in China published by the SFA lists these 15 species as the main part of the
bureau’s ‘rescuing wildlife project’^22 :
- giant panda 6. Chinese alligator 11. deer
- crested ibis 7. Asiatic elephant 12. pheasants
- tiger 8. gibbon 13. cranes
- golden-haired monkey 9. musk deer 14. orchidaceous plants
- Tibetan antelope 10. P-Gazelle 15. cycas
We will introduce briefly the first seven species on the SFA list, and discuss
their habitats, primary threats to survival, and governmental responses.
The giant panda is one of the poster mammals for the global biodiversity
conservation movement, as well as the logo for conservation organizations
(such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)). The panda is a species
endemic to China with an ancient lineage stretching millions of years into the
past. Giant pandas have been hovering at the brink of extinction for the last 50
years. They are distributed in six areas (Qinling, Minshan, Qionglai, Big
Xiangling, Small Xiangling and the Liangshan Mountains) of three provinces:
Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. According to the most recent inventory done by
the SFA (2005), China has 1590 giant pandas in the wild, living in habitats
covering more than 23000 square kilometers.^23 An increasing number (163 in
2005) have been raised in captivity^24 or live in zoos worldwide.
Some pandas have been poached because of the value of their pelts, but the
main threat to their survival is encroachment on their habitat by the growth of
human population, settlement, and deforestation. Their natural habitat shrunk
progressively in the twentieth century, to the extent that by the early 1990s it
was estimated to be 12000 square kilometers, only one-fifth of the range 40
years previously.^25 Recent additions to panda-protected areas have nearly
doubled this amount, but whether it is sufficient is uncertain.
The response to the decline in the panda population has been two-fold. First,
the state established 24 nature reserves to protect pandas and their habitat.
Second, in one of the earliest protected areas for pandas, the Wolong reserve
(established in 1959), scientists initiated a panda breeding and research
program that has been somewhat successful in reversing species decline. A
number of environmental NGOs have also focused on panda conservation, for
example the WWF.^26 Yet recent reports point to the continuing decline in
critical habitat available to giant pandas, as a consequence of growing human
populations and encroaching commercial activities within nature reserves.
Jianguo Liu et al. reviewed habitat extent over the 30 years of the establish-
ment of the ‘flagship’ protected area for the panda in Sichuan Province and
found an increase in habitat loss and fragmentation.^27 A panda specialist,
critical of the focus of the Wolong reserve on the breeding center instead of the
50 Governance of biodiversity conservation in China and Taiwan