Ever since transboundary biosphere reserves were first launched, scientists in East Asia have dreamed of setting up border-straddling nature sanctuaries in both the Korean demilitarized zone and in the Kuril Islands, which encompass the long-contested Northern Territories occupied by Russia but claimed by Japan.
There are a total of five UNESCO-recognized TBRs in the world today, but all lie in Europe, ranging from France and Germany's Vosges Du Nord Park, to the Danube Delta between Romania and Ukraine, to the East Carpathians Natural Park, cooperatively managed by Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. Four TBRs have been proposed in East Asia, including the DMZ.
The DMZ and Kurils situations are not identical. While Korea's 38th parallel is off-limits to all, the Kurils have been occupied since World War II by Russia. But Japan's economic boycott and the remoteness of the southern Kurils from central Russia have effectively sealed off the area from large-scale development. Recognizing the abundance of biodiversity on the islands, the Soviet Union set up a nature sanctuary in the area in 1984. Of the four disputed islands, two-thirds of three (Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai) are included in the Kurilsky State Nature Reserve. Etorofu, also claimed by Japan, is outside the sanctuary but remains a wilderness with few inhabitants. Only about 20,000 people, either born on the Kurils or migrants from other parts of Russia, dwell on the islands; Habomai remains uninhabited.