Seven years after northeast China's Jilin Province banned hunting,
wild animals are leading safer lives and the local ecology has
become more balanced, officials said.
With its vast, fertile black soil, forests and pastures, Jilin
boasts 2,700 wild plant species and 1,100 wild animal species, some
of which are rare and endangered.
The province has been one of China's leaders in environmental
protection, first introducing polices and regulations to punish
poachers in 1996.
During 2002 alone, the province investigated 460 poaching cases and
other offences, rescuing more than 3,000 wild birds and animals
illegally taken, according to Zhang Lufeng, deputy director of the
provincial forest department.
Animal experts have also surveyed wild animal and plant resources
in the province and done related research.
Jilin has carried out six projects in co-operation with
international wildlife protection organizations and 40 programs
with the China Wildlife Conservation Association and other
government departments and institutes.
Over the past decade, the province's wildlife association has sent
more than 100 experts to countries like the United States, Canada,
Australia, Japan and the Republic of Korea for academic exchanges
and co-operation.
A
recent provincial plan for Jilin also aims to set up more effective
administrative systems and management networks.
More personnel will be trained and more courses in wildlife
protection will be made available.
(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2003)