The Khabarovsk Krai has an abundance of natural resources - land, water, forest and other biological resources including numerous minerals that are found throughout its territory. The Krai holds an important place in the Russian Far East and even in Russia because of such natural resources as timber, precious species of fish and fur animals, ores of ferrous metals, nonferrous and precious metals, water resources and others.
Almost the whole area of Khabarovsk Krai is occupied with lands bearing biological products. The most intensively used among them are agricultural lands, the total area of which is 695.5 thousand hectares (0.9% of the Krai land reserves), including 1 31.7 thousand hectares of arable lands (0.2%), perennial plantations make up 24.3 thousand hectares, haymakings provide 410.3 thousand hectares (0.5%) and pastures occupy 124.7 thousand hectares (0.2%). Over 20 million hectares (26% of the whole area of the Krai) are used for deer pastures.
The most extensive land use in the Khabarovsk Krai is the use of forests. By the continuing development of the Krai the use of forests is the primary land reserve for the expansion of all other kinds of land use opportunities.
| Land tenurers, land categories | Area (ths. ha) | Share % |
|---|---|---|
| Lands of agricultural enterprises. Organizations and owned by citizens | 12422 | 15.8 |
| Populated areas | 415 | 0.5 |
| Lands of industry, transport, defense, communication and used for other purposes | 282 | 0.4 |
| Forest reserve | 62030 | 78.8 |
| Water reserve | 958 | 1.2 |
| State land reserve | 1380 | 1.7 |
| Natural reserves | 1276 | 1.6 |
| Total: | 78763 | 100 |
Coniferous species are the majority (75% of the area and 86% of timber reserves) in the predominant parts of the forests. These are highly diverse forests - from pure (homogeneous) larch forests to mixed multispecies cedar deciduous forests. Such valuable hardwood species as oak, ash, Scotch elm and maple can be found in more than 3 per cent of the area.
| Type of Forest | Area (ths. ha) | Wood Stock (mln cu. m) |
|---|---|---|
| Natural forests, including predominant species | 39276 | 4621 |
| Korean Cedar | 802 | 173 |
| spruce | 8182 | 1429 |
| fir-tree | 604 | 83 |
| larch | 19401 | 2217 |
| pine | 554 | 60 |
| hard-wood species | 1581 | 174 |
| ash | 107 | 14 |
| yellow birch | 778 | 86 |
| soft-wood species | 4705 | 363 |
| white birch | 3337 | 206 |
| aspen | 627 | 54 |
| Lands for forest growth | 7288 | |
| Non-forest lands | 8627 |
Replanted forests occupy 105 thousand hectares of Krai.
The permissible volume of annual harvesting in the forests of the Krai is 20.2 million cubic meters. However, it can be used only when advanced harvesting technologies and modern reforestation techniques are applied. The presently used technologies enable a harvest of only 12-14 million cubic meters per year.
Most valuable among the plant resources of the Khabarovsk Krai are the unique medicinal plants: ginseng, eleuterococcus, aralia, shizandra and some grassy species. The yield of soft resin and ethereal oils of coniferous trees is also very valuable. There are large amounts of edible resources too, including cedar nuts, hazelnut and Manchurian nut, wild berries, mushrooms and ferns. Many melliferous herbs and plants also occupy the land within the Krai.
The animal world of the Khabarovsk Krai is also very rich and diversified. Coniferous forests are inhabited by many hoofed animals (elk, Manchurian deer, wild boar, roe-deer and musk-deer), furry animals (sable, Siberian weasel, fox, squirrel, musk-rat, otter, brown bear and wolf) and in the extreme North by reindeer, ermine and wolverine. In the Krai's forests one can also meet lynx, black (Himalayan) bear and Ussuri tigers. American mink have also acclimatized itself in the local forests. Sable, as well as mink, squirrel, Siberian weasel and muskrat are the most hunted animals in the Khabarovsk Krai.
In the Krai there are also large amounts of waterfowl. Hunting grounds cover as much as 98% of the total area, but the hunting potential is still rather poorly used.
The rivers and lakes number over a hundred different species of fish including sturgeon. While by the numerous rivers flowing into tne Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk, and through the Amur and its tributaries, passing salmon make their way to the upper reaches of the taiga rivers to spawn.
Significant biological resources are concentrated in the coastal waters of the Sea of Japan and particularly of the Sea of Okhotsk. The largest runs of Pacific herring in the Far East of Russia inhabit the Northern area of the Sea of Okhotsk. Saffron cod, shothole halibut and other fish species, shellfish, seaweed, as well as other sea animals are also a valuable market.
There are more than 120,000 rivers in Khabarovsk Krai with the total flow of fresh water equaling 4.5 billion cubic meters per year. The total length of the river system is 541 thousand km, the majority of that belonging to the stream system of the Amur, one of the longest rivers in Russia. Its total length is 4440 km including 1 000 km within the Khabarovsk Krai. It carries through the Krai enormous masses of water, discharging annually an average of 346 cubic km to the Sea of Okhotsk below Nikolaevsk-on-Amur. The biggest tributaries of the Amur within the Khabarovsk Krai are Amgun, Anyuy, Tunguska, Bureya and Ussuri. The vast land in the North of the Krai belongs to the Lena river basin (including the river Maya).
The Krai also has 55 thousand lakes, both large and small. The biggest ones are located within the Amur river basin: Chukchagirskoye, Bolon, Udyl and Orel. They occupy an area of 300-370 square km.
Power potential of the rivers is great, but their usage is limited in many cases since many of the rivers are reserved for salmon spawning.