2008 Alaska Park Science Symposium
October 14, 2008
Transboundary Especially Protected Natural Territories and Their Role in the Protection of Nature in Northeast Asia
Anatoliy N. Kachur1
1Pacific Institute of Geography, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Primor'e, Russia
International relationships in the sphere of the protection of the environment and the preservation of ecosystems especially in the transboundary areas have followed a complicated path in their development. They followed a path from distrust and suspicion to growing mutual understanding. Scientists in their contacts exposed many global and regional ecological problems that require the immediate joint resolution of neighboring countries.
At the end of the 20th century is became obvious that current models of nature use must be replaced, as the result of numerous ecological crises and the intensification of global problems connected with climate change, alteration in of the composition of the atmosphere, pollution, the loss of biological diversity and the degradation of ecosystems, and as a consequence of the exhaustion of the natural resource base and the continuous growth of demographic and social problems. There began to emerge in the world a new system of overall humanitarian priorities, based on the conscious necessity of a transition to a concept of sustainable development.
As of late the term “sustainable nature use” has been used in Russia which in fact is the Russian analog of “sustainable development” and describes the same concept.
The most important task lying at the base of realization of the concept of sustainable development is the development of principles and methods to optimize mutual relations between humans and the environment. The most important component of sustainable development is the creation of preconditions for the absolute preservation of nature, its restoration. The primary method for this was and is the creation of an ecological framework consisting, first of all, of a system of especially protected natural territories.
A distinct question is the issue of developing a strategy of sustainable development in transboundary territories that is in conditions where there are territories or aquatic areas belonging to two or more countries. Under this circumstance we in practice encounter the issue of the regionalization and transnationalization of especially protected natural territories.
The processes of regionalization and transnationalization of especially protected natural territories are only just beginning in the world. This process is complicated and has an area of serious problems of an economic, political, and ethical character. So far it is early to speak of active mutual efforts between the especially protected natural territories of various countries of the world. However, already today the role of transboundary especially protected nature preserve areas is sufficiently great that together with the appearance of regional ecological networks it signifies the beginning of a new stage in the evolution of regional nature preservation – its transition from a local and regional level into a global one, that is, in practice, we have entered into the era of globalized national nature preservation networks.
In the course of the last 15 years, the author has taken part in a series of works related to the development of plans for creation of national and transboundary especially protected natural territories. From 1993 to 1995 he directed the work for the feasibility study for the establishment of the national and nature parks in the territory of the Primorskiy Krai: Kema-Amginskiy, Verkhne-Ussuriiskiy (Zov Tigre), Sredne-Ussuriiski (Udegei Legend) national parks and the Southern Primor’e Nature Park. As a part of a group of international authors in 1993 – 1995 he took part in the feasibility study of the system of transboundary especially protected nature preserves in the Ussuri River basin and the surrounding territories. From 1994 to 2000 together with P. Baklanov he directed the work on the feasibility study for the Nature-Ethnic Park Beringia, to be a future part of an international especially protected Nature Park Beringia. In 1997 – 1999 in the framework of the UNEP (United Nations Environmental Project) project Diagnostic Analysis of the Basin of Lake Khanka he directed works on the development study of the international zapovednik Lake Khanka. In 2002 – 2003 he took an active part in works in the framework of the GEF (Global Environmental Facility) project Strategic Plan for Works in the Area of Nature Preservation in the Territory of TumenNET for the creation of a transboundary especially protected natural area in the lower course of the Tumannaya River. In 2003 – 2004 he took part as an expert in the feasibility study for the Transborder Biosphere Reserve on the Lower Course of the Tumannaya River.
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