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EAZA Tiger Campaign 2002/4


Target projects: Project 7

Fire-fighting on the
Sino-Russian border

The Khasan district of the
Russian Far East is located
on the borders with China
and North Korea. This area
has a very high level of biodiversity
and many endemic species that are
absent elsewhere in the RFE.It is
home to the last remaining population
of approximately 40 Amur leopards, as
well to as 15-20 Amur tigers.
Map © WCS
Amur tiger © David Hggs/TEPA
This small tiger population is not essential for the survival of Amur tigers in Russia. However, it is essential for the future of tigers in China. Recently a reserve was established in China that connects with the range of the Amur tiger in Khasan. Tigers from Khasan are expected to re-populate northern China as forest management and protection of tigers and prey improve in China.

Habitat loss through fires and logging is one of the major threats to the survival of the tigers in Khasan. Farmers burn their fields in the autumn to increase fertility, but many fires do not stop at the field's edge and each year valuable habitat is damaged. In some areas the forest has been transformed into tree-less fields as a result of frequent fires.
Russian landscape on fire

The existing firefighting team established by the Tigris Foundation has succeeded in putting out over 150 fires in the last two years and has considerably reduced the area affected by each fire. Support for expansion is urgently needed. The team has five members and is equipped with protective clothing, air compressors and an army water truck. Supervisor Andrei Yurchenko also runs the main Khasan antipoaching team.
Fire-fighting equipment © Phoenix

The project will:

  • Establish two small fire-fighting outposts, one in northern and one in southern Khasan. These outposts will shorten reaction times: the present team sometimes travels several hours to reach fires, and small fires can become large fires in a few hours time!
  • Replace the team's existing old fire-extinguishers, and also provide the antipoaching teams with one extinguisher each so that they also can extinguish small fires they come across on patrol.

    • Fire-fighting © Phoenix

  • Implement a "direct payment system" in 2003 with the use of satellite fire-monitoring data. Under this system, the salaries of the fire-fighters will depend on the proportion of their area left unburnt, which will create a strong incentive to perform well.

    • Funding is sought from EAZA for:

                                                 - Eight Huskvarna fire-extinguishers;                                              - Purchase of Landsat 7 satellite
                                                    images, and analysis of fire-fighting
                                                       results;                                                        - Salaries for fire-fighters at
                                                              outposts.