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NORTH KOREA
Sea of Japan
ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF
Establishing a Biosphere Reserve Across Borders 1
SPOTLIGHT
Yellow Sea
Incheon
Seoul
REPUBLIC OF
KOREA
Daejeon
Gwangju
Busan
The lower Tumen River area, bordered by China, the Democratic People’s Republic
of Korea (DPRK), and Russia, is an important Northeast Asian zone for regional economic
cooperation.The Tumen River Area Development Programme (TRADP) was
JAPAN
established in 1991 with the goal of facilitating economic cooperation among
member countries: China, Mongolia, the DPRK, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and
Russia. The region is rich in biodiversity and is the last habitat on earth for the Far Eastern Leopard, currently estimated to number
only 30-40 in the world, and home to the endangered Siberian Tiger. The lower reaches and the estuary of the Tumen River
also boast a vast wetland complex. These areas serve as a critical habitat and a major migratory path for over 200 species of
migratory birds, including 36 globally endangered species.
The 2001 ‘Second Workshop on Environmental Peace in Northeast Asia’, held in Yanji, China, was the impetus for a project to
assess the feasibility of establishing a Lower Tumen River Area Transboundary Biosphere Reserve. The 2-year project beginning
in 2002 was funded by UNDP, TRADP and the Government of the ROK. The project’s main objective was to provide a feasibility
basis and guidelines to establish the reserve as an international mechanism for promoting the long-term conservation and sustainable
use of biodiversity in the area.
Over the course of two years, the project has realized its aims by increasing awareness on the status of neighboring protected
areas across the borders in China, the DPRK and Russia, and initiating cooperative relationships through exchange visits
between local government representatives, protected area managers, experts and NGOs in the lower Tumen River area.The project’s
final report, written in the four languages concerned– Chinese, English, Korean and Russian, provides a proposal for the
creation of a Transboundary Biosphere Reserve in the lower Tumen River area.
BIODIVERSITY
QUICK FACTS
CURRENT PORTFOLIO BUDGET
Total UNDP-GEF and Co-Finance: $2,956,321
Total: $2,956,321
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