Biodiversity conservation in Sichuan is in action
"Everything has its own harmony for life and its own nourishment for success", and biodiversity is the basis of human survival and development. With the successful holding of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming and the publication of the White Paper on Biodiversity Conservation in China, the keyword "biodiversity" has attracted more and more attention. Sichuan spans five major geomorphic units, including the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Hengduan Mountains, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, Qinba Mountain Area and Sichuan Basin, including six climatic gradients, namely subtropical zone, warm temperate zone, cold temperate zone, sub-frigid zone and cold zone. It is rich in biodiversity and has great potential in related fields. On May 25th, Wang Jinghong, member of the party group and deputy director of Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau, Guo Xiangxing, director of wildlife and wetland protection department, and Gu Haijun, stationmaster of provincial wildlife resources investigation and protection station, walked into the live broadcast room of online interview column on the provincial government website, and talked about "biodiversity protection   Sichuan in action "theme online communication with the majority of netizens.
Biodiversity generally refers to genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity, which is closely related to our lives. It not only provides a variety of ecological products for material life, but also makes people feel pleasing to the eye and happy in spirit, such as beautiful mountains and rivers, giant pandas and golden monkeys. According to Wang Jinghong, there are various types of ecosystem diversity in Sichuan. Among them, forests, grasslands and wetlands are the main contributors to the ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and species biodiversity is also extremely rich. There are 303 species of wildlife under national key protection, including giant pandas, Sichuan golden monkeys and snow leopards, and there are 14,470 species of higher plants, accounting for more than one third of the national total. Behind the treasures of mountains and rivers, Sichuan has done a lot of systematic work to protect biodiversity over the years-the implementation of the Yangtze River shelterbelt project, the natural forest protection project and the project of returning farmland to forests, and the promulgation of the Measures for the Management of the Balance of Grass and Livestock in Pastoral Areas in Sichuan Province and the Regulations on the Protection of Wetlands in Sichuan Province, with great efforts and complete guarantee system. By 2021, the forest coverage rate in the province is as high as 40.23%, the comprehensive vegetation coverage rate of natural grassland is 85.8%, and the wetland protection rate is 57%. "It is expected that before June, we will welcome the Wetland Department of National Forestry and Grassland Administration to visit Sichuan to evaluate Seda Nilaba’s internationally important wetlands and Guang ‘an Baiyun Lake, Baiyulalongcuo and Luhuo Xianshui River," Wang Jinghong revealed.
When it comes to species protection in Sichuan, we can’t help but mention the famous business card of giant panda. In addition to the population growth of captive giant pandas that you can see in breeding bases, Sichuan has also achieved remarkable results in the exploration of ex situ release of rescue giant pandas and wild training of artificially bred giant pandas. At present, three release bases and two wild training bases for giant pandas have been built, and by the end of 2018, 13 giant pandas have been amplified and tracked continuously. The Giant Panda National Park, established in 2021, spans Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, which will enhance the connectivity, coordination and integrity of giant panda habitats, help strengthen the biodiversity of giant pandas and their umbrellas and the overall protection of typical ecological fragile areas, and build an important national ecological barrier. "Over the years, we have continued to exert our efforts in the overall protection of wild animals and plants, and made overall plans to promote it. We have successively established 165 nature reserves with rare wild animals, plants and ecosystems as the main protection objects, systematically and completely protecting the typical natural ecosystems in our province and the giant panda, white-lipped deer, Sichuan partridge, black-necked crane, Panzhihua cycad, spinulosa, and talus. Wang Jinghong was delighted to say that with the help of infrared camera monitoring technology, researchers have captured images of many rare wild animals, especially the activities of top predators in the food chain, such as snow leopards, in Xinlong, Wolong, Wang Lang and other places, which has become strong evidence for the integrity of the natural ecosystems in the relevant areas.
"Forests and grasslands play a fundamental and strategic role in national ecological security. Countless predecessors have struggled for the cause of forestry and grass, leaving us with confidence, enthusiasm and passion. We must inherit it and make new contributions. " Wang Jinghong said that the primary focus is on the Giant Panda National Park and the Zoige National Park being created. On the basis of consolidating the existing protection achievements, we should promote the construction of nature reserves system with national parks as the main body, optimize and integrate various nature reserves, and realize the management capacity of nature reserves such as national parks to reach the domestic advanced level. At the same time, it is necessary to further strengthen the protection of key protected wild animals and plants, improve the monitoring and supervision system of flagship species and key species, and strive to broaden public participation channels and expand the influence of biodiversity protection.
In the interactive session, Guo Xiangxing and Gu Haijun respectively answered questions about the laws and regulations on wildlife resources protection, popular science and the arrangement of experience activities that netizens are generally concerned about. (Reporter   Liu Chang)