China Green Times reported on August 14th (Reporter Long Tingting, correspondent of this newspaper, Kou Minfang) On December 5, 2016, the 30th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensive Deepening Reform reviewed and approved the Pilot Program of Giant Panda National Park System. A national-led, highest-level protection of giant pandas and their habitats began.
The giant panda, a species known to have lived on the earth for at least 8 million years, once spread all over China hundreds of thousands of years ago, and its footprint reached Zhoukoudian in Beijing in the north and Vietnam-Myanmar border in the south.
After a long and cruel ice age, the giant panda’s habitat shrank sharply, and its wild population retreated to Qionglai Mountain, Minshan Mountain, Qinling Mountain, Daxiangling Mountain and Liangshan Mountain … Six mountain systems became their last "shelters". With the intensification of climate change and human activities, the final habitat fragmentation seriously threatens the survival of giant pandas. Wild giant pandas are divided into 33 isolated populations, and some tiny populations are at high risk of extinction.
Giant panda, a national treasure, is a symbol of China and an animal loved by people all over the world. The crisis of habitat fragmentation has attracted global attention. Protecting the last "sanctuary" of wild giant pandas is the original intention of establishing the Giant Panda National Park.
This is an upgrade of species protection pattern.
In order to make the giant panda reproduce permanently in a complete, continuous and broader home, the pilot area of the Giant Panda National Park system covers an area of about 27,000 square kilometers, spanning Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, and the five mountain systems cover most of the wild giant panda populations and their habitats, with 1,631 wild giant pandas living in the pilot area.
Following the habits of giant pandas’ survival and reproduction, the pilot area of the Giant Panda National Park system has invested about 4.6 billion yuan, and a number of projects such as important habitat restoration, ecological corridor construction, scientific research and monitoring have been implemented in a scientific and orderly manner. The habitat environment of giant pandas has been significantly improved and the habitat area has gradually expanded. The dynamic monitoring of the wild population and habitat of giant pandas carried out in various places has gradually established a monitoring and evaluation system for the giant panda population and established a genetic file database for the giant panda population.
Located in the heart of China, the Giant Panda National Park is the key area of the national ecological security strategic pattern of "two screens and three belts".
The five ecological plates in the pilot area, Qionglai Mountain, Minshan Mountain, Qinling Mountain and Daxiangling Mountain, together form an important ecological barrier. This is the boundary line of the water system of the important tributaries of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, which plays multiple ecological functions such as water conservation, soil and water conservation, climate regulation and reducing greenhouse effect. The complex and diverse geomorphological features and vertical natural belt types have bred diverse ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, high mountains and rocky beaches. It is one of the regions with the richest biodiversity in the world and has global significance for protection. Although it only accounts for 0.3% of the country’s land area, it is the most important treasure house of resources in China, maintaining the national ecological balance.
This is the establishment of a new ecosystem governance system.
Based on strengthening the protection of the authenticity and integrity of the natural ecosystem, the experimental area of the giant panda national park system has maintained a larger and more overall ecological balance. Through the protection of giant pandas, more than 8,000 kinds of wild animals and plants, such as snow leopard, Sichuan golden monkey, green-tailed rainbow pheasant, crested ibis, Davidia involucrata and yew, have also been protected. During the pilot period, the background investigation and monitoring of biodiversity were carried out, the basic situation and changing trend of wild animal and plant populations were mastered, the rescue and protection mechanism of rare and endangered wild animals and plants was improved, and population protection projects such as snow leopard and Sichuan golden monkey were further implemented, so that giant pandas and their ecosystems were fully and effectively protected. By continuing to implement key ecological projects such as natural forest protection, returning farmland to forests and grasslands, comprehensive control of soil erosion, ecological protection and restoration of rivers, lakes and wetlands, the experimental area of Giant Panda National Park system has continuously strengthened the comprehensive restoration and protection of natural ecosystems within the pilot area.
This is a change in management system and mechanism.
During the pilot period, the original 82 nature reserves of all levels and types broke administrative divisions and were integrated. The 152 townships involved in the pilot area of the Giant Panda National Park system have a low overall economic income level. The existing production and lifestyle of 120,800 people are highly dependent on natural resources, and the contradiction between protection and development is prominent.
How to get along with giant pandas and nature? During the pilot period, the mechanism of "co-construction, co-management and sharing" was innovatively explored and applied, so that the management organization of the Giant Panda Park actively interacted with local governments, community people and social institutions. By building a garden to build a pioneering area, we will guide the development of high-quality industries, promote the integration of the pilot area of the giant panda national park system into the overall situation of local development, and support the transformation and development of local economy. The local government in the pilot area of the Giant Panda National Park system, relying on the enthusiasm of the pilot area to promote development, has planned a number of projects such as the entrance community of the Giant Panda National Park, characteristic towns, ecological experience, nature education and eco-tourism with high quality, and introduced social capital agreements to invest more than 50 billion yuan.
From simple protection to research protection, from protecting and studying the giant panda itself to protecting and studying its natural ecosystem. The pilot system of Giant Panda National Park is not only an upgrade of the panda protection pattern in China, but also a witness to the world contribution of ecological civilization construction in China.
Zhou Mengqi, the Naive Giant Panda (Planet Institute)
Crossing the Giant Panda National Park
The Giant Panda National Park, from the high mountains and deep valleys in the south to the fertile plains in the east, is dotted with large and small mountains, Qionglai Mountain, Minshan Mountain and Qinling Mountain System, covering almost the entire panda habitat …
The giant panda "Qin Xin" came out of the cage and was released into the wild. He Haiyang (Planet Institute)
A giant panda set out from Liziping at the southernmost tip.
At the southernmost tip of the park is a north-south mountain system-Xiaoxiangling Mountain. Compared with the towering mountains in the north, the mountains here tend to be gentle, and there is one of the few existing giant panda populations. This population is divided into two local populations, with the highest risk of extinction.
A giant panda starts from Liziping, and can enter Yele, Mianning County through the Tuowushan Ecological Corridor, and then can join another local population. Once released, the giant panda "Zhang Xiang" was photographed shuttling between the two places. Studies have shown that accidental individual communication can greatly promote the genetic diversity of two isolated populations. Obviously, the construction of ecological corridor can effectively reduce the risk of population extinction.
At the same time, forest musk deer, Tibetan Emirates monkeys and Sumen antelope are also migrating by using the Tuowu Mountain Giant Panda Corridor. The corridor is covered by coniferous forest, mixed coniferous forest and broad-leaved forest, among which there are many bamboos that giant pandas like to eat, such as asbestos, Yushan bamboo and Ere bamboo.
During the pilot period, an "Open Laboratory for Research on Protection and Rejuvenation of Giant Panda Small Population" jointly established with universities and scientific research institutes was completed and put into use in Liziping, mainly engaged in scientific research on protection of giant panda small population and monitoring of giant panda wild release. It is this research that established the individual DNA archive database for Xiaoxiangling giant pandas, and successively added 8 giant pandas for the wild release of Xiaoxiangling population.
Minshan region vertical natural belt Chen Ruiting (Planet Institute)
Follow the Dadu River journey to the south to Qionglai Mountain.
If a giant panda crosses Xiaoxiangling Mountain to the west and enters the valley on the east side of Gongga Mountain, it can reach Daxiangling Mountain or Qionglai Mountain by crossing the river along journey to the south on the west side of Dadu River, and it will meet the giant panda population living there.
Daxiangling giant panda is the least distributed population in the six mountain systems, and its habitat area is also the smallest. It is divided into three local populations by the widely distributed residential areas in the valley, and the survival situation of the population is extremely severe. Like Xiaoxiangling, five giant pandas participated in the wild training and will be released into the wild after graduation, expecting the day when the isolated small population will be rejuvenated.
Qionglai Mountain can be reached through the mud mountain Giant Panda Corridor. It stands between the peaks on the edge of the basin, with a relative height difference of 5000 meters. The southwest monsoon of the Indian Ocean drives straight along the mountains, and the mountains are shrouded in clouds. Further east, due to the continuous climbing and cooling of water vapor, the rain finally pours down. The annual precipitation in the foothills is over 1,200mm, and the high mountains are as high as 2,000-2,400mm, which is called "Huaxi Rain Screen Belt".
Then it passes through Wolong, the place where the giant panda model specimen was found-Baoxing and the birthplace of giant panda protection research. About 3500 meters above sea level, giant pandas, golden monkeys, macaques, crested deer, leopard cats, red pandas, water deer, impala and other animals mainly live in the forest below, and above this, high-altitude species such as rock sheep, white-lipped deer, snow leopard, wolf, leopard and marmot have been distributed to the snow line.
Wrestling in the snow Zhou Mengqi (Planet Institute)
Walking through the loess beam corridor, you will leave Sichuan and enter Gansu.
Qionglai Mountain and Minshan Mountain are separated by the rolling Minjiang River. The only way to cross these two mountain systems is to cross the Minjiang River, which is the most difficult place to cross all the way. It is relatively short and easy to cross the river from the bottle mouth of Dujiangyan. Cross the river and enter the boundary of Minshan Mountain.
Minshan, at a lower altitude, is the territory of broad-leaved forest. Wild animals that prefer hot and humid environments shuttle between forests and bushes. At a higher altitude, there is a world of coniferous forests, where fir, spruce, sequoia and pine trees are tall and straight and evergreen all year round. From the cliffs and highlands on the edge of the forest, to the bamboo bushes under the forest, to the canopy and even high in the air, animals appeared one after another, and this giant panda also walked through it.
The Tudiling Giant Panda Corridor is the only life corridor for the communication between giant pandas and wild animals in Minshan Mountain System A and B. Since 1950s, frequent human activities, such as human reclamation and highway infrastructure construction from Maoxian to Beichuan, have seriously damaged the rich natural resources in this area. The original broad-leaved forest belt at low altitude has been replaced by agricultural land, and wild animals are facing the difficulties of habitat fragmentation, population isolation, loss of genetic diversity and species extinction. In recent years, with the gradual completion of a herringbone giant panda corridor with a width of 2-4 kilometers and a length of 23 kilometers centered on Tudiling, the giant panda habitats have been connected. After the pilot system, a field monitoring system was built in Tudiling in 2018, with a total investment of about 4.8 million yuan. The panda corridor and habitat in Tudiling of Maoxian County were monitored 24 hours a day, and the migration, activities and reproduction of animals in the panda habitat were observed and recorded.
The Huangtuliang Corridor, entrenched in the north of Minshan Mountain, connects the two mountain systems of Minshan Mountain and Qinling Mountain in the Giant Panda National Park. As many as 530 giant pandas communicate with each other through this key ecological corridor node. The Huangtuliang Tunnel, which was built on the Ninth Ring Road, was completed. Since then, vehicles traveling to and from Jiuzhaigou do not need to bypass the top of the mountain, which not only avoids the dangerous sections of frozen snow, but also leaves a precious life corridor for the migration of giant pandas in the north of Minshan Mountain. Arriving here, this giant panda has successfully completed almost half of the crossing journey.
Out of the beautiful Jiuzhaigou valley, you will arrive in Gansu, the "Longshang Jiangnan". The subtropical climate makes this land fragrant with fish, rice and rice. Due to the influence of natural isolation and human disturbance, 132 wild giant pandas in Gansu Province were divided into four domain populations.
Golden monkey frolicking in the forest behind the snow Xue Kang (Planet Institute)
Reach the easternmost Tianhua Mountain
Say goodbye to the west Qinling population of Minshan Mountain and continue along the Qinling Mountain System, with a blank area with a straight line distance of about 110 kilometers in the middle, where the chance of meeting wild giant pandas is low.
Through this "low pressure" zone of giant panda distribution, it enters the core area of giant panda population in Qinling Mountains. This is the distribution area of giant pandas with the highest latitude and density. In the dense bamboo forest at an altitude of 2,600 to 3,500 meters, the air is thin and foggy all the year round, and the temperature is below 20 degrees Celsius. There are 345 giant pandas living in it, which are divided into 6 large populations. Successfully merged with Huashan population, this giant panda from Liziping completed its crossing journey.
Scanning the QR code, the 8-minute video of Giant Panda National Park will present a different visual shock.
Create a giant panda ecological community
Get rid of "rich poverty"
The communities involved in the Giant Panda National Park are generally located in the high mountains and valleys, with complex environmental conditions. Although rich in resources, the economic and industrial structure is relatively simple, the income level of the communities is generally low, and there is a widespread phenomenon of "rich poverty". Building a "community interest community" and realizing the sustainable utilization of natural resources is the main task of community construction in the pilot area of the Giant Panda National Park system, and it is also an important path to implement the supreme leader’s ecological civilization thought and practice the concept of "two mountains".
Building the entrance community of the Giant Panda National Park is the requirement of the pilot system, and it is also the realistic demand of local development. The area included in the park is the home of wild animals such as giant pandas, but the whole pilot area involves 120,800 people, and there are also many villages in the peripheral critical area, and the production radius of villagers will also go deep into the park.
The development village of Longcanggou Town, Yingjing County, Sichuan Province was once a typical representative of "relying on mountains to eat mountains". The forest coverage rate here is 97.5%, Daxiangling Nature Reserve and Longcanggou National Forest Park surround the village, and human beings and wild animals have lived together in this land for generations.
In 2017, the pilot system of Giant Panda National Park was launched, and nearly 50% of the land area in Yingjing County was included in the scope of Giant Panda National Park, including many mines and hydropower projects. Huang Xiong, deputy head of Yingjing County, said that after the demarcation, mines and hydropower in the pilot area have withdrawn, and the local area must find new development pillars. The pilot system of the Giant Panda National Park is a great opportunity for industrial transformation. We decided to develop eco-tourism by building a south entrance community.
The 152 towns and villages within the Giant Panda National Park have a strong desire to build an entrance community, hoping to attract traffic with the signs of the park, turn ecological advantages into economic benefits and promote local economic development.
Ya ‘an area of Giant Panda National Park, which belongs to Yingjing area, is not only the largest city (state) area involving the largest number of counties (cities, districts), but also the key area connecting the giant panda habitats of Xiaoxiangling, Daxiangling and Qionglai Mountains. There are 340 wild giant pandas in China, which plays an extremely important role in ecological protection and people’s livelihood development.
Ya ‘an City proposes to build a global, open and dynamic "International Panda City" with the core area of panda tourism research in the main city as the leader, the "South Gate Entrance Community", the 5A-level scenic spot and the "Panda Hometown" as the support, so as to attract all parties to participate in the joint construction of the Giant Panda National Park.
The director of the Giant Panda National Park Administration introduced to Kewen that the entrance community is a new ecological, production and living area built outside the national park, which not only takes into account the function of "meeting room" for visitors, but also focuses on resettling indigenous people to develop new industries with green ecology, and finds a balance between sustainable development and ecological feedback. The pilot system of the Giant Panda National Park has planned a number of projects with high quality, such as the entrance community of the Giant Panda National Park, characteristic towns, ecological experience, nature education, eco-tourism, etc., and actively introduced social capital, with an agreed investment of more than 50 billion yuan, far higher than the previous investment.
In Guanba Village, Pingwu County, Sichuan Province, various forces have promoted the community construction of the Giant Panda National Park. The Pingwu County Party Committee and the county government regard Guanba Village as a pilot village for ecological poverty alleviation in the county, and have formulated a development plan for Guanba Village to guide social forces to participate. Relevant departments at the county level gave support to industrial assistance projects, invested funds in the construction and renovation of roads and riverbanks in Guanba Village, and upgraded transmission lines, which laid the foundation for the development of Guanba Village.
Based on its unique natural advantages, Foping District of Giant Panda National Park has designed a large number of nature education courses around giant pandas and their habitats, realizing the transformation of scientific research results into nature education. At the same time, Foping also combines nature education with the development of surrounding communities, so that the surrounding people can become important participants in the missionary work and generate income for community residents from catering, accommodation and agricultural product sales. In addition, Foping also employs temporary workers in the sub-bureau as safety guides to increase their living income and help them get rid of poverty.
Liziba Community of Baishuijiang Branch of Giant Panda National Park has continuously strengthened its active protection efforts, and human activities have been effectively controlled. At present. The income of local communities no longer depends on traditional agriculture and under-forest collection, and the proportion of existing policy income has been higher than that of under-forest collection, and the dependence of communities on firewood has been significantly reduced. The forest coverage rate of Baishuijiang area increased from 67.9% in 2010 to 87.3% in 2018, and the total carbon storage of forest vegetation was 25,566,300 tons, realizing the "double growth" of forest area and storage. (Long Tingting Yuan Tiejun)
