Deforestation is the primary cause of species's habitat losses and, as a consequence. a decline of the number of individuals of populations and the size of distributions of forest-dwelling animal species takes place.
In the Russian Far East recent forest exploitation has affected populations of several vertebrate species, and brought them to the edge of extinction. Current foreign investments in forest enterprises, and thus an expected rapid industrial development of the forest sector in the region, do not give hope for the threatened species survival unless urgent protection measures are taken.
In this particular study, assessments of the influence of forest exploitation has been done by studying the development of a couple of so-called key-stone species, namely the Amur tiger and the Amur leopard, the Himalayan Black Bear, and four endangered species of birds and bird communities. A detailed analysis of the species development has been carried out with respect to historical trends in distribution and population size, current status and future trends. main factors of disappearance, relationship to forest practises, and existing and future protection measures
Additionally, short assessments of the recent forest management, the scale of current foreign investments in forest enterprises, and an overview of the present biodiversity status and the protected area system in the region have been carried out
