Five employees from Leopard Land National Park have taken part in an international environmental forum held in China’s Jilin Province during which representatives from protected natural areas in different countries shared their experiences and agreed to deepen cooperation.

The Chinese government and the administration of Changbaishan Nature Reserve were the organisers of the now traditional forum. The event was held near the nature reserve and brought together about 1,000 representatives of protected natural areas and environmental organisations from all over the world. Yulia Burkova, an expert in environmental education at Leopard Land, gave a talk on how the park operates at the conference section “Protection and Management of Protected Areas.”

“Leopard Land was the youngest of the parks presented, and I was the youngest presenter,” Burkova said. “I was very nervous, but it went well. After my talk, our foreign colleagues asked me questions about the park and its endangered big cats. Researchers from Indonesia, where the cousin of the Far Eastern leopard lives, showed the most interest.”

Burkova’s talk was on Leopard Land’s results during the first two years of its existence. Some people had never heard of the park, while others were excited to hear what had changed since last year (a presentation on the park was also given at the forum in 2013). This time, participants spoke about the need to create a database of all Far Eastern leopards recorded by camera traps, and improve cooperation with researchers from China, where these cats have also been seen.

Leopard Land Deputy Director Yevgeny Stoma emphasised the importance of the Chinese forum as a platform for sharing experience in protecting endangered animals in different countries.

“We have learned many new things at this forum,” Stoma said. “For instance, we were interested to learn how fire-fighting equipment is deployed in nature reserves in China, and about the installation of camera traps on hiking trails.”

Leopard Land representatives also visited Changbaishan National Park and evaluated its hiking trails. They said they got a lot of new ideas to pursue in Russia during the six days of the forum and the tours.