Brown giant panda. Photo by Li Tao
The county seat of Foping. Photo by Zhang Xuanyu
Thirty years ago, on a snowy morning, my colleagues and I boarded the military green jeep of the Shaanxi Foping National Nature Reserve Management Bureau, set off from the county seat of Foping, crossed the land ridge, and then walked over Baimaliang, and for the first time arrived at Daguping Village, the wild panda protection station that we cherished. Since then, I have become a frequent visitor to Daguping Village, and for 30 years I have been going to and from the reckless forest here, dealing with the villagers of Daguping, and putting every bit of their protection of the ecological home in my words, writings and lenses...
Origin of giant panda specimens in Qinling
Foping County is nestled among the lofty mountains on the southern slope of the middle section of the Qinling Mountains. Two tall mountain beams running east-west in the middle section of the Qinling Mountains, the Land Ridge Beam and the Qinling Main Beam, sandwich this small mountain county. In the western part of Foping County, there is the Tang and Song Dynasty Ancient Road across the Qinling Mountains, and the eastern part of the Meridian Road crosses the border. Foping County is the least populous county in Shaanxi Province, the county seat is small, simple and delicate, small and chic.
Shaanxi Foping National Nature Reserve, located in the northwest of Foping County, is the first forest and wildlife protected area in Qinling Mountains to protect giant pandas. The reserve is backed by the main ridge of the Qinling Mountains, adjacent to the Changqing National Nature Reserve in the west, bordered by the Huangbaiyuan National Reserve in the northwest, bordered by the Guanyinshan National Nature Reserve in the east, and the Zhouzhi Old County Town National Nature Reserve located on the northern slope of the Qinling Mountains in the north, these reserves are connected and coincide with the "Xinglongling Population" in the wild population of giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains, forming the largest habitat in the local population of wild giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains, carrying the free life of 277 wild giant pandas.
To the south of Xinglongling, the West River, which originates from Huangbarrel Liang, trickles southeast, receiving a number of mountain streams along the way, and meets another East River that originates from Guangtou Mountain and babbles southwest to form a rich alluvial fan, which is where Daguping Village is located. About 200 mountain people scattered along the East and West rivers, building, living and cultivating this alluvial fan, which has been carved over time into the current Daguping Village.
Daguping Village is the source of giant panda type specimens in Qinling. In 1964, Zheng Guangmei (now an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences) published "Giant Pandas Found in the Southern Foothills of the Qinling Mountains" in the Journal of Zoology, based on and type specimens from the Xihe River Valley in Daguping Village, which opened the prelude to the protection of wild giant pandas in the Qinling Mountains. In 1976, zoologist Zhang Jishu found a giant panda cub "bend" in Wangou, Daguping Village, becoming the first live giant panda in Qinling to enter humans. In 1978, after the establishment of Foping Reserve, Daguping villagers repeatedly found injured and sick giant pandas in production and life, and they reported them to Daguping Protection Station in time, making Daguping Village a frontier place where human life and natural creatures "meet each other", and also become a demonstration place for harmonious coexistence between man and nature.
When I entered Daguping Village 30 years ago, it was very difficult, and I had to "eat enough, save enough energy, and climb over the white horse beam to reach Daguping". Since 2000, the transportation to Daguping Village has become more and more convenient. First of all, due to the completion of the Land Ridge Tunnel on National Highway 108, the driving distance was saved; Secondly, the village from Yueba to Daguping Village is open to traffic. Nowadays, from the county seat, if the route goes well, you can reach Daguping in 1.5 hours.
Almost everyone has seen giant pandas
The Daguping Protection Station, which is close to the village committee of Daguping Village, is the same as the Sanguanmiao Protection Station about 13 kilometers away, which is a grassroots protection station built simultaneously with the management bureau at the beginning of the construction of the Foping Conservation Area, and they have a history of more than 40 years of natural resource protection. As one of the first scientific research bases for wild giant panda research in China, more than 30 doctors have successively completed data collection and analysis during their dissertations here.
However, what makes me miss not only the strong scientific research atmosphere here, but also the giant panda known as the "blonde princess" - Dandan. In March 1985, teachers and students of the Department of Biology of Peking University and villagers of Daguping jointly rescued a brown giant panda, different from the traditional black and white, its body hair is brown and white, which is the first scientific record in the history of giant panda research, and the famous conservation biologist Professor Pan Wenshi named it "Dandan". As of April 2021, there were only 10 wild records of brown giant pandas, of which 6 were found in Foping Reserve. Daguping Village has also been recorded in history for "Dandan", and to this day, the "Dandan Discovery Place" in Daguping Village has basically been preserved in its original form at the confluence of the West River and the East River.
Since the beginning of "Bend", especially "Dandan", Daguping and giant pandas have had deep emotions. In Daguping Village, almost everyone has seen giant pandas with their own eyes, and even the villagers disdainfully say, "I haven't seen giant pandas several times in which year, and it's not unusual to see giant pandas." According to the fourth national comprehensive survey report on giant pandas, there are 67 giant pandas (excluding cubs) living in the 292.40 square kilometers area of Foping Reserve, and one wild giant panda is distributed every 1.5 square kilometers in the core area and buffer zone, which is the area with the highest population density of wild giant pandas in mainland China, and also the area with the highest population density and the highest wild encounter rate in China. In Daguping, basically every villager's mobile phone album preserves the panda "Qianying" from different angles and poses taken by himself, which is really enviable.
Today, under the protection of the reserve and the community for many years, the forest of Daguping presents a vibrant scene. In this primeval forest, there are not only family members of the giant panda "Dandan", but also wild animals such as crested ibis, money leopard, forest musk deer, Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkey, Qinling antelope, Chinese impala, Asian golden cat, Qinling fine scale salmon, golden eagle, yellow-footed fishing owl, as well as wild plants endemic to China such as elephant trunk orchid, Chinese yew, Qinling larch, Qinling fir, hemlock, ash willow, clover, temple maple and so on.
Protect and develop a virtuous circle
In recent years, many people from surrounding districts and counties have come to Daguping Village to feel the beauty of nature, and several families in the village have sporadically made family receptions. They also took advantage of the natural environment to develop a breeding economy such as bee farming, dogwood planting and magnolia Chinese medicinal materials, and their income gradually improved. Back then, when I first arrived in Daguping, there was no electricity, no telephone, no Internet, no computers, etc., it was more like a paradise, and now the infrastructure has improved a lot, making me more and more looking forward to stopping and lingering here.
From Daguping Village to the west, over the pine ridge, is Chaoyang Village, Maoping Town, Yang County. Jiuchiba Village, which is now incorporated into Chaoyang Village, was historically part of the same natural village as Daguping Village. With the change of administrative division, Jiuchiba Village has become a historical term, while Daguping Village remains as an independent administrative village. Although they belong to the two counties, the villagers of the two villages have a long-standing relationship with each other, and they still walk each other on red and white happy events.
In previous years, Chaoyang Village established a community reserve with the support of the Shanshui Nature Conservation Center and many social forces. Villagers not only pay attention to wildlife resources, but also take conservation actions to protect their forests and homes, so that a virtuous cycle of conservation and development is created. Now, with the cooperation of Foping Reserve, Daguping Village Committee and Shanshui Nature Conservation Center, the two sides of the pine tree are connected again, making the umbrella protection role of giant pandas more far-reaching.
Fortunately, on September 27 this year, with the support of the China Internet Development Foundation and Ant Forest, the long-awaited Daguping Conservation Area finally launched the Alipay Ant Forest platform. Here, only 869 grams of energy (Note: the carbon sink data measured by the Shanshui Nature Conservation Center and Ant Forest based on the Daguping Conservation Area is a green energy value) can support local villagers to carry out a series of conservation actions, support the development of community livelihoods, and fill some conservation gaps in the Daguping Reserve.
To be honest, although the words "nature protection", "carbon sink", "energy", "protection" and "sharing by all" are commonplace, when they converge in Daguping, the villagers and I feel both strange and excited, which also means that Daguping will usher in a new development opportunity, which is very important for Foping Sanctuary, the local government and the villagers. In the future, I hope to join hands with more people to enter the forests and communities of Daguping, jointly protect the giant panda homeland in the depths of the Qinling Mountains, and observe and record the stories of people and nature here. (Cao Qing)
Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition