The Nature Without Borders international forum opened in Vladivostok on 23 October. The conference ‘International and National Legal Mechanisms for the Use and Protection of Wildlife,’ part of the forum, focused on over 20 issues related to the legal aspects of nature protection, in particular, rare species such as the Far Eastern leopard and the Amur tiger.

A report by research fellow at Land of the Leopard National Park, Dina Matyukhina, was dedicated to the role of specially protected nature areas in the preservation of the leopard population. The expert spoke about threats the rare felines are facing and the ways the national park is dealing with them, as well as the results of the park’s activity for the two and a half years of its existence.

“I’m sure that the employees of the specially protected nature areas, including scientists, should have a notion about the legal aspect of their work. Biologists and lawyers often speak different languages, but we manage to keep up with the latest environmental legislation and the recent changes. In turn, we have told the participants about the activity of our national park and the leopard, an animal which requires special attention from wide professional circles,” Dina Matyukhina said.

An alternate view on the wildlife protection issues and poaching prevention was given in a report by Land of the Leopard research fellow Yevgenia Soboleva: she proposed making ecotourism a compromise between the need to raise money and the need to protect the environment. Soboleva emphasized that the locals can be actively involved in the development of tourism at the national park.

The Nature Without Borders forum is being held for the eighth time, attracting about 500 experts from Russia and the Asia-Pacific Region.