ACTION ALERT
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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Subject: Help Protect the Last Old-Growth Forests on Sakhalin Island
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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
http://forests.org/
1/22/98
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
Pristine coniferous forests on the island of Sakhalin in the Russian
Far East have nearly been completely cleared by pulp and paper mills
built by the Japanese, which have led to the systematic destruction of
Sakhalin's forests through concentrated clearcutting. Please ask the
Governor to protect the area's last major refuge of pristine ancient
forests.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: HELP CREATE THE VOSTOCHNY WILDLIFE REFUGE
TO PROTECT THE LAST OLD-GROWTH FORESTS ON SAKHALIN ISLAND!
Source: Sakhalin Environment Watch
Status: Distribute freely credited to source
Date: Jan. 21, 1998
URGENT ACTION ALERT
FROM: Sakhalin Environment Watch
Pacific Environment and Resources Center
Friends of the Earth - Japan
Friends!
Please take a moment to look over this Action Alert coming to us from
Sakhalin Environment Watch on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East.
The last unprotected old growth forests of Sakhalin are under threat
from logging companies. Yet the regional governor has a unique
opportunity to protect this territory -- covering 170,000 acres -- as
a wildlife refuge. These refuge would protect old-growth coniferous
forests vital for biodiversity and salmon spawning habitat. Our
colleagues in Sakhalin are asking for urgent faxes to encourage the
governor to make the right choice and to show his environmental
leadership. Below you will find a description of the situation and a
sample letter to the governor. Please fax the governor and be sure to
send us a copy! On behalf of the people and forests of Sakhalin
Island, thanks for your help!
Siberian Forests Protection Project
Pacific Environment and Resources Center
1055 Fort Cronkhite
Sausalito, CA 94965 USA
Tel: 415-332-8200
Fax: 415-332-8167
E-mail: percsiberia@igc.apc.org
Vostochny Wildlife Refuge: Background Information
The last ancient forests on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East
need your voice! Please write a letter to THE GOVERNOR OF SAKHALIN,
IGOR PAVLOVICH FARKHUTDINOV. Ask Governor Farkhutdinov to immediately
establish the "Vostochny" Wildlife Refuge!
Historically, the island of Sakhalin in the Russian Far East was
covered in pristine coniferous forests. Yet nine pulp and paper mills
built by the Japanese led to the systematic destruction of Sakhalin's
forests through concentrated clearcutting. Few pristine coniferous
forests remain on Sakhalin. We must act now to ask the Governor to
protect the last major refuge of pristine ancient forests.
The Pursh-Pursh and Vengeri Rivers, which flow into the Sea of
Okhotsk, contain 700 square kilometers (170,000 acres) of ancient
forests that have been unimpacted by human activity or forest fires.
The crystal-clear, clean water of these rivers flows through
incredibly beautiful wilderness. Many species of salmonids, including
pink, chum, masu-cherry, and coho salmon and Sakhalin taimen, spawn
here. The watersheds contain high landscape and biological diversity.
Covering less than 1% of the area, the proposed refuge provides
habitat for 33% of all plant species and 65% of all terrestrial animal
species known on Sakhalin Island. According to a study by biologists
from the Institute of Marine Geology and Geophysics, 28 species of
rare and endangered animals and 30 species of rare and endangered
plants are found in this rich and wild corner of Sakhalin.
Such rare animals as Sakhalin musk deer, grouse, mandarin duck,
mountain snipe, osprey, golden eagle, marbled murrelet and many others
are still found in the ancient forests of the Pursh-Pursh and Vengeri
only because their habitat has not been logged. From April to
November, a large population of wild reindeer uses the territory to
calve, raise young, and mate.
In 1995 at an international conference organized by Friends of the
Earth-Japan, this territory was included on a list of "biodiversity
hotspots" - a list of valuable wilderness areas of the Russian Far
East in need of immediate conservation and protection. However, the
area has come under serious threat.
Having exhausted the forest resources on adjoining territories, two
local Russian logging companies are trying to log this relatively
remote and inaccessible region. Despite numerous appeals by government
conservation agencies about the necessity of establishing a wilderness
preserve here - the "Vostochny" wildlife refuge - local and regional
authorities have leased 250 square kilometers of coniferous forest in
the central part of the Pursh-Pursh-Vengeri watershed to a company for
clear-cut logging. In refusing to establish the reserve, the
authorities cited the absence of scientific proof of the necessity to
preserve this wilderness territory. Yet in 1996, with financial
support from the Sakhalin Regional Ecological Fund, the environmental
organization Friends of the Earth - Japan, and the Japanese foundation
ProNatura, Sakhalin biologists conducted an expedition to the area and
prepared scientific evidence that persuasively demonstrated the
necessity of preserving the ecosystem of the Pursh-Pursh-Vengeri
watersheds. But the lease agreements were already completed and
clear-cutting began. So far, 3.5 square kilometers of virgin forest
have already been destroyed to the north of the Pursh-Pursh river.
An opportunity to save this unique wilderness has now appeared.
While reorganizing the forestry department on Sakhalin, the regional
administration has annulled all lease agreements with the island's
local logging companies. After completing reorganization, forest lands
will again be transferred to these new local logging enterprises.
Right now, it is legally possible for the Sakhalin Governor and
Administration to create the "Vostochny" wildlife refuge that would
protect the wilderness of the Pursh-Pursh and Vengeri watersheds.
The fate of the last large area of old-growth Sakhalin forests rests
with the Governor. He can refuse to lease the Pursh-Pursh-Vengeri
watersheds and instead create the "Vostochny" wildlife refuge. In
doing so, one of the few unique corners of Sakhalin wilderness will be
saved.
Public opinion is vitally important right now to encourage the
governor to establish the "Vostochny" refuge. Sakhalin Environment
Watch is appealing to all who are interested in wilderness on our
planet.
The governor plans to make his decision before the end of January.
Please FAX your letters to the Governor at: +7-504-41-62-200 (Note:
from the U.S., first dial 011 to send an international fax).
We are sure that the combined strength of the world's
environmentalists can save these forests!
For "Sakhalin Environment Watch"
Dmitry V. Lisitsyn
Secretary of the board
VOSTOCHNY WILDLIFE REFUGE: SAMPLE LETTER
Governor of Sakhalin Region
Russian Federation
Igor Pavlovich Farkhutdinov
VIA FAX: +7-504-41-62-200
Respected Igor Pavlovich!
We are writing to you regarding your opportunity to create the
Vostochny Wildlife Refuge in the central part of Sakhalin Island.
Located in the watersheds of the Pursh-Pursh and Vengeri rivers, this
unique wilderness area carries great importance for the preservation
of biological diversity and pristine forests not only for Sakhalin
Island, but also for the whole world. The protection of this area,
representing Sakhalin Island's last unprotected ancient forests, would
provide significant ecological, environmental, aesthetic and cultural
values. We are alarmed by the danger that this valuable wilderness
could be destroyed in the near future by logging companies that have
already begun to build logging roads into the area.
We understand that you are the head of Sakhalin, a leading region in
the Russian Far East. No doubt you are well aware of Russia's
international commitments, as agreed upon in the Convention on
Biological Diversity, to protect biodiversity. Your country, along
with many others, signed this international agreement in 1992.
One of the most important strategies for preserving the world's
biological diversity is the creation of wilderness reserves to
protect those areas that are rich in habitat for rare and endangered
plant and animal species.
We understand that the proposed Vostochny Wildlife Refuge in the
watersheds of the Pursh-Pursh and Vengeri rivers represents such an
important area. The Vostochny Wildlife Refuge has been identified by
Sakhalin, Russian Far East, and foreign ecologists as a biodiversity
protection priority. Although the proposed refuge covers less than 1%
of the territory of Sakhalin, one can find over 33% of all plant
species and 65% of all animal species found on Sakhalin Island. This
wild corner of Sakhalin provides habitat for 28 rare and endangered
animal and 30 rare and endangered plant species. The ancient forests
of the Pursh-Pursh and Vengeri rivers protect natural spawning habitat
for such economically and ecologically important species as coho,
pink, chum, and masu-cherry salmon and the Sakhalin taimen. Only a
few such undisturbed salmon spawning habitats remain throughout
the Northern Pacific region.
Sakhalin Region is about to see significant economic development from
its offshore oil and gas reserves. Such economic development,
including proposed construction of pipelines, will undoubtedly impact
the environment. As a result, the protection of undisturbed
wilderness areas on Sakhalin Island has now become especially
important.
As the head of one of the leading regions in the Russian Far East, we
ask you to use the unique opportunity to show Sakhalin Island's
leadership in environmental issues. We ask you to show Sakhalin's
environmental leadership by refusing to lease the forest territories
of the Pursh-Pursh and Vengeri Rivers to logging enterprises and
instead establishing the Vostochny Wildlife Refuge. We are certain
that such a decision would be warmly received by the international
community as well as by the people of Sakhalin. Please inform us of
your decision in this matter.
Respectfully,
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Siberian Forests Protection Project
Pacific Environment and Resources Center
1055 Ft. Cronkhite
Sausalito, CA 94965
Tel 415-332-8200
Fax 415-332-8167
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