On May 7, 2023, a group of wild Asian elephants "strolled" the highway in Pu'er, which attracted the attention of netizens and became a hot spot on the Internet, and many netizens said: "Pu'er, it is indeed a place where 'elephants' go. "Historically, Pu'er was the main area of Asian elephant distribution, and Asian elephant herds have long inhabited and bred. In 1992, when a solitary elephant returned to Pu'er City, new elephant herds continued to move in, and 181 Asian elephants in 10 herds have been monitored in Pu'er City, accounting for about 62% of the national wild Asian elephant population. The distribution area of elephant herds has involved 7 counties (districts), 31 townships (towns), 138 natural villages, 134,900 households and more than 473,200 people in Simao District, Jiangcheng County, Lancang County, Ning'er County, Mojiang County, Jinggu County and Zhenyuan County. Why is Pu'er favored by wild Asian elephants and has become the home of high-profile "elephants"?
From the superior ecological environment. Pu'er is the most ecologically preserved and biologically rich oasis on the Tropic of Cancer in the world, preserving nearly one-third of the country's species on 45,000 square kilometers. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the city has built a total of 18 national, provincial and county-level nature reserves, 1 national wetland park, 3 national forest parks, 1 provincial forest park, 4 counties have become national key ecological function areas, successfully established national garden cities, national forest cities, national water ecological civilization cities, and been selected into the list of national "waste-free cities" construction. The forest coverage rate increased from 67% in 2012 to 74.59% in 2022, the excellent rate of ambient air in the central urban area reached 98.9%, and the proportion of excellent water quality in the city's surface water monitoring section reached 97%. On April 16, 2021, the wild Asian elephant herd "Broken Nose Family" set off from the Pu'er Mojiang River to the north, and returned to the Pu'er Mojiang River on August 12, 2021.
It comes from excellent ecological initiatives. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Pu'er City has deeply practiced Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization, firmly established the development concept of "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains", adhered to ecological city and green development, protected and developed in parallel, and promoted harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Strengthen the management and control of land space, actively build a "three lines and one single" management and control system, the city's ecological protection red line accounts for 25.9% of the national land area, the area of nature reserves reaches 300,700 hectares, and the nature conservation rate is 6.8%. The area of ecological public welfare forests has been optimized from 12,940,300 mu to 12,958,500 mu, a total of 722,300 mu of new round of returning farmland to forest has been completed, and 149,000 mu of steep slope land has been ecologically treated. Scientifically carried out land greening, and completed a total of 5,401,300 mu of afforestation, including 3,389,700 mu of afforestation, 2,011,600 mu of afforestation, and 56.09 million trees planted voluntarily. The province took the lead in implementing the ecological immigration project, moving nearly 2,000 households and more than 8,000 people out of the ecological function area. Build more than 4,000 mu of Asian elephant food source base to provide important supplies for Asian elephants in the food shortage season. More than 90% of the city's ecosystem types and more than 80% of rare and endangered species have been effectively protected, and the ecological and environmental status index (EI) has been rated as excellent for six consecutive years, and the ecological and environmental status index ranks among the best in the province.
Stemming from a strict ecological mechanism. Formulate and implement the country's first green economy evaluation system, compile and implement local evaluation norms and technical standards for green industry development involving 34 key industries, and promote the green transformation of the stock economy and the green construction of the incremental economy; A series of local regulations have been formulated and implemented, such as the Regulations on the Protection of Ancient Tea Resources in Pu'er City, the Regulations on the Management of River Sand Mining in Pu'er City, and the Regulations on the Protection of Jingmai Mountain in Lancang Lahu Autonomous County of Yunnan Province. Take the lead in the province to carry out the audit of the natural resource assets of county and township leading cadres leaving office; Establish a "green inspection" system and file the province's first ecological public interest lawsuit; Build a green financial system, establish the province's first green economy guarantee company and green financial service company, and take the lead in the province to carry out forest fire insurance and wildlife accident public liability insurance bundled and jointly insured. Since 2011, Pu'er City has invested a total of 130 million yuan in public liability insurance for wildlife accidents, benefiting more than 90,000 rural households.
Innovative path, for elephants to settle down. The establishment of the Asian Elephant National Park has been written into the report of the 11th Party Congress of Yunnan Province and the work report of the provincial government in 2022. In April 2022, the National Park Administration replied that Yunnan Province would carry out the creation of an Asian elephant national park. At present, Pu'er City, as one of the main habitats of wild Asian elephants, is actively coordinating all parties in accordance with the deployment requirements of the provincial party committee and government, continuing to promote the establishment of Asian elephant national parks, comprehensively building an ecological home of human-elephant harmony, and making 181 Asian elephants live here more comfortably.
Source | Pu'er City Rong Media Center/Wen Wang Chengji Jiang Wenyao Ning'er County Rong Media Center "Yunnan Daily" WeChat public account Pu'er City Forest Fire Detachment Pu'er City Forestry and Grassland Bureau/Photo