Biodiversity under protection at Mt. Gaoligong

The Gaoligong Mountains are a mountainous sub-range of the southern Hengduan Mountain Range, located in the western Yunnan highlands and straddling the border of southwestern China and northern Myanmar. It is also a window to observe the conservation of biodiversity.

The Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve in Baoshan area belongs to a forest and wildlife nature reserve. In recent years, locals have protected the reserve with three goals: conservation, sustainability and development.

At the Longyang branch of Gaoligong Mountain Protection Management Bureau, the forest ranger called Li Guoheng spent 8 years in patrolling the mountain since 2006. He is the youngest in the ranger team.

Located on the east side of Mt. Gaoligong, Baihualing Village used to suffer from backward transport and extreme poverty. In order to make a living, the villagers who have lived here for generations followed the slash-and-burn life style. The phenomenon of destroying bioecology such as deforestation, land reclamation, shooting birds and hunting was common.

In 1983, the Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve was established, and in 1992,  it was designated it a A-level protected area by the World Wildlife Fund. In 2000, UNESCO accepted it as a Biosphere Reserve member. The reserve is also part of the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 1995, the conservation work launched. The locals started to plant trees to facilitate afforestation and made a living by planting agro-products like coffee, chestnuts and walnuts. With locals’ efforts, villagers’ life was bettered off without cutting trees or hunting.

The village is also rich in bird resources because of good eco environment. There are more than 520 kinds of birds on the record. Nowadays, birdwatching tourism is developed so that bird lovers come here to boost many industries like restaurants, hotels, tour guides, hiking and transportation.

Reporting by Li Hongcai (Xinhua); Trans-editing by Mo Yingyi