Longjiang Youth Environment associa-
tion of Heilongjiang Province, and Liu Xuechan (then a graduate student at North-East Forestry University, Har-
bin).
Updated databases on protected areas and other useful pieces were provided by Vladimir Andronov (RFE
Division of Federal Agency for Control in the Sphere of Natural Resources) and Yury Bersenev (WWF RFE), Na-
talya Kochneva (Chita Province Administration), Vassily Gorobeiko (Evreiskaya Autonomous Province Division
of Federal Agency for Control in the Sphere of Natural Resources), and Han Manglei (Hulunbeier Flora and Fauna
Protection Station of Forest Agency).
Kind invitation to attend international negotiations greatly informed the work of the compiler and I wish to
thank for this opportunity Amirkhan Amirkhanov, Tatiana Petrova, Olga Krever (Russian Ministry of Natural Re-
sources), Tatiana Minaeva (Amur-Heilong GEF Project “Ecologia” Russian Federal Project Center), Andrey Ma-
karov (Amur Basin Water Resources Agency), Victor Bardiuk (Khabarovskiy Province Administration), Boris Tsoy
(Primorkiy Province Division of Federal Agency for Control in the Sphere of Natural Resources), and Dr.Namhai
(Mongolian Ministry of Nature and Environment).
Compilation work was greatly supported by WWF staff Nikolai Efimov and Petr Sharov (WWF RFE, who
also did initial editing of parts of Chapter 1 and 3), Dong Ke, Lou Jia (WWF CPO), and Batnasan (WWF Mongo-
lia).
Most WWF RFE maps, including the standard AHRB map, were prepared by Evgeny Egidarev and Andrey
Purekhovsky (WWF RFE). Some crucial maps were provided by Frederic Lasserre (Ontario, Canada).
Photos for this book were donated by WWF RFE, Vadim Kiriliuk, Guo Yu Min. Graphs, figures, and tables
were kindly remodeled and created anew by Meeling Yau (Ecosystems Limited, Hong Kong, China). Translation
of Sheingauz’s book on RFE Forestry was provided by Misha Jones (PERC, USA).
I am very thankful to our reviewers and advisors, whose comments helped to improve the final manuscript:
viii — Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader
Professor Frédéric Lasserre (Département de géographie Université Laval, Québec, Canada) and Professor Xiaom-
ing Bai (Jilin Province Environmental Sciences Institute, China).
Text became readable and finally got clarity and consistency exclusively because of tremendous editorial ef-
fort of Tom Dahmer who for three consecutive years devoted his free time and energy and much of his company’s
time to improve each consecutive version of this book. Moreover, Tom took upon himself the burden of getting this
book published in Hong Kong, which undoubtedly the main reason it finally reached our readers.
At the last stage of our long work Darron Collins (Amur –Heilong Program manager, WWF USA) provided
concentrated energetic help to improve style, language and structure of each chapter, as well as conducting a thor-
ough review by fresh eyes when Tom and myself could no longer do it ourselves. Darron also greatly improved the
ecological networks essay in Chapter 6.
Personally I am especially thankful to Yury Darman (WWF RFE director) for his unceasing patience, firm
support and editorial advice in multi-year production of this manuscript. Yury not only laid the foundation to this
effort by compiling the original ECAP, but was acting producer for the overall work for 3 consecutive years.
I also thank my Academic Advisor Professor Ma Jianzhang (North East Forestry University, Academician of
CAE), who inspired me to continue this compilation as the foundation of my doctoral research.
Draft compilation and most of the commentary (with all flaws and inaccuracies yet to be revealed) was done
by myself, Eugene A. Simonov/Ximeng (Amur Heilong Programme Consultant to WWF). I and Tom Dahmer
(Editor, Ecosystems Ltd.) should be held responsible for all inaccuracies and we hope to receive comments and
corrections from readers in hopes of making subsequent editions more accurate and useful to a wider readership.
I dedicate my share of effort put in this compilation to the bright memory of remarkable man and thoughtful
scholar of Amur River biodiversity, Vladimir M. Sapayev (1935-2006), who did not live to see publication of the
Reader, which he always anticipated and encouraged. Vladimir Markyanovich Sapayev spent at least 40 years of
his life studying the wildlife and ecosystems of the Amur River basin, and for his last four years was inspiring and
leading a research team at the Institute of Water and Ecological Problems in Khabarovsk conducting a pilot design
for the Green Belt of Amur – an ecological network to safeguard wetland biodiversity of the Amur-Heilong flood-
plain.
Please forward your comments and additions to: Evgene Simonov, WWF RFE, [email protected] and/or
to: Tom Dahmer, Ecosystems Ltd., [email protected]
No maps in this book imply that WWF, authors or publishers express any particular opinion regarding delinea-
tion of national borders under demarcation.
Amur-Heilong River Basin Reader — ix