How to protect the giant pandas?

How many “patrollers” are there in the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park?

How to protect the habitat of wild Yangtze alligator?

What are the ecological resources of Fanjing Mountain?

Why is Wuyi Mountain a treasure?

Have you ever considered these questions? To ascertain these problems, a team of students from Renmin University of China, during the summer vacation, came to the Giant Panda National Park, Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, Yangzi Alligator National Nature Reserve, Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve, Wuyi Mountain National Park, etc, carrying out researches on the construction of national parks, environmental protection, ecological products value realization and other topics.

Today, let's go into their stories.

Protection of giant pandas

Are all giant pandas in Sichuan, China? In fact, Gansu and parts of Shaanxi are also important habitats for giant pandas. During the summer, 16 teachers and students from the School of Ecology and Environment came to Baishuijiang Area of the Giant Panda National Park in Wen County, Longnan City, Gansu Province for research. There is no human activity in the 180,000-hectare wild giant panda habitat, let alone roads for vehicles. Protection station rangers need to climb the mountains regularly for maintenance of infrared automatic cameras, collection of panda feces, and investigation of panda activities and etc. It requires a few days to dozen days to finish these tasks. Rangers carry pots on their backs to the mountains, cook on local fires, and live in multi-person tents that are simply sheltered by plastic sheeting at night. All year round, they are on the road of following pandas.

Most of the staff of the protection station graduated from forestry or environment-related majors. In the depth of the dangerous primitive forests, they use the knowledge they have learned, guarding the land for the pandas to live and reproduce. Today, the wild population of giant pandas in China has grown steadily from about 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900 today. Behind these remarkable results is the silent guardianship of the “panda guardians”.

The 4-decade journey of Yangtze alligator protection

In Nanling, Anhui Province, 16 teachers and students from the School of Ecology and Environment, RUC came to the Yangtze Alligator National Nature Reserve, where Zhang Sheng's grandfather, Zhang Jinyin, first discovered the wild Yangtze alligator in a backyard pond more than 40 years ago. The Yangzi alligator was regarded as a pest that spoiled farmland. However, Zhang Jinyin did not harm it, but fed it instead, treating it as a family member. Under Zhang’s careful care, the number of Yangzi alligator in the pond is increasing. Protecting wild Yangzi alligator is the responsibility and mission that Zhang Sheng took over from his grandfather. Nowadays, Zhang Sheng has become a ranger in the Anhui Yangtze Alligator National Nature Reserve. 

The transition in Fanjingshan

In the Fanjingshan National Nature Reserve in Guizhou, 17 teachers and students from the School of Ecology and Environment came to Jinchang Village, Muhuang Township, Yinjiang County, at the foot of Fanjingshan. In the 1980s and 1990s, the villagers relied on gold mining for development, but while their wealth grew with each passing day, the ecosystem suffered from deterioration, the water became turbid, and the ecological environment was seriously damaged. In 2002, in order to protect the ecological environment, Yinjiang County decided to close down all the gold mines and begin to plant trees and restore forests.

Since the investigation project of Walking on the Beautiful China” was launched in 2023, more than 300 teachers and students have visited over 10 national parks and nature reserves, experiencing the practice of ecological preservation on the ground, exploring effective paths for high-level protection and high-quality development of national parks, and summarizing successful experiences.