Migrants are stripping the Russian taiga of cedar cones while animals are dying of hunger.

The devastation of our Russian Taiga continues, and unfortunately, just as the forests of Russia have been robbed before, it continues to happen at an increasing pace. Hungry animals are increasingly coming out to people in search of food — there is not enough food, no forage base. All because, in addition to large-scale logging, right now the Russian Taiga is being stripped clean of its already modest forest reserves.

This has been repeatedly confirmed by both regional and federal authorities. Meetings were held, various measures were invented, but nothing seems to work.

The main blow falls on the mother trees — our mighty cedars, which are the centers of interspecies connection! In difficult times, they always helped wild animals, providing entire chains of species with necessary food. Even top predators depend on cedar nuts — it is very simple: if small animals die of hunger, then predators have no one to hunt!

And the master of the Russian Taiga himself, our bear, loves to feast on cedar nuts before winter hibernation. Especially if other forest reserves are not enough, the cedar helps perfectly, giving the necessary vitamins and elements for a strong sleep and energy preservation.

But the “kind people” leave nothing for the wild nature. They strip cedar forests clean, and in barbaric ways! And all for the sake of exporting cedar nuts to China for pennies. And to get many pennies — they export them by the wagonload.

I will start with events that are happening right now.

Earlier, I already wrote that migrants are being brought into the Russian Taiga by buses, whose task is to quickly rush into the forest and strip it of cedar nuts. They were even caught stealing bags of nuts from local residents!

So, conflicts are growing. Just recently, on October 14, 2025 in Yugra, one nut picker shot another. He claims it was by mistake! A 33-year-old resident of the Surgut district was collecting cedar cones, he took a rifle and a hunting dog with him. By evening, the dog began to bark, and the man, of course, fired into the darkness! Allegedly, he thought it was a wild animal. But in reality, he killed another cone picker.

Still, I tend to suspect that he shot the man fully consciously! Conflicts there are constant, there are many of them, aggression is growing. Not everyone would shoot into the dark “at random,” thinking there was a wild animal. Especially since cone gatherers walk among the trees, see each other, just like picking berries in a field.

And now for understanding. Two weeks earlier, in the same Surgut district (Yugra), cone gatherers began threatening to “stab” local residents who were outraged by the barbaric destruction of cedar forests.

Let me quote the regional publication “Muksun FM.”

“Residents of the village of Tundrino (KhMAO) sound the alarm. Black cone-pickers, who come to the forest every autumn for hundreds of thousands of rubles and brutally beat coniferous trees in search of cedar cones, have fenced off the Tundrinsky forest and are driving locals out.”

“As soon as the date for collecting cedar cones was announced in Yugra this year, uninvited guests came to the Tundrinsky forest. In a few days they stripped the forest clean.”

As local resident Elena Farnosova explained, those who wanted to earn came in the very first days of the season. Moreover, black cone-pickers are already coming by whole buses, and the number of cars is insane — up to 50 cars a day.

“They stayed here overnight, they were fed, they hauled cones in bags. You can’t even imagine. They fenced off the forest and drove the locals out. And if anyone tried to say anything, they said only one thing: 'we'll cut you.' <…> They stood in a line, just like that, and stripped the whole forest,” says the Yugra resident.”

“As the SiTV publication notes, in 2023 the Tundrinsky forest received the status of a specially protected natural area. However, this status does not protect the forest from tree destroyers. Residents are worried, as this year there are no cones left on the ground, and the trees themselves may simply not survive such brutal blows. Meanwhile, locals need cedar nuts not only for personal needs — in recent years they have been collecting and sending cedar nuts to fellow villagers participating in the special military operation. But this year, sending packages will be much more difficult.

Black cone-pickers, after stripping coniferous trees, hand over cones right on the highway. They can get more than 2,500 rubles per bag. According to buyers, poachers will not stop and will continue to strip the “gold of the taiga” until the snow falls. To save the natural resources, residents of Tundrino are joining patrol groups, and the Environmental Supervision Service conducts raids in the forests of the Surgut district, but the amounts of fines do not frighten the cone-pickers, and they keep returning to the forest.”

That is the situation! Do you think the man accidentally shot another cone picker? It does not seem so to me at all.

And this is only one district in one region. The same thing is happening all over the country, just some kind of “cedar fever,” where for momentary profit people are ready to tear each other's throats out! And no one cares about wild nature, about ecosystems where animals have nothing to eat.

Now about the scale.

The authorities PERFECTLY UNDERSTAND the problem — so much so that it can no longer be hidden. Therefore, in some regions, bans on collecting cedar cones have been introduced! For example, in the Shorsky National Park in the Kemerovo region, an official ban on “cedar-shakers,” cutting branches and any mechanical damage to cedars was introduced on August 15. Even minimal patrolling was launched! But citizens are still allowed to collect cones for personal needs.

At the federal level, by the way, some restrictions were also introduced in August — the government reinstated the full 50% duty on the export of cedar nuts, including “in cones.” But this was not done to preserve the Russian Taiga, but to stimulate primary processing inside the country.

In addition, residents of regions have massively complained to the authorities about “black cone-pickers,” but nothing has really changed. As you can see! A vivid example: residents of KhMAO (that same Yugra) on August 18, 2025 complained to the governor himself about illegal groups (essentially gangs) of gatherers, among whom there is a huge flow of migrants. People even pointed to specific places! The governor, in classic bureaucratic fashion, promised to strengthen control… but, as they say, nothing has changed.

Already in September and October, the wave of conflicts and aggression is mercilessly tearing apart our long-suffering Russian Taiga. We have reached a point where we cannot even drive migrants out of our native forests or preserve the forage base for wild animals.

So, nothing works: neither restrictions nor export duties. Everything goes by the wagonload to China just as before, and since people criticize China, the Chinese simply started cunningly buying nuts by the wagonload from Kazakhstan.

Only on September 9 it became known, according to the Rosselkhoznadzor, that about 400 tons of cedar nuts from Primorye and Altai were exported to China. And on September 10 Buryatia reported that 760 tons of cedar nuts had already been exported to China and through Kazakhstan to China (through schemes).

A terrible situation in our Russian Taiga! It is being torn apart, robbed, divided. And everyone wants a piece.

Now hungry animals are coming to people. And to “solve” the “problem,” authorities simply increase quotas for shooting animals! For example, only this year regional authorities signed decrees allowing a record number of bears to be killed — 44,682 bears. This has NEVER happened before! Simply madness.

They say bears come out to people. Earlier, I wrote about hungry mother bears with cubs. They come out, settle near people, rummage in dumps and walk through gardens! They are looking for something to eat before hibernation.

As for the Krasnodar region — I am not even talking about it, there was a poor crop year there, and bears are already freely walking through cities and chasing people. Is this problem being solved? Of course not.

The Russian Taiga is starving! And we allow buses of aggressive migrants to be brought there, who threaten people with “slitting their throats” and then export the gold of the taiga — cedar nuts, which were supposed to feed the unfortunate animals.

It seems to me that our Chinese neighbors simply sit and watch this “show” and laugh loudly at how we not only allow our Russian Taiga to be destroyed, but actively help do it with our own hands.

Aren’t we ashamed? This is our Motherland! And before our eyes, for the sake of exports to China, residents of regions stage battles, bring crowds of migrants, and the authorities openly condone all this, saying “at least the economy is growing.”

That is how we exchange our Russian Taiga for “Chinese yuan.”

© PAVEL PASHKOV