Location: Presently the SMART Approach for patrol monitoring and adaptive patrol management has been implemented in five federal-level protected areas in Primorskii Krai Province. Phoenix Fund asks support for expanding the program to two more federal-level protected areas, namely Bolshekhekhtsirski Zapovednik and Annuiskii National Park in Khabarovskii Krai. The program would then operate in seven out of nine federal-protected areas with Amur tigers in Russia.

Long term goals:

  • making LEM and adaptive patrol management based on the SMART Approach independent from further technical and financial support from ALTA members
  • 50% tiger population increase within the protected areas where we work.

Objective 1: To successfully introduce Law Enforcement Monitoring with use of GPS units and patrol data collection with use of specially designed data forms during all patrols of mobile protection teams in Bolshekhekhtsirski Zapovednik and Annuiskii National Park

Objective 2: Adaptive patrol management with use of LEM data in both protected areas. More specifically we will arrange: 1) storage of LEM data in SMART databases, 2) processing of patrol data into regular (at least quarterly) patrol reports describing patrol efforts and results, 3) feedback meetings with inspectors where the patrol reports are presented as a PPT presentation, and agreeing to new patrol targets with patrol teams in order to set in motion a process of continuous improvement of patrol quality

Objective 3: Introduction of a bonus system to reward patrol teams that perform well.

Background:  The southern Russian Far East is home to the largest contiguous population of any tiger subspecies in the world, with approximately 500 individuals estimated in 2005 (per the most recent region-wide survey). However, recent results of the Amur Tiger Monitoring Program – a 17-year partnership between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and Russian agencies – provide strong evidence that numbers of both tigers and their prey are in decline, most importantly from increased poaching. Our program aims to reduce poaching threats in federal-level protected areas in Russia with the aim of creating tiger source sites that will ultimately result in increased tiger numbers both inside the protected areas as well as in surrounding areas.