Source: People's Daily
The picture shows the Yunnan Golden Snub-nosed Monkey National Park in Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hu Chao
Editor's note: Man and nature are a community of destiny. As one of the countries with the richest biodiversity in the world, in recent years, China has promoted biodiversity governance and explored the road of harmonious coexistence between man and nature, and has achieved remarkable results. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that we must work together, seize action, protect in development, develop in protection, and build a beautiful home with harmony among all things. From now on, this edition will launch the column "Building a Harmonious and Beautiful Home for All Things", focusing on the exploration and practice of biodiversity conservation in various departments in China.
Yingjiang palm toad, big leaf cute flower... In the past two years, almost every one or two weeks in Yunnan, new species will be discovered. Another set of data may be more convincing: in Gaoligong Mountain, more than 100 new species have been discovered in more than 10 years; in the herbarium of Wang Lisong, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, there are thousands of new ground clothing species waiting to be identified.
Yunnan, located in southwest China and part of the southern extension of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is one of the global biodiversity hotspots and has all types of ecosystems except oceans and deserts. There are 2242 species of vertebrates, accounting for 51.4% of the country; 1933 species of known higher plants, accounting for 50.1% of the country. How should such a diverse species be protected? What useful explorations have been made in the area?
Conservation of wildlife germplasm resources and rescue of rare species
"Blessed to be blessed!" Zhang Ting, a seed collector at the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that the successive discovery of new species in Yunnan is not accidental: the terrain between mountains and rivers makes species relatively more likely to differentiate, and Yunnan biodiversity is particularly rich; on the other hand, the low-latitude plateau allows Yunnan to have both tropical rain forests and alpine flowing rocky beaches, where hornbills glidle in monsoon rainforests and Yunnan golden snub-nosed monkeys roam among fir forests.
How can such a diverse species be protected? Zhang Ting and his team spend about 1/3 of the year in the wild, collecting and preserving 10,601 seeds and 85,046 seeds from the China Wildlife Germplasm Resource Bank, and backing up a large number of Chinese seed plants. Zhang Ting described his work this way: "This is not only to buy 'insurance' for wild plants, but also equivalent to depositing seeds in the 'bank'. Once needed, these seeds can be returned to the wild, which also gives a layer of protection to the species. ”
In addition to the collection and preservation of germplasm resources, species such as the Yunnan golden snub-nosed monkey and the black-necked crane, which are both rare and widely concerned by the public, are under much care.
Recently, the conservation of less than 600 critically endangered species of green peacocks in China and only distributed in Yunnan has good news: the breeding activities of green peacocks in the main distribution areas are normal, and the distribution range of populations in some areas is obvious. Monitoring of the green peacock population in the Dinosaur River State Nature Reserve in Shuangbai County, Yunnan Province, by Yang Xiaojun, a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, showed that with the increase in patrol efforts and the reduction of disturbance from the surrounding masses in recent years, the population of green peacocks in the reserve and its surrounding areas has increased from 52 in 2015 to nearly 100. With the launch of the green peacock artificial breeding and rewilding project last year, there is greater hope for the recovery of the green peacock population.
Not only the green peacock, but also many other species that have been rescued: the Yunnan golden snub-nosed monkey has grown from more than 1,400 in 2000 to more than 3,000, the black-necked cranes that wintered in Yunnan have grown from more than 1,600 in 1996 to more than 3,000, and the maple that was first discovered with only 4 trees has now returned to the wild.
Establish nature reserves and restore habitats for rare species
"The activity of the Zhongdian leaf whisker fish can be clearly seen here." Li Qiuping, secretary of the Party Committee of the Management and Protection Bureau of the Bita Haiduhu Lake Area of Pudatso National Park, pointed to the underwater real-time monitoring screen and told reporters that the expansion from the Bitahai Provincial Nature Reserve to the Pudacuo National Park has expanded from 141 square kilometers to 602 square kilometers, and the pilot construction of Pudatso National Park has not only led to an increase in the income of residents in the surrounding communities, but also restored the habitats of rare animals and plant species such as Zhongdian leaf whisker fish and black-necked cranes.
Recently, early in the morning, before dawn, Cai Zhihong, the most senior ranger in the Longyang Branch of the Baoshan Management and Conservation Bureau of Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve, rushed to the night habitat of gaoligong white-browed gibbons and began to protect and observe from sunrise to sunset. At a glance, you can see the passage where wild animals walk, look at the depth and size of the hoof prints, you can tell the species and volume, touch the residual temperature of the ground to know when the red chamois or wild boar left the sleeping nest, guard Gaoligong Mountain for more than 20 years, Cai Zhihong changed from "Little Cai" to "Uncle Cai".
The trail of Gao Ligong's white-browed gibbon is traced, but Cai Zhihong is actually protecting the entire forest. "The reason is very simple, every species depends on the entire ecosystem, and if you want to protect the Gaoligong white-browed gibbon, you must protect the woods in which it lives." Cai Zhihong said. Since 1996, gaoligong mountain national nature reserve and small black mountain provincial nature reserve have built a 4847.9 hectare biological corridor belt, and the quality of habitats of species such as gaoligong white-browed gibbons has been significantly improved, and the population has achieved restorative growth.
Spreading out the map of Yunnan Province, nearly 1/7 of the land area is now a natural protected area. According to statistics, at present, Yunnan has approved the construction of 362 nature reserves, 90% of the province's important ecosystems and more than 90% of the national key protected plants, about 80% of the national key protected animals are listed as the main protection objects, and have been effectively protected in the nature reserves. In addition to the protected areas, Yunnan Province has created 30 protected communities (points) for the special protection of wild plants such as Yunnan blue fruit trees, Qinggang in the western region, canopy wood, and Maitreya moss, and improved the local protection system.
Explore relevant systems and improve the protection system
In recent years, Yunnan Province has continued to improve various systems related to biodiversity conservation.
In 2004, Yunnan proposed the "Very Small Population" conservation initiative. In March 2010, the Outline of the Plan for the Rescue and Conservation of Species of Extremely Small Populations in Yunnan Province (2010-2020) was promulgated, and 112 species of extremely small populations were rescued and protected. According to statistics, since the "13th Five-Year Plan", Yunnan Province has implemented more than 120 rescue and protection projects for wild plants with extremely small populations, built 30 protected communities (points), 13 near-land and ex situ bases (gardens), and 5 species return experimental bases, and has effectively protected and restored a variety of critically endangered plants such as Qiaojia five-needle pine and canopy wood. In 2017, Yunnan Province published the provincial red list of species " Yunnan Province Biological Species Red List "Yunnan Province", filling the gap in the red list of large fungi and lichens in China, and providing an important scientific basis for strengthening the conservation and management of biodiversity. In 2019, Yunnan promulgated and implemented the Yunnan Provincial Biodiversity Conservation Regulations, a local regulation on biodiversity conservation, to systematically protect biodiversity from the legal level.
Some experts also said that rational and sustainable use is also another kind of conservation of biodiversity. For example, carry out science popularization experience. "Carrying out moderate science popularization experience in the experimental area and the periphery of the protected area can not only increase the income of the local people, improve the consciousness of the masses to protect biodiversity, but also help to make more ordinary people pay attention to biodiversity conservation." Zuo Changsheng, deputy director of the Yingjiang Management and Conservation Branch of the Tongbiguan Provincial Nature Reserve Management and Protection Bureau in Yunnan Province, said that only by adhering to the priority of protection can we achieve a win-win situation of species protection and increased income of the masses. (Reporters Zhang Fan, Yang Wenming, Li Maoying)
People's Daily, April 13, 2021, 14th edition)