Russia

In the Northeast Asia sub-region, environmental pollution, transboundary sand and dust storms (SDS), agricultural expansion, deforestation, and overgrazing are growing challenges that are being further complicated by the impacts of climate change. Desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) are a significant problem affecting soil, air and water quality, threatening forest and woodlands, pasture and rangelands as well as irrigated and rain-fed croplands that support the livelihoods of more than half of the sub-region’s population.

The material within these proceedings represents a summary for 2009–2016 on the state of knowledge and conservation concerns for polar bears throughout their range. The difficulties in studying a species that ranges widely, at low densities, and in one of the world’s most remote and environmentally challenging regions is evident in these proceedings. This report describes the current and future challenges and the conservation efforts needed to ensure the survival of polar bears.

For the first time a comprehensive overview of geo-conservation in Europe has been presented in a book. Geoheritage in Europe and its Conservation includes specific contributions from 37 countries focussing on legislation and geoconservation practices. The only record of the history of our planet lies in the rocks beneath our feet: rocks and the landscape are the memory of the Earth.

Snow leopard poaching and trafficking – referred to herein as snow leopard crime – is revisited 13 years after TRAFFIC’s first report on the subject, Fading Footprints: The Killing and Trade of Snow Leopards. This report builds on a preliminary analysis published in May 2016 (Maheshwari and von Meibom, 2016). It addresses a major information gap concerning the linkage between retaliatory killing for livestock depredation and poaching for trade, and the scale at which both are taking place.