Although little of this ecoregion is protected, its conservation status is listed as "Relatively Stable/Intact". Protected areas in this ecoregion include: •
Stolby Nature Sanctuary •
Olyokma Nature Reserve •
Tunguska Nature Reserve •
Central Siberia Nature Reserve All are "
Zapovedniks", (that is, strict ecological reserves). The main threats to this ecoregion's integrity are
poaching and clear-cut logging in the southern and central portions of the region. After the
collapse of the Soviet Union, came a new threat. There is little forest in China, and Chinese entrepreneurs (due to the lack of woods, and fuelled by strong economic growth), began to show interest in obtaining the woods from RF. High levels of
corruption and some other reasons allowed them to achieve their goal. A new law adopted was Federal law 473-FZ, which protects the rights of foreign companies in RF, and Chinese
lumberjacks began to destroy all the trees on the leased land (and far beyond too). There have been numerous attempts of
deforestation in the protected
floodplain of the rivers. Because of the large environmental damage, their activities caused protests by local residents and the
World Wide Fund for Nature. The actions of the Chinese companies pose a threat to the native population of Siberia and the Far East (
Evenks,
Udege et al.), depriving them of their habitat and traditional ways of life. Total deforestation by Chinese companies creates an additional threat to rare and endangered species such as the
Siberian tiger,
Amur leopard,
East Siberian brown bear, among others. ==See also==