Xi'an, China – The Shaanxi provincial government has officially sanctioned five new panda reserves and five panda corridors, increasing protected areas in Qinling by 130,000 hectares.

The five new giant panda reserves are Motian Qinling Reserve (8,520 h), Guanyinshan Reserve (13,534 h), Sangyuan Reserve (13,806 h) Ningshan Reserve (26,732 h) and Tianhuashan Reserve (25,085 h). Among these, the establishment of the Ningshan Giant Panda Reserve offers the most potential for a substantial improvement in the overall condition of a small group of pandas that have been cut off from other panda populations in the central section of the Qinling Mountains.

The giant panda corridor through Caiziping offers hope that the isolated group in this area will be able to rejoin other panda populations. In addition to Caiziping, there are another four corridors: Houzhenzi, Dashuping, Erlangba and Jiuchihe. The plan for creating these has already been incorporated into the implementation plan for the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP), with a total area of 65,369 h of corridors now under protection. It is estimated that the corridors will be functioning by 2005.

As the demarcation line between north and south China in terms of geography and climate, the Qinling area possesses rich plant and animal biodiversity. The Qinling area is one of the 200 most important ecoregions in the world as recognized by WWF. The Qinling Mountains are located in the eastern most part of the ecoregion and contain the highest panda population density in China. They are home to approximately 20% of China’s total wild panda population. Qinling is also the northernmost distribution range for the giant panda.

WWF’s Qinling Focal Project was officially launched in March 2002 and is being implemented in Shaanxi with the aim of protecting the giant panda habitat and reducing fragmentation in this important distribution area for the giant panda. The project also seeks to mobilize non-conventional stakeholders to adopt and apply conservation and sustainable use approaches in their policies, decision-making, investments, and consumption behaviors.

It is estimated that as few as 1,000 pandas remain in the wild today. Currently the Chinese government has established over 40 panda reserves protecting the giant panda habitat. However, these reserves cover only a little more than half of the wild giant panda population.

Increased protection and linkage of the panda habitat is vital to the survival of the giant panda population. The species could face extinction through inbreeding and other problems if confined solely to existing nature reserves. Human land use has restricted the species to fragmented populations, many with fewer than 50 individuals.

WWF would like to thank Amy Crocker for translating this article.

For further information:

Ms. Li Ning, Communications Coordinator, Species Program, WWF China Programme. Tel: 86-10- 8563-6538 ext. 223. Fax: 86-10- 8561-5731. Email: nli@wwfchina.org