The Sikhote-Alin Reserve was established on February 10, 1935 and is one of the oldest reserves in Russia. Its area is now 401,600 ha. The territory consisting of two sections extends along both slopes of the Sikhote-Alin ridge and includes the waters of the Sea of Japan. This is the place where the north and south meet, the land of an amazing combination, diversity and contradictions of natural zones, flora and fauna: from highlands to sandy and pebble beaches of the sea coast, from actinídia kolomíkta vines to cedrus and taxus.
To date, the reserve has 7 species of mammals, 57 species of birds, 40 species of vascular plants, 42 species of lichens; 4 types of mushrooms listed in the red books of the regional and federal levels. Here, on one territory, the Amur tiger and lynx, the Himalayan and brown bears get along. The landscape of the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve is very diverse in its landscape: forests, varying in composition of tree species, thickness and age, the ocean coast, stony placers and loach, rocks and cliffs, glades and glades, narrow gorges and wide valleys, floodplain and lagoon lakes.
February 19, 1979 Sikhote-Alin State Nature Reserve received the status of a UNESCO biosphere reserve and was included in the international network of protected areas, which represent all major ecosystems of our planet. Throughout the existence of the reserve, one of its main tasks was the preservation of the planet’s rarest cat, the Amur tiger. It was from here in the postwar years, when the total number of predators in the south of the Far East was not more than 50 individuals, the tiger began to spread throughout the territory of Primorsky Krai.
Employees of the Sikhote-Alinsky Reserve, together with leading scientific institutions of Russia, as well as a number of public environmental organizations of the world, to this day constantly monitor the state of the Amur tiger grouping in the reserve and its surrounding territories. Thanks to their efforts, the number of Amur tigers on the territory of the reserve has been growing in recent years.
Every year the interest of tourists to the reserve increases, the number of visitors who come to look at the wild, untouched nature increases. Following the principles of preserving the environment, employees of the reserve, with the help of volunteers and students, are developing a network of excursion routes. The movement in this direction will make it possible to positively influence the development of ecological tourism in the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve.
Recall that in cooperation with the Amur Tiger Center last summer, young specialists from the Tiger squad - future biologists, ecologists, foresters, game managers and veterinarians - learned about the features of the territory, created infrastructure, cleaned undergrowth, landscaped the natural complex and laid The first ecological path in the Sikhote-Alin reserve.
The Amur Tiger Center congratulates the staff of the Sikhote-Alin Nature Reserve on their jubilee and wishes them fruitful work in the difficult task of environmental protection and Amur tigers!