Establishing a Regional System for Ecological Monitoring in the Lake Baikal Region
(Reference Number: INTAS-97-1040)

The Lake Baikal region is a very special and beautiful and in many parts still untouched country. During the last decade the following impacts are however strongly increasing:

- national and international tourism; - illegal logging activities due to wood demand from Mongolia, China and Japan; - gold and gas exploration; - also uncontrolled immigration and settlement by Chinese population is a daily political issue. Together with natural risks like fire and Earthquakes, the region needs a well-coordinated ecological monitoring centre. This INTAS project has demonstrated successfully the application of up-to-date publicly available Earth observation and in-situ data and interpretation techniques.

Baikal Area