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Species Programme Overview
Industrialization, economic development and population pressure have in the past two centuries combined to result in a rapid loss of biological diversity and an acceleration in the number of species disappearing from the face of the earth. According to the IUCN (World Conservation Union), in the last 500 years human activity has forced 816 species to extinction. As biological diversity is lost, we also lose the possibility of tapping as yet unknown resources for agriculture, industry, and health care.
China's biological resources are among the world's richest. This is not only due to its size, but also to the tremendous diversity of habitats it provides for wild plants and animals. The world's highest and lowest points are in Chinese territory, and it has a variety of ecosystems that is unequalled elsewhere, from glaciers to coral reefs and from deserts to tropical rainforests. As a result, China's diversity of wild plants and animals is greater than all of North America or Europe, and equal to one-eighth of all species on earth.
Basic facts
- There are over 385 threatened species in China (according to the IUCN Red List)
- Giant pandas lost half their habitat between 1974 and 1989
- In the past century, the world lost over 90% of its tiger population; in China, there are only about 90 tigers left in the wild
- Endangered species in China include the giant panda, golden monkey, South China tiger, Siberian tiger, Asian elephant, black-necked crane, crested ibis, Saunders' gull, dugong, Yangtze river dolphin, plus many lesser-known species.
Key threats
- Habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation because of human activities such as logging or mineral exploitation
- Wildlife trade and the illegal hunting of species such as musk deer and bears, whose body parts are used in traditional Chinese medicines
- Pollution and climate change
Solutions
The best way to preserve biological diversity is to maintain flora and fauna in their natural ecosystems. This can be achieved by controlling unsustainable actions like poaching, setting up protected areas, and encouraging sustainable use of natural resources. Because the existence of flora and fauna are also threatened by pollution and climate change, sustainable development and the decrease of wasteful consumption in affluent areas are ultimately the key.
WWF program targets
To assure the long-term survival of all endangered and threatened species and their habitats. WWF concentrates on:
- Conducting conservation-oriented research on endangered species and their habitats
- Supporting the effective design and management of nature reserves
- Promoting the sustainable management and utilization of wildlife resources, and the prosperity of local communities which depend on them
Major achievements to date
- Laying the foundation for a scientific panda conservation plan
WWF’s research on the giant panda beginning in 1980 in Changqing Reserve formed the basis for the understanding of the wild panda that we have today. In 1992, WWF joined with China’s SFA to draw up a giant panda management plan. By the end of 2003, China had established 40 panda reserves, home to some 60% of the wild giant panda population, protecting more than 10,400 square kilometers in Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces.
- Creating new panda reserves and improving panda reserve management
WWF worked with China’s Ministry of Forestry (now known as SFA) to create the ‘National Conservation Management Plan for the Giant Panda and Its Habitat’ in 1992. Under the plan, 14 new reserves were created and the management of 13 existing reserves was improved.
- Protecting and linking panda habitats in the Qinling mountains
In 2003, with WWF’s support, the Chinese government created five new panda reserves and five panda ‘corridors’ in the Qinling mountains. These ‘panda corridors’ allow the linking up of individual habitats, allowing pandas to migrate freely and breed more diversely.
- Transforming management of China’s nature reserves
From our first project in 1980 in the Wolong nature reserve in Sichuan, the beginning of our long involvement with the habitat of the Giant Panda, to the establishment of the Zhangdu Lake reserve in Hubei in 2004, WWF has made it a priority in its work to assist in the construction of the nature reserve system by helping with direct funding, staff training, and technical planning support.
- Publishing China’s most comprehensive reference and analysis of China’s biodiversity and its threats
In 1996, WWF published a major report on the state of China’s natural environment called A Biodiversity Review of China. The result of a seven-year collaboration between WWF and the Ministry of Forestry (now the State Forestry Administration), the Review provided a comprehensive analysis of China’s biodiversity and the threats it faces. It also provided a description of the major landforms, natural vegetation, land use, biogeographic divisions, biological richness and endemism for each of China’s 30 provinces and autonomous regions.
- Creating the world's leading center for Giant Panda breeding and research
WWF contributed USD 1 million towards the construction of the Conservation Center for the Giant Panda in the Wolong Nature Reserve, and provided technical advice during the design phase. The Wolong Center is now the world’s leading facility for the breeding in captivity of Giant Pandas.
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