Mao Jianghui: Is protecting the Tibetan antelope all coco xili?
China News Service Xining, October 13 Title: Is the protection of Tibetan antelope all coco Xili?
——Interview with Mao Jianghui, director of the Institute of Ecology and Environment of Qinghai Academy of Social Sciences
China News Service reporter Pan Yujie
Coco Xili National Nature Reserve is located in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the core area of Sanjiangyuan and the western part of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai Province, with a total area of 45,000 square kilometers, which is one of the world natural heritage sites with the largest area, the highest altitude, the richest wild animal and plant resources, and the best preserved ecosystem primitiveness. In 2017, "Qinghai Coco Xili" was approved to be inscribed on the World Heritage List at the 41st World Heritage Conference, becoming the 12th World Natural Heritage Site in China.
What is the global significance of cocoa sili biodiversity? What is the world value of China's cocoa xili conservation practices? Mao Jianghui, director of the Institute of Ecology and Environment of the Qinghai Academy of Social Sciences, recently accepted an exclusive interview with the China News Agency's "East and West Questions" and answered these questions one by one.
Infographic: A pair of Tibetan antelopes followed in the shadows. Chega photo
The interview transcript is summarized below:
China News Service: When it comes to Coco Xili, people will naturally think of Tibetan antelopes. In fact, the wildlife resources in Coco Siri are extremely rich, not only Tibetan antelope. Can you use cocoa cili as an example to talk about what biodiversity is? Globally, why is it important to protect the biodiversity of Coco Siri?
Mao Jianghui: The survival and reproduction of animals and plants are inseparable from the natural environment. "Biodiversity" does not only refer to the variety of animals and plants, but its important connotation lies in the dynamic and stable relationship between biological communities and the natural environment in which they live, such as dynamic changes, interactions, and harmonious symbiosis.
At present, there are 20 species of mammals and 142 species of insects known in Coco Xili, among which Tibetan antelope, Tibetan wild donkey, brown bear, wild yak, white-lipped deer and other endemic species of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which have evolved for thousands of years and are still thriving here. They are "in the same frame" as the blue sky and light clouds, vast deserts, alpine meadows, calm glaciers, dense lakes, continuous snow-capped mountains, wide valley basins, etc. in Coco Xili, which not only have top aesthetic landscape value, but also constitute a complete and special natural ecosystem.
The vast plateau wilderness of Coco Siri is rarely disturbed by human activities, and the wilderness system itself has a synergistic nature, achieving dynamic equilibrium by adjusting the internal structural properties. This not only opens a window for the world to study the gene bank and distribution evolution of wild animals and plants, but also allows human beings to understand the evolution of the natural environment.
In short, in terms of its authenticity, integrity and coordination, Coco Siri is a rare ideal space in the world to carry out multidisciplinary research, understand the interconnection and constraints between organisms and ecosystem changes.
Data map: Tibetan wild donkeys in the Coco Xili Conservation Area in Qinghai Province forage in grasslands. Photo by Dong Naide, China News Agency Image source: cnsphoto
China News Service: In the practice of repairing and protecting Coco Siri in recent years, what experience has the Chinese government accumulated that can provide reference for the world?
Mao Jianghui: Historically, the ecological environment of Coco Xili has faced many threats such as illegal poaching, illegal mining, and desertification of land, and the Chinese government has taken many effective restoration and protection measures in the past few decades.
The most important experience is, first of all, the long-term adherence to the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and the greatest respect and support for the role of indigenous peoples in ecological protection. The indigenous people who have lived in the Coco Siri region for generations are well aware of the changes in one grass, one tree, one river and one water, which can provide important assistance for the collection and investigation of the background data of biodiversity in nature reserves. In recent years, the Chinese government has set up ecological public welfare management posts, with indigenous people as the main ecological stewards to become the main body of management of eco-tourism and franchising, mobilizing their enthusiasm for participation in conservation and enjoying the fruits of ecological protection; at the same time, the popularization of ecological civilization science is integrated with the simple protection concept of indigenous people and the tradition of reverence for nature in heaven and earth, so that the relationship between people and land is more harmonious.
The second is partition protection. Coco Siri is divided into 35,000 square kilometers of wilderness area and 0.2 million square kilometers of display area, the wilderness area is almost undisturbed by human activities, the original ecosystem is completely preserved, the lambing, mating, habitat environment and migration path of Tibetan antelope are strictly protected; except for the necessary scientific expeditions, construction, tourism, mining and other activities are prohibited, herders are gradually relocated and grazing are stopped, compensation mechanisms and policies are studied, and ecological restoration of the abandoned land of the project is prohibited. The ecological sensitivity of the exhibition area along the Qinghai-Tibet Highway is relatively low, and activities such as scientific research, science education, heritage display and ecological experience can be carried out to a limited and conditional extent. Scientific and reasonable zoning methods not only improve the efficiency of conservation, but also help the public to recognize the value of heritage.
In addition, give full play to the power of non-governmental environmental protection organizations. Many of them have been committed to the protection of the Coco Siri ecosystem for many years, not only familiar with local realities, but also able to speak out in a timely manner, becoming a bridge connecting the local and the outside world, allowing the world to understand the Chinese government's conservation efforts and absorbing advanced conservation experience from other countries.
After years of practice, we have summed up the concept of "natural restoration as the mainstay, supplemented by artificial protection". Many of the biological and engineering measures we have taken have a protective effect, but from the overall reflection of the Coco Siri ecosystem, the excessive use of high-tech and human management methods may not be a positive response from the natural world.
I believe that for a unique natural ecosystem like Coco Siri, it is very important to maintain "heterogeneous coexistence": in the same natural space, different biomes such as animals, plants, microorganisms and so on live in a relatively stable range and space according to their own laws, depending on each other and influencing each other. Too much human intervention may lead to the instability of the overall ecosystem, contrary to the original intention of conservation. This is an inspiration for natural heritage sites around the world.
Data map: Qinghai Coco Xili Nature Reserve snow-capped mountains stretching. Photo by Chu Fuyi, China News Agency Image source: cnsphoto
China News Service: Why is it said that the "entrance to the world's third pole" Coco Siri has an important and special role in coping with global climate change?
Mao Jianghui: In September 2011, zhuo nai lake in the hinterland of Coco Xili collapsed, and the lake water broke through the lake embankment, resulting in the widening of the river channel and the exposing of the lake bottom, forming dust and desertification land, and the female Tibetan antelope had difficulty in obtaining water, which indirectly affected the population reproduction. This issue is of global concern.
The collapse of Lake Cho Nai was affected by rising temperatures and increased rainfall. Coco Xili, represented by Zhuo Nai Lake, is one of the most sensitive areas for global warming response, plays a "barometer" role, sends signals to the world in a timely manner, pays attention to sensitive areas similar to Coco Xili, concentrates scientific research forces to explore the mechanism of change, and can accumulate experience and strengthen prevention for responding to global climate change.
Scientific research shows that for a long time, the climate in The Coco Siri region has been related to eccentricity, inclination of the Earth's axis and precession cycle, indicating that climate change in this region is affected by the three elements of the Earth's orbit, showing the law of synchronization with global climate change. Protecting Coco Siri is to maintain a repository of information on global climate change and will provide original data for greenhouse gas emission reductions.
In addition, the Cocosiri ecosystem is a typical link in the atmosphere-ocean-terrestrial carbon cycle. In ancient times, carbonates formed limestone, dolomite and carbonaceous shale through sedimentation, and under the chemical and physical action, these rocks were weathered to form three kinds of zonal soils: alpine meadow soil, alpine grassland soil and alpine cold desert soil, and the carbon contained in it was emitted into the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide. Through scientific research, it is possible to gradually explore the single and multiple mechanisms of action of meadows and deserts in carbon emissions in addition to biological organisms, enrich the institutional arrangements for emission reduction, and provide strong evidence for examining the carbon cycle mechanism of global natural ecosystems.
Infographic: Coco Siri scenery. Picture provided by the Governing Bureau
China News Service: In 2019, the Chinese government issued the Guiding Opinions on the Establishment of a Nature Reserve System with National Parks as the Mainstay, and all parts of China are exploring the construction of the nature reserve system and related measures.
Mao Jianghui: As of 2019, there are 15 types of nature reserves in China, with 11,800 of them, involving 18% of China's land area. After years of efforts, nature reserves have played a huge role in protecting natural resources and natural monuments, maintaining the stability of ecosystems, and inheriting cultural values, but they have also exposed problems such as imperfect top-level design, unsmooth system management, and unclear property rights responsibilities.
After the promulgation of the Guiding Opinions, the past 15 types of natural protected areas with different names, management norms and monitoring standards were re-divided into three categories: national parks, nature reserves and natural parks. In recent years, all parts of China have been merging and integrating the original nature reserves for stricter and more efficient conservation. The construction of a natural protected area system with national parks as the main body, the exploration of Coco Xili can play a multi-faceted demonstration role for China and even the world.
For example, the Sanjiangyuan National Park Administration bureau is determined as the sole management body of the Coco Xili National Nature Reserve, coordinates the powers and responsibilities of natural resources, water conservancy, tourism, earthquake, meteorology and other departments, changes from decentralized to vertical management, formulates unified standards and monitoring systems, avoids mutual restraint between institutions, and improves conservation efficiency. After centralized management, the protected area can share the scientific research, monitoring and management strength of the national park, absorb more social organizations and ecological stewards and volunteers, strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and also help broaden the channels of funds, absorb social donations from all walks of life, and merge with the national transfer payment and the supporting funds of the provincial government into a larger flow of funds to provide protection.
The assessment system before unified management is aimed at a single type of ecosystem, and the mountain, lake, land, animal and plant resources are assessed separately. Now, adhering to the concept of "collaborative protection of grass smoothie system in Shanshui Lake", a set of scientific and reasonable monitoring and assessment standards is formulated for the integrity of the natural ecosystem of Coco Xili, focusing on the interconnection between ecosystems. (End)
Expert Profile:
Mao Jianghui, Director of the Institute of Ecology and Environment, Qinghai Academy of Social Sciences, Director of the Training Center, Associate Researcher of Economics, Senior Registered Geographic Information System Application Engineer, research directions are environmental planning, green development, nature reserve system and ecological culture. Up to now, it has completed more than 1.2 million words of various scientific research achievements. Among them, he has published 1 monograph, participated in the completion of 3 national social science fund projects, undertaken 9 provincial social science fund projects and entrusted projects, undertaken 2 provincial think tank projects, published 18 academic papers (of which, 4 are cssci papers), and compiled 3 textbooks. He has won 1 second prize and 3 third prizes for outstanding achievements in philosophy and social sciences in Qinghai Province.
Source: China News Network