According to the second giant panda national survey, there are some
1,100 pandas distributed wildly in 34 counties in Sichuan, Shaanxi
and Gansu provinces. So, it is extremely important to protect the
wild population and their habitats. From the first four nature
reserves established in 1963, 34 reserves for the giant panda have
been established, covering an area of 1.76 million hectares, or
4.35 million acres. The wild panda population has been effectively
protected, laying a solid foundation for their protection.
In
the 1970s and 1980s, large areas of bamboo flowered and withered
away, seriously threatening the wild population of giant pandas. To
conserve and improve the habitat situation, as well as stabilize
and develop the wild population of giant pandas, the Chinese
government ratified and launched a Conservation Project of the
Giant Panda and Its Habitat' in 1992. It involved an area covering
34 counties in the three provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.
Except further upgrading the already established 13 reserves,
another 14 reserves, 17 corridor belts for giant panda and 32
habitat administrative stations were planned to be built to ensure
gene exchanges among the wild populations.
Governments at different levels have closely cooperated with
international organizations to promote community support projects
in the nature reserves. The community co-management method was
adopted, through which panda protection and the economy of the
local community were jointly improved, and the relationship between
nature reserves and local governments were harmonized.
Among all the nature reserves for the giant panda, Wolong is the
most famous, being the earliest and largest. Located in Wenchuan
County, Sichuan Province, and covering an area of 200,000 hectares
(494,200 acres), the Wolong Nature Reserve is a key nature
preservation area designed primarily for the protection and
reproduction of giant pandas. Lying on the complicated land
formations of the transitional area between the Qinghai-Tibet
Plateau and the Sichuan Basin, the highland reserve is endowed with
favorable environmental conditions for preservation and
reproduction of not only the giant panda but also other wild
animals. With about 100 wild giant pandas living in it, the reserve
is called "the home of the giant panda" or "gene pool" and "natural
garden of animals and plants."