China and Russia Make Notable Progress in Cross-Border Ecological Conservation, Emerging as a Model for Global Cross-Border Ecological Governance

Beijing. Through the establishment of transnational protected areas and joint patrol and monitoring mechanisms in Northeast China and the Russian Far East, notable progress has been made in protecting Siberian tigers and leopards, safeguarding migratory birds, and restoring salmon populations, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

The China-Russia border connects forests, wetlands, and rivers which are jointly protected by the two countries, making it a crucial region for cross-border ecological conservation. The administration said cooperation has expanded from single-species protection to comprehensive ecosystem restoration, forming an ecological security barrier in Northeast Asia and providing a model for global cross-border ecological governance.

In the dense forests along the China-Russia border, infrared cameras have captured increasing numbers of wild Siberian tigers crossing between the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park and Russia’s Land of the Leopard National Park. China and Russia signed an agreement in 2024 to establish a transboundary nature reserve for large cats.

“The two countries have established a regular joint patrol mechanism and built an intelligent monitoring system to share real-time data on tiger and leopard activities,” said Liu Linbo, director of the Hunchun bureau of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park Administration in Jilin province. Monitoring data from the bureau shows that populations of wild Siberian tigers and leopards in the Hunchun area have doubled since the park was established in 2021, with about 70 tigers and 80 leopards recorded. The transnational protected area, to date, covers nearly 17,000 square kilometers, providing an ecological corridor for the safe migration and reproduction of the big cats.

Each spring and autumn, hundreds of thousands of migratory birds arrive at the Jingxin Wetland in Hunchun to rest and refuel. Located at the junction of China, Russia, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the 8,000-hectare wetland is a key transit station on the East Asian-Australasian migratory bird flyway. To ensure comprehensive protection, China and Russia have established a regular cooperation mechanism, conducting synchronized monitoring of waterbird populations and disease prevention during migration seasons, according to the Hunchun forestry bureau. In recent years, Hunchun has restored about 5,000 hectares of forests, grasslands, and wetlands, with data showing that more than 200 species of migratory birds inhabit the area each migration season, including 14 species under national first-class protection and 42 species under national second-class protection.

In mid-April, 600,000 salmon fry were released into the Mijiang River in Hunchun, a tributary of the Tumen River, marking the start of their journey to the North Pacific Ocean. They are expected to return to spawn in three to four years. Over the years, China and Russia have cooperated on fish breeding and migration monitoring, establishing a regular cross-border protection mechanism. According to Zheng Yanwen, an official with the local fisheries administration, since 2007, Jilin has conducted fish stocking activities in the Tumen River basin, releasing more than 4.7 million salmon fry and 38 million other fish.

“The shift from single-species protection to comprehensive ecosystem restoration, and from seasonal joint actions to regular collaborative governance, provides a vivid model for global cross-border ecological governance,” said Jiang Ming, director and researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology.