UDEGE PEOPLE DEFENDING TAIGA FROM LOGGING IN RUSSIA: BRAVO!

Amur tiger (Panthera tigris altaica). Source: WWF.

Source: The I Files
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The Udege have lived in the Bikin River Valley basin for thousands of years, defending their land despite intense development pressure. The river and the twelve thousand square kilometers of mixed-broadleaf forest that make up its watershed are at the core of Udege spirituality and tradition. The Udege rely on the forest for pine nuts and medicines made from herbs and roots that they supply to the domestic and export market.

But the most commercially valuable products in the Bikin River Valley are the trees themselves. Logging companies have repeatedly tried to lease vast portions of the river basin. The Udege have fiercely resisted the logging companies, aided by partnerships with influential non-governmental groups, and so far have managed to keep loggers out. [Video 1]

Produced by Alexandra Minzlaf and Malin Dunfors

This video is part of a year-long investigation into the roots of global illegal logging and the role of consumer demand for cheap wood products. Reporting was conducted by a team of 10 journalism students in the International Reporting Program at UBC's Graduate School of Journalism in Vancouver.

For more information on this series visit:

http://www.internationalreporting.org...

Video 1. Protecting the Taiga: The battle over illegal logging in Russia