Relict Cedars to Be Planted in Japanese Peace Park in Khabarovsk

An alley of the Far-Eastern cedars will be planted in the Japanese peace park in Khabarovsk, the largest city in Russia's Far-East, where the Japanese, who died in former Soviet territory after World War II, are buried.

The relevant agreement was achieved at a special meeting between representatives of the Khabarovsk city hall and delegates of the association of Japanese cities of Musashino and Tama.

The association of Japanese cities of Musashino and Tama together with Russian ecologists holds an ecological action on the revival of rare and relict trees on the verge of extinction of the Far-Eastern taiga in Khabarovsk's outskirts for the sixth year already, said Tatiana Ivanova, the head of the foreign relations' department of the Khabarovsk City Hall. More than 20,000 trees were planted on the total area of 20 hectares in northern Khabarovsk.

The Japanese have recently arrived in Khabarovsk to fulfil the wish of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and plant cedars around the park, said Kato Ryuji, the head of the delegation. The prime minister voiced this intention during his visit to Khabarovsk in January 2003.