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Recently, the giant panda "Yaya" in the United States has touched the hearts of citizens, and after the giant panda "Lele" who arrived in the United States with it passed away due to illness, the health of "Yaya" has not been optimistic. The feeding environment and feeding quality of Memphis Zoo in the United States have been criticized by netizens, after all, the giant panda "Xiangxiang" in Japan, the older "Gao Gao" and other pandas living overseas have received high-standard hospitality, and the skinny "Yaya" is even more distressing.
As a national treasure, pandas are unique to China's wild animals, and we have always spared no effort to protect them. With the construction of ecological cities and the advancement of environmental protection work, cities have more and more wild animals to inhabit. The return of wildlife has raised new issues for urban planners. What should our cities do to protect wildlife to meet the need for harmony between man and nature?
Wildlife conservation is imminent
The process of urbanization has changed the urban and rural environment, as well as the living environment of wild animals. Overconsumption, population growth and intensive agriculture have led to a sharp decline in wildlife populations, and the rate of extinction is accelerating, with mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile and fish populations declining by an average of 68 percent, according to the Beijing News. Over the past four decades, the planet's biodiversity has declined by 68%.
The continent is one of the most species-rich countries in the world and one of the more threatened biodiversity countries. Ecosystem destruction and degradation have turned many species into endangered and threatened species. Mammals, amphibians and reptiles are more threatened by climate change, global warming, geological disasters, soil erosion and agricultural reclamation.
In the face of endangered wild animals, what we have done is far from enough, the key lies in environmental protection and ecological restoration, preserving the natural environment and space on which wild animals depend, and creating conditions for harmonious coexistence between humans and nature. It is worth noting that with the construction of ecological cities, more and more urban wild animals live around us.
Urban wildlife is all around us
When we traditionally think of wild animals, we think of wild animals that live in the wild in their natural environment. With the strengthening of people's awareness of environmental protection, the wild animals that inhabit urbanized areas have also attracted more and more attention, and they are called urban wildlife. The habitats of urban wildlife include factories, green spaces, parks, water bodies, etc., and they eat food that can be found in the natural environment, as well as food discarded by humans and municipal waste.
The number and variety of urban wildlife are greatly affected by human activities and disturbances. For example, the decline of tall trees in the city and the increase in construction waste have changed the nesting habits of some birds. Magpies like to choose tall chimneys, high-voltage wire frames, radio transmission and receiving racks to build nests, which are easy to cause power failures, and the stability of the nest is not high.
Researchers from Fudan University's School of Life Sciences have done research on raccoon dogs in cities – raccoon dogs in cities are highly adaptable, eating garbage discarded by humans as a simple and accessible food source, hiding in environments from caves and tree roots to cracks under balconies, gaps in walls, cracks in bridge piers, gas pipes, abandoned sewers, etc. There are many rivers in Shanghai's Qingpu District, and raccoon dogs will drill into the water to fish and touch shrimp. In the hilly bushes of Jinshan District, raccoon dogs hunt frogs. Raccoon dogs in Pudong have learned to follow the traffic rules of the neighborhood and the highway in order to forage for food. The raccoon dog in Fengxian District can also estimate the time of the barbecue stall after work, and enjoy the meat and bones on the ground for the first time.
Let's look at the cities with an early start of ecological environmental protection abroad, when wild animals return to the city, how big a surprise will it bring to people?
Two years ago, a snowy owl landed in New York City's Central Park, the first time in 130 years that snowy owls have appeared in the city, staying in the park for more than a month, with daily food in addition to northern lemmings, but also common mice in the city. The otter returned to Chicago after many years of disappearance. The sea lions return to Puerto Mar del Plata, Argentina, crouching comfortably in front of a shop...
In the near future, when China is fully committed to urban green ecological restoration, more and more rare wild animals will return to cities and live in the same home as us.
Two premises for urban wildlife conservation
Considering the impact of urban wildlife on residents' daily lives, we recommend that when planning the conservation of urban wildlife, we should first identify the species of wild animals suitable for living in the urban environment, understand their living habits and characteristics, and implement the elements of the ecosystem, including sites, vegetation, water bodies, barges, and related structures.
Premise one
Identify wildlife species in the environment
Investigate and understand the types and quantities of local urban wild animals, compile local wildlife protection regulations according to the national wildlife protection regulations and the list of wild animals under national key protection, and investigate the familiarity of local residents with native wild animals. Focus on the protection of nationally protected animals, endangered animals, and wild animals with native characteristics.
Premise two
Analyze species ecological habits and habitat characteristics
After the species is selected, the next step is to study and understand the ecological habits of the species and the requirements for the habitat. Because their habits will affect garden planning and design. Areas of expertise can work with ecologists and zoologists to study the habitat composition of wildlife. The habitat characteristics of wildlife include three aspects: water, food and shelter. Pay attention to the minimum limiting factor when planning, because as long as the minimum qualification factor is not satisfied, the species still has no way to survive in the planned environment.
Create urban wildlife protection
Five approaches to urban spatial planning
After confirming the above two premises, we can combine functional needs such as ecology, landscape and behavior in urban planning to create a suitable habitat for wild animals and create an ecological environment for citizens to live in harmony with animals and nature.
Route one
Ecosystem planning
Under the auspices of local governments, natural and semi-natural areas with high biodiversity levels in urban marginal areas and large urban parks are used as ecological sources, and different ecological sources are connected through the construction of green wedges and green corridors, so as to improve the connection of urban biological habitats and build a green space structure with high ecological service functions. For example, the urban green space structure of "one screen, three rings, five rivers and nine wedges" in Beijing, the urban greening layout of "rings, wedges, corridors, gardens and forests" in Shanghai, and the urban green space system composed of "regional green space-ecological corridor system-urban green space" in Shenzhen all reflect the goal of building a more complete habitat network.
After the completion of the Paiyashan-Qiniangshan node ecological corridor in Dapeng New Area, Shenzhen, 24 species of birds such as black-eared kites and egrets were attracted to live and breed here, and a variety of mammals such as ocelots and cats also began to appear. The Tanglangshan-Dashahe-Shenzhen Bay Mountain and Sea Corridor connects natural country parks, ecological water corridors and coastal leisure belts, so that wild animals can migrate in the corridor without affecting the normal urban life of citizens, and connect urban ecological green spaces with country parks and ecological water corridors through the corridor, so that wild animals can have more space for survival.
Route two
Site eco-design
Due to the different ecological environment required by different animals, the proposal to provide undisturbed habitat space for most urban wildlife is urban country parks or nature reserves. In the planning and analysis of the site in the early stage, the planner needs to analyze the suitability of the site development and utilization, plan the ecologically sensitive areas, and reduce the interference of tourists in these areas. Different spatial scales also affect the diversity of species in garden green spaces, and the larger the spatial scale, the richer the diversity of species in garden green spaces.
In the planning, Haiwei Wetland Park on the West Coast of Hainan creates a richer and more comfortable environment for birds to inhabit through the reconstruction and restoration of the overall ecological environment, especially the water body environment and aquatic vegetation environment, and also creates a harmonious habitat for animals and plants at all levels in the wetland. According to the 2022 Park Ecological Monitoring Survey, the number of bird species in the wetland park has increased from 83 species recorded in the first survey in 2017 to 180.
Not long ago, the news of the return of the "blue-throated song plover" in Haiwei Wetland Park on the west coast of Hainan was also on the hot search, in China it is called "blue dot chin", is a national second-class key protected wild animal, famous songbird, inhabiting shrubs or reeds, male birds throat and chest with multi-colored gorgeous feathers, very beautiful.
Route three
Planning and design of water bodies and their barges
The shape of the water body and the form of the barge have a crucial impact on birds, fish, insects, and the natural soft barge is more conducive to the survival of wild animals than the hard barge of cement, and can be used by gently sloping into the water, or grass steps into the water.
Shanghai Pudong Jinhai Wetland Park renovation pays special attention to the design of the barge, the original water network wetland in the water body morphology, plant composition and barge appearance is not conducive to the stay of water birds, the transformation deliberately created several shallow rocky beaches, and between the gaps to create a plant growth environment, to create a suitable space for water birds to rest and hide foraging, now white-rumped grass sandpiper, dark green embroidered bird, big and other birds can often be seen.
Route four
Plant planning and design
Plants are the foundation of animal nutrition and a necessity for life, and provide a habitat and shelter. In plant planning and design, it is necessary to select plants that can provide food and habitat for wild animals, pay attention to enriching planting levels, and form different levels of space in the woodland to enhance the diversity of habitats. Shanghai Pudong Jinhai Wetland Park has planted some hawthorn trees, plum trees, wolfberry trees and other fruit trees that forest birds love to eat, so that more birds can inhabit and breed.
Route five
Structure design
For the survival of wild animals, it is necessary to consider that in the ecological environment, some structures that serve animals can be designed, such as artificial nests, fish passages for migratory fish, etc.; It is also possible to design some viewing structures to avoid disturbing the life of animals, such as birding platforms, bird-watching walls, etc.
Since tens of thousands of fish migrate to the upper waters of the Beijiang River through the fish channel every year, an ecological fish channel was specially built during the construction of the Guangxi Luojiu Water Conservancy Project, allowing fish to "climb" over the dam to achieve migration.
Rescuing endangered wildlife, protecting biodiversity, and creating an urban environment where man and nature live in harmony are important considerations in urban planning. In fact, we love animals as much as we love pandas, because we are all children of this land. Now, the giant panda "Yaya" has been reunited with the staff who have arrived from the motherland, and with the care of their families, the citizens are looking forward to "Yaya" recovering his health, returning to China as soon as possible, and reuniting with us.
Forward it quickly to help "Yaya" go home as soon as possible!
Bibliography:
Giant panda "Yaya" is one step closer to returning home? Netizens: Expedited send-back!
Urban garden green space planning and design based on wildlife protection
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