WWF has been active in China since 1980, when Dr. George Schaller arrived to work with Chinese scientists on field studies of the behaviour and ecology of the giant panda. As the first international conservation organisation invited to work in China, WWF faced not only the problems of carrying out field research in the panda's rugged, inaccessible mountain home, but also the cultural and political challenges of

engaging in international cooperation in the early days of China's opening to the outside world. Nevertheless, a shared commitment to conservation made it possible for WWF-sponsored researchers, Chinese and Western, to lay important groundwork for giant panda conservation. Initial fieldwork shed light for the first time on the animal's life history. Joint WWF-Ministry of Forestry (MOF, now the State Forestry Administration) panda surveys provided population numbers and distribution estimates.
Analysis of satellite imagery confirmed the dramatic changes in panda territory, showing a 50% loss of habitat between 1974 and 1989.

One of the major milestones of the first decade of cooperation between WWF and MOF was the creation of the "National Conservation

	Panda reserves in China protect only half of the wild giant panda population

Management Plan for the Giant Panda and Its Habitat" in 1992.The plan called for additional nature reserves and improvements in existing reserves. By the end of 2003, the Chinese government has established 40 panda reserves protecting more than 10,400 square kilometers of forest in and around giant panda habitat. However, these reserves cover about 60% of the wild giant panda population, which is distributed mainly in the Minshan Mountains, Qionglai Mountains, Liangshan Mountains, Qinling Mountains, and Xiangling Mountains.