GIANT PANDA CONSERVATION
(Projects CN0005, CN0021, CN0022, CN0064)
he giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is perhaps
the world's best known symbol of nature conservation. It is also
one of the most threatened mammal species: only about 1,000 pandas
survive in the wild. This is partly the result of poaching - pandas
sometimes get caught in snares set for other animals. More importantly,
its habitat has been severely depleted by agricultural development
and logging activities. It is not only the panda which is threatened
by this habitat loss. Other endangered species such as the Sichuan
golden snubnosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellanae),
Himalayan musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster), golden pheasant
(Chrysolophus pictus) and Asiatic black bear (Selenarctos
thibetanus), which share the panda's habitat, are facing similar
problems.
WWF's early panda conservation efforts focused on finding out
more about the littleknown animal and its habitat. Researchers
studied its behaviour and biology, along with the reproductive
biology of its food plants, in order to lay a sound scientific
basis for the conservation programme. WWF contributed to the construction
costs of a research laboratory and a captivebreeding centre
at Wolong, China's biggest panda reserve. The centre, which also
serves as a base for scientific field work, was established in
1983, and in September 1991, twin panda cubs were born there.
Up to October 1995, there have been ten more births, making the
centre one of the most productive panda captivebreeding
centres, after the Beijing and Chengdu zoos. A large part of this
success was due to the arrival of a veterinary expert, supported
by WWF, in mid1991.
In 1989, WWF and China's Ministry of Forestry jointly produced
a "Management Plan for the Giant Panda and its Habitat".
This focuses on setting up 14 new reserves, maintaining or reestablishing
"bamboo corridors" which allow the otherwise isolated
groups of pandas to communicate and interbreed, and improving
the management and protection of panda reserves. The plan was
further refined by the Ministry, and developed into "The
National Conservation Programme for the Giant Panda and its Habitat"
(NCPGP). The tenyear programme, which only received approval
from China's State Council (Cabinet) in 1992, has a budget of
RMB300 million or US$35.7 million (US$1 = RMB8.4), of which a
fifth will be provided by the Chinese government. WWF has agreed
to help the Ministry raise the necessary funds to implement the
programme.
Some of the NCPGP activities have already begun. Two new reserves
were established in 1993 - Laoxiancheng in Shaanxi Province and
Anzihe in Sichuan Province. The Sichuan Forestry Department has
begun detailed designs for the 10 proposed reserves in the province.
Several existing panda reserves have been upgraded, and a central
office to oversee the NCPGP is up and running at the Ministry
of Forestry in Beijing. WWF will also start work at Wanglang Reserve
in northern Sichuan's Min Mountains. This is in addition to other
ongoing WWFsupported activities such as reserve management
planning, guard training at Wolong, and the research work of Pan
Wenshi, one of China's leading panda experts.
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