Amur: Asia's Amazon

Episode 1

The Far East

The Amur's coastal delta is one of the richest ecosystems on earth. Nourished by the mighty river's enormous sediment load, the Sea of Okhotsk is a marine hotspot of biodiversity with arctic and subtropical species living side by side. Likewise, the land of Russia's Far East is a unique meeting place of northern and southern plants and animals, boasting the planet's most diverse woodlands. These wildwoods are still inhabited by Amur tigers, Asian black bears, brown bears, Siberian and Sika deer, sables and otters and countless species of wetland birds. And they are home to traditional forest and river cultures like the Udeghe and Nanai. The Pacific rim is both the end and the beginning of the Amur River system: It's the massive monsoon clouds the Pacific sends inland which keep the thousand tributaries of the Amur flowing.