Fenglin National Nature Reserve lies at the
southern section of Lesser Hinggan Mountains in Yichuan
City, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. The Reserve was established under
the approval of the provincial government in 1958, and classified as a national
reserve in 1988. In 1997, Fenglin National Nature Reserve joined the
International Man and Biosphere Reserve Network of UNESCO. With an area of
18,400 hectares, the Reserve is established mainly to protect its dense virgin
Korean pine (Pinus koraiensis) forests, the last virgin forest in the
area.
The forest belongs to the vegetation zone
with coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests. It belongs to the Lesser Hinggan
Mountains and varies from 280 meters to over 683 meters above the sea level. The
terrain slopes gently and there are many hilly lands and wide valleys. The
branches of Fenglin and Tangwang flow through the whole Reserve. The zonal
vegetation is a temperate mixed forest of coniferous and broad-leaved trees, but
the main vegetation type is Korean pine forest. In the Reserve there are 568
species of higher plants, among which the Korean pine is a rare and precious
species in the northeast of China. The diameter is 1.4 meters at most and the
highest tree reaches 37 meters. Tall and straight Korean pine is good
construction materials for it is easily processed without being cracked. China's
Korean pine is mainly distributed in Lesser Hinggan Mountains and Changbai
Mountains, while Korean pine in Fenglin National Nature Reserve accounts for
over 80% of the total both in terms of number and storage.
Besides Korean pine, many other coniferous
and broad-leaved trees are distributed here such as Manchurian ash, Larch,
Spruce and Fir. Below the trees are grapes, the Chinese magnolia vine and other
herbaceous plants.
The Korean pine mixed forest is typical
vegetation in the moist Northeast China. The Reserve has not only preserved
precious Korean pine resources but also become a natural museum and genebank of
species, which provides favorable conditions for scientific research, education
and manufacturing activities.