Weak voice from Changbaishan Academy of Sciences

According to Shen, much of the damage due to development can be attributed to an absence of environmental evaluation from scientific researchers.

In principle, a special research institute under the reserve administration, extended as the Changbaishan Academy of Sciences in July 2006, is responsible for providing scientific analysis to protect and develop the Changbai Mountain area.

However, Shen believes that this newly-established academy exercises little influence. Its scientific research is low level, and few of its staff members are studying what should be the priorities.

No research is actually carried out, even if a proposal has been put forward. When relevant departments demand the results, the staff simply base their report on earlier data, said a staff member of the academy.

There are problems too with its management mechanism. Not long ago, an expert carried out an investigation into the number of animal species. When it came to the report, a leader of the administrative committee complained the number was so small that it would affect the image of the nature reserve. At the end of the day the expert had to revise the data to please the leader.

In 2006, a new project led to the release of carp eggs and crucian-carp fry worth several thousand yuan into the small Tianchi lake in the Changbai Mountain. This threatened the existing population of Salamandrella keyserlingii, a critically-endangered fish species dating back to the age of the dinosaurs. Two years later, the authorities involved recognized the gravity of the problem and tried to remove the fish they had introduced. Crucian carp of up to 1.2 kilograms were caught, but there was no trace of any remaining Salamandrella keyserlingii.

In the Changbaishan, science is not being employed as a tool to protect forests; instead, there are reports that the research institution has been engaged in commercial activities under the guise of scientific research.

In 2007 the academy raised funds to establish the "Boshuo Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd", with its own leaders appointed as the chairman and managers. Three research-oriented plots of land were then used to plant cash crops such as soybeans. Even worse, the company captured wild Chinese Brown Frogs – Rana Chensinensis – in the name of research.

The Chinese Brown Frog, on the country's Class B list of protected animals, is vital to the forest eco-system. However, due to their use in medical applications, the frogs have been largely killed off and sold.

The Rana Chensinensis breeding base in the Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve