China has redoubled efforts to restore giant panda habitats and construct ecological corridors for the speedy resolution of problems like habitat fragmentation to expand wild panda populations.
Over the past decades, China has seen remarkable achievements in giant panda protection, establishing the world's largest captive population of the species.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2016 downgraded the giant panda's threatened status to "vulnerable" from "endangered."
The establishment of the Giant Panda National Park, which covers the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu, has further protected the species. Covering about 22,000 square km, the park is home to 1,340 wild pandas.
The park area in Sichuan accounts for about 88 percent of its total area, and the wild panda population there accounts for 91.6 percent of the park's total.
Sichuan has strengthened wild panda conservation efforts across the park within the province in recent years. Since 2016, a total of 10 ecological corridors have been set up to strengthen the dynamic monitoring of the panda populations, which has promoted genetic flow among isolated populations.
"In an overly dense bamboo forest, it's not conducive for pandas to move around. So by cutting down strips of trees, we create corridors where pandas and other wildlife can pass through the bamboo forest," said Fu Mingxia, head of scientific research and monitoring sector with Yingjing County conservation station under Giant Panda National Park.
Meanwhile, about 100,000 davidia, maple and birch trees have been replanted over the years, and some of them have grown to more than 2 meters tall.
"For example, when a panda encounters danger, it can climb up a tree to avoid it. So we have to record the number of tall trees, the canopy cover, and the growing condition of pandas' staple food bamboo. Following the accumulation of data for a long term, we can use the data to boost the effectiveness of our restoration efforts," said Fu.
In 2022, staff in the Sichuan section of the park restored about 93 hectares of panda habitat. They also set up signs and conduct regular patrols to better protect the habitat, pandas and other wildlife.
"Since the restoration of ecological corridors, behaviors related to panda breeding, such as mating and nurturing cubs, have been captured much more frequently than before," said He Liuyang, a staff member of Shimian County conservation station under Giant Panda National Park.
Meanwhile, Sichuan's Ya'an park area has carried out ecological restoration on abandoned mines in the core zone, general control zone, and the peripheral zone. In Shimian County, what was once a bare mine site is now covered with green vegetation.
"There used to be tailings piled here for decades, and every time it rained, we felt insecure. Thanks to the ecological restoration, the environment has become beautiful, and we feel much safer living here," said Wang Chunlian, a local resident.
"Our (restoration) project is now in the late stage of management and maintenance. Through watering, fertilizing, and replanting, we work to improve the survival rate of the vegetation," said Long Yun, leader of the ecological restoration project of abandoned mine land in Shimian.
Through ecological protection and restoration efforts, the number of wild pandas encountered in the Sichuan area in a year has increased from 178 to 185. Surveys show that the "umbrella effect" of panda conservation has proved significant, with over 8,000 species of rare animals and plants, such as golden monkeys, snow leopards, and yews, also benefiting from improved environment.
National park boosts panda protection with ecological restoration efforts
