Sichuan： A national park where giant pandas live and work in peace and contentment and give full play to the role of umbrella protection is striding forward.
Distribution map of Giant Panda National Park
Nowadays, the giant panda has become a business card for Sichuan’s foreign exchanges.
On September 29th, 2019 China (Sichuan) Giant Panda International Eco-tourism Festival opened.
As one of the "Three Ninth National Congress", the giant panda not only represents the achievements of Sichuan’s ecological civilization construction, but also brings together Sichuan’s regional culture and characteristics.
Standing at a new starting point, we look back on our past achievements and look forward to the future development.
Since the French missionary David discovered and named the giant panda in 1869, the giant panda has gradually become a business card for Sichuan and even China.
As an endemic species in China, the wild population of giant pandas is only distributed in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, and the active area is less than 0.3% of the national territory. Since 2017, in order to protect this 0.3%, Sichuan, as the lead province, has comprehensively piloted the national park system and constantly explored higher levels and better protection. A national park where giant pandas live and work in peace and contentment and give full play to the role of umbrella protection is striding forward.
Stand firm in one direction
State-owned, shared by the whole people and passed down from generation to generation, realizing authenticity and integrity protection.
This is the expectation of the whole society for Sichuan-to build a national park, protect the authenticity and integrity of the natural ecosystem and leave a natural heritage for future generations. To this end, we must adhere to the national park owned by the state, shared by the whole people and passed down from generation to generation.
This is an unavoidable fact-the survival of some minimal populations is not optimistic, and the protection mechanism needs to be improved. Therefore, it is necessary to protect the authenticity and integrity of the giant panda habitat and truly "protect the places that should be protected the most".
How to protect the last home of the giant panda and how to protect it, which only accounts for 0.3% of China’s land area?
Sichuan’s thinking has never stopped. As early as more than 20 years ago, some cities (States))And the forestry department launched an initiative to build national parks and explore a higher-level protected land model.
Subsequently, the initiative was gradually transformed into reality. In 2013, with the help of the reconstruction after the "4.20" Lushan earthquake, the provincial party committee and government incorporated the "Ya ‘an Giant Panda Park Construction" into the relevant planning. From 2014 to the beginning of 2016, Sichuan began preliminary exploration in Chengdu, Mianyang and Ya ‘an. It was in 2016 that local exploration finally rose to a national strategy. At the end of this year, the Central Committee deliberated and passed the "Pilot Program of Giant Panda National Park System" to clarify the main responsibilities of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.
Behind the main responsibility is Sichuan’s unique advantages in resources, technology and talents. From a realistic point of view, the area of giant panda habitat in Sichuan is 20177 square kilometers, accounting for 74.36% of the whole country; There are 1205 wild populations of giant pandas in Sichuan, accounting for more than 70% of the national total; Sichuan has gathered most of the research resources of giant pandas in China, accumulated the richest protection experience and built the most perfect protected area system.
Subject responsibility is not only honor, but also responsibility and pressure.
Looking at China, there is no experience to learn from the national park system pilot. How to combine the deployment of the central government with the reality of Sichuan and make Sichuan contributions to national parks?
Looking at itself, Sichuan is divided into seven cities (states))There are 63 protected areas in China, with diverse land use, complex ownership of natural resources and common overlapping of institutional functions. At the same time, habitat fragmentation, difficult coordination between protection and development, scattered and overlapping institutions, insufficient scientific and technological support and service capacity still exist.
Under the current pressure, Sichuan answered loudly: be brave in taking responsibility, push at a high level, and make solid progress. In the month when the central government issued the pilot program, the provincial party committee and government held a special meeting to study and deploy related work. Subsequently, a high-standard pilot work promotion leading group was set up. Starting from the top-level design, Sichuan clearly marked the national park pilot ideas, methods and objectives-
There are rules and regulations to lock in the core of protecting the wild population and habitat of giant pandas, innovate the management system and mechanism of ecological protection, integrate cross-regional and cross-departmental management resources, explore the management mode of national parks with China characteristics, and build national parks with global influence.
The five pilot tasks-strengthening biodiversity protection with giant pandas as the core, innovating ecological protection management system, exploring sustainable community development mechanism, establishing ecological protection operation mechanism, and carrying out ecological experience and popular science education-are clear one by one, and the central strategic deployment is transformed into executable and operable "Sichuan Action".
From a high starting point, at the beginning of the pilot, an expert advisory committee led by seven academicians and spanning multiple disciplines was announced, and a high-level think tank was set up to meet international standards, and combined with the actual situation in Sichuan, it constantly made suggestions for the pilot system of the Giant Panda National Park.
Fast-paced, over the past two years, our province has established communication and coordination mechanisms with relevant departments of the central government and Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, and issued more than 80 documents to promote the implementation of the work, covering the survey and definition of the Giant Panda National Park, scientific zoning, institutional setup, and artificial control.
In the first year of the pilot, we took the lead in printing and distributing the pilot implementation plan, defined 23 key tasks during the pilot period, such as the establishment of institutions, the construction of a comprehensive law enforcement system for resources and environment, and the construction of a natural resource asset management system, and implemented the road map, timetable and responsible units one by one.
Break a new path gradually
A number of reform measures have made progress, and the giant panda’s vision of "living in peace" has been continuously spread.
From 2017 to now, Sichuan has continuously promoted the national park system pilot, and made great efforts to make progress in the fields of institution building, human activity control, zoning adjustment, and planning preparation.
Establish a management organization system and continuously extend the management tentacles. In January this year, Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau officially added the brand of "Sichuan Provincial Administration of Giant Panda National Park" to undertake the specific work of system pilot. Subsequently, seven cities (states))Set up management sub-bureaus respectively, and the management tentacles continue to extend downward. On this basis, Sichuan has initially established a three-level management system. At the same time, the Sichuan Giant Panda Science Research Institute was established to be responsible for giant pandas, national parks and related scientific research and planning.
Delineate the red line of control and set up a "firewall" in the pilot area. In the first year of the pilot, Sichuan made a heavy blow-completely stopped the examination and approval of production and operation projects in the pilot area, and "vetoed" new mining projects. Subsequently, the contents, conditions, procedures and measures of strict control or differentiated management during the pilot period were clarified. In the meantime, 325 outstanding problems in the pilot area were rectified, and all mining rights in the protected area and illegal production facilities in national parks were completely withdrawn. At present, Sichuan has gradually found out the population composition, business facilities, protection facilities, resources and other "family background" in national parks.
Law enforcement must be strict to protect the ecology. From 2017 to now, it has become normal to carry out special forest-related law enforcement actions in national parks, and no major forest-related criminal cases have occurred in the designated areas of our province.
Detailed implementation, transforming "road map" into "construction drawing". At the beginning of the pilot, Sichuan broke the departmental boundaries and worked with relevant departments to formulate a work plan for national park demarcation and mapping. Over the past two years, the field survey of national park boundaries and functional zoning boundaries has been completed, and a series of electronic atlas and list books which can be used for protection management and piling calibration have been formed. In the meantime, combining with the actual two fine-tuning zoning and functional zoning, we will ensure that the authenticity, integrity and connectivity of the natural ecosystem will be protected under the premise that the total area, habitat area, the number of protected giant pandas and the proportion of core protected areas will not be reduced, and the boundary and functional zoning of the giant panda national park in Sichuan will be more scientific and reasonable.
It is necessary to pilot and protect. Over the past two years, the provincial guidelines for the wild release of giant pandas have been formulated, which has risen to national norms. In the meantime, measures such as resource monitoring system construction, popular science recreation area construction, entrance community construction, improvement of people’s livelihood security and grid management have been introduced successively.
In addition to the construction of mechanism and system, taking the construction of national parks as an opportunity, the road to the protection of giant pandas in Sichuan has become smoother:
—— For more than two years, the second round of evaluation of the management capacity of the giant panda nature reserve in the province has been carried out comprehensively;
-Accumulated investment of 254 million yuan, continuous restoration of gene corridors in national parks, and gradual opening of communication barriers among populations;
-lock in ecologically fragile areas, carry out habitat vegetation restoration in Pingwu, Songpan and Mianzhu, and gradually expand the habitat area of small populations;
-We have successively built wild panda release bases in Xiaoxiangling, Daxiangling and Minshan, and released 1-2 pandas to nature every year;
—— Printing and distributing the technical regulations for the genetic archives of giant pandas, building individual DNA archives of giant pandas, carrying out dynamic monitoring of the giant panda population in 16 protected areas, detecting nearly 500 giant pandas, and promoting the fine management of the wild giant panda population;
-Strengthen habitat patrol management and comprehensive law enforcement of resources and environment, and rescue 2-4 sick and hungry wild pandas every year;
-Exploring provincial legislation in national parks and piloting "avoiding and withdrawing mining rights" in national parks;
-guide social forces to build and share, set up special funds, establish fund-raising platforms, carry out public welfare activities, and work together to promote accurate poverty alleviation in the designated areas.
As the deadline for the pilot project at the end of 2020 approaches, Sichuan’s exploration activities are moving at a steady pace, and the giant panda’s vision of "living in peace" is moving from imagination to reality.
Giant Panda National Park Exploration Course
At the end of 2013
During the reconstruction after the "April 20" Lushan earthquake, our province proposed to establish a "Giant Panda National Park" based on the wild giant panda habitat in Baoxing and Lushan disaster areas.
February 28th, 2015
The former Department of Wild Protection of the State Forestry Administration confirmed for the first time that the giant panda national park system was piloted in Sichuan and other places.
November 2015
The Seventh Plenary Session of the Tenth Provincial Party Committee wrote "Strengthening biodiversity protection and exploring the establishment of national parks with the theme of rare species such as giant pandas and special ecological types" into the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" of Sichuan.
January 26th, 2016
The 12th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Finance and Economics decided to build a number of national parks relying on rare species to protect the authenticity and integrity of natural ecosystems.
April 2016
The Central Leading Group for Finance and Economics decided to start the preparation of pilot schemes for national park systems such as Giant Panda and Northeast Tiger and Leopard.
May 2016
As a leading province, Sichuan cooperates with Shaanxi and Gansu to study and formulate the delineation of the giant panda national park, the placement of institutional personnel, and the disposal of natural resources and property in the designated area. In August of that year, the relevant plans compiled by Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces were reported to the central government.
January 2017
The General Offices of the General Office of the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued the Pilot Program of the Giant Panda National Park System, and the pilot of the giant panda national system was launched in an all-round way.
April 2017
The leading group for promoting the pilot system of Sichuan Giant Panda National Park held its first plenary meeting.
October 29, 2018
Under the witness of relevant officials of the State Forestry and Grassland Bureau and Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, the Giant Panda National Park Administration was unveiled in Chengdu.
January 2019
Seven branches of Sichuan Provincial Administration of Giant Panda National Park were listed.
January 15, 2019
Sichuan Giant Panda Research Institute was established.
Review 70 years
Sichuan Giant Panda Protection: From Zero to Global Leading
Sichuan, one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in the world; Giant panda, a unique species and umbrella species in Bashu, is the most recognizable cultural symbol of Sichuan and even China.
To a certain extent, the protection of giant panda population is a "barometer" of ecological civilization construction in Sichuan and even the whole country.
In the 70 years since the founding of New China, Sichuan has created a case of harmonious coexistence between man and nature: the captive and wild populations of giant pandas and their habitats have steadily increased. The feedback of protecting giant pandas is extremely rich-whether at home or overseas, as long as giant pandas are mentioned, people will think of Sichuan; As long as Sichuan is mentioned, people will think of giant pandas. Sichuan and the giant panda are complementary and inseparable.
In the golden autumn of 2019, at the opening of China (Sichuan) Giant Panda International Eco-tourism Festival in 2019, let’s look back on the magnificent journey of protecting giant pandas in Sichuan in the past 70 years and witness the road of ecological civilization construction in Sichuan in the past 70 years.
Action:
Start from scratch and forge ahead with the new China.
Some scholars have pointed out that the course of panda protection and scientific research is in step with the new China.
This statement is not empty. Looking back at history, the pioneer of protecting giant pandas was issued at the beginning of the founding of New China. In the 1950s, the central government made it clear that pandas should be properly protected. Subsequently, the giant panda and some associated species were included in the no-catch range.
The concept of protection is constantly jumping. In 1963, Sichuan established the first batch of five nature reserves, including Wolong in Wenchuan County, which refers to the protection of giant pandas and their forest ecosystems.
The pace of protection continues to accelerate. In 1980, the curtain of reform and opening-up just opened, and Wolong took the lead in joining the United Nations "Man and Nature" protected area network. Subsequently, in order to protect the giant panda, Tangjiahe Nature Reserve piloted ecological migration, taking retreat as progress, and gave the giant panda a complete home.
The intensity of protection has been gradually strengthened. In 1983, Wolong Special Administrative Region, the first and only ecological protection zone in China, was established. In the summer of that year, faced with the "famine" brought by the flowering of arrow bamboo, with the help of people all over the world, Sichuanese walked through the valleys and hills, bravely explored the primitive dense forests, and turned the national treasure into safety with their shoulders and sweat.
To protect the giant panda, one of the prerequisites is to crack the genetic code of its reproduction. In 1980 and 1987, China Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center and chengdu research base of giant panda were established successively, and almost at the same time, field observation stations were also set up. Two-pronged approach, focusing on artificial breeding, field ecology and behavior, and tackling scientific and technological problems one by one.
The means of protection is to restore the ecosystem on which giant pandas depend. To this end, major ecological projects were launched. In 1998, Sichuan took the lead in laying down its axe and starting the natural forest protection project. The following year, it was also the first in China, and the curtain of returning farmland to forests and grasslands in Sichuan was officially opened. Taking major ecological projects as the starting point, Sichuan has continuously implemented key ecological projects such as giant pandas and habitat protection, wildlife protection and nature reserves, and the habitat quality has been improving and the area has been increasing.
The goal of protection is to restore wild populations and wild habitats. Since 2005, Sichuan has taken the lead in carrying out ex situ rescue and wild training. In the meantime, two wild release bases, Xiaoxiangling and Daxiangling, have been built successively, and the giant pandas are constantly returning to their real "homes". Combined with post-disaster reconstruction, vegetation restoration and habitat restoration, Sichuan has strengthened the construction of giant panda corridors such as mud mountain, Huangtuliang, Tudiling and Tuowushan, effectively alleviating the fragmentation and islanding of each habitat.
Achievements:
Population, habitat area and wild release rank first, leading the world in scientific research.
What is the effectiveness of protecting giant pandas in Sichuan? A set of data illustrates the problem. According to the results of the fourth survey of giant pandas released in 2015, the population, habitat area and the number of giant pandas released into the wild in Sichuan have increased steadily. According to the evaluation of professional institutions, Sichuan giant panda research is in a leading position in the world.
After careful analysis, it is not difficult to find that this is a heavy report card:
-Looking at the habitat area, by 2014, the habitat area of giant pandas in Sichuan was 2.027 million hectares, accounting for nearly 80% of the total habitat area of giant pandas in China. In the same period, the potential habitat was 410,000 hectares, accounting for nearly half of the total potential habitat area of giant pandas in China.
-Looking at the population, the number of wild giant pandas increased from 909 in the 1980s to 1,387, an increase of over 50%. According to the fourth giant panda survey, there are 387 captive populations in Sichuan, which also ranks first in the country.
Behind the achievements is the continuous improvement of the protected land system. The data shows that up to now, 95 protected areas of various types have been built in the distribution area of giant pandas in Sichuan. Among them, there are 46 giant panda nature reserves. On this basis, more than 70% of wild giant pandas and 60% of giant panda habitats in Sichuan are included.
Behind the achievements, there is also a concept of protection that keeps pace with the times. Since the 1980s, Sichuan has carried out the second, third and fourth giant panda surveys, during which the statistical monitoring methods have been constantly updated to find out the family background of giant pandas in Sichuan, and at the same time, a dynamic and refined population management system has been initially established.
The achievement also comes from the fact that Sichuan people dare to be the first in the world. Up to now, 13 giant pandas have been released into the wild in the province, and some of them have "married and had children" in the wild.Late winter (image provided by Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau)