(CN) Wild species prospering inside nature reserves of Yunnan

November 20, 2000

KUNMING: Flora and fauna are thriving in Southwest China's Yunnan Province,

which has set up 109 nature reserves to protect wildlife.

Fields, forests and swamps now form a comprehensive protection system in the

province and 105 major forest zones have been earmarked as protection zones.

Known as " The Kingdom of Plants and Animals, " Yunnan has a complex geography and

a wide variety of altitudes, climates, vegetation and wildlife.

The province, which is on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, has some of the richest

biological varieties in the world.

Yunnan set up its first nature reserve in 1958 and now has 2 million hectares of

land - 5.5 per cent of the province's total - dedicated to nature reserves, more

than any other province in China.

The province has built protecting wildlife into its long-term economic

development plan and every year a large sum of money is put into maintaining the

reserves, a local official said. To date, more than 70 million yuan (US$8.4

million) has been put in. Every year, 20 million yuan (US$3.6 million) is paid

out for staff costs and scientific research in the sector.

To strengthen its efforts in protecting wildlife, the provincial People's

Congress has drawn up a series of rules to regulate the administration of nature

reserves and the protection of animals, including compensating farmers for any

loss caused by wild animals.

The province has carried out numerous campaigns to crack down on cutting down

trees and poaching, dealing with more than 20,000 cases to date.

According to the official, there are about 2,400 workers who are responsible for

wildlife protection in the reserves.

The results Yunnan has achieved have gained high praise from international

nature protection organizations in a dozen of countries and regions, including

Germany, Britain and the Netherlands.

A joint investment of over US$20 million has been put into protecting wildlife

by Yunnan and its international counterparts.

As a result, the number of Asian elephants living in the Xishuangbanna Nature

Reserve has increased from 150 in the 1970s to 300.

The number of Yunnan golden monkeys in Weixisa-mage Nature Reserve has trebled

from 200 to 600, and the black gibbon population in Wuliangshan Nature Reserve

is up from 150 to 400.

Xinhua

11/20/2000

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