China to better protect panda habitat
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-07-15 12:31
CHENGDU -- The possible influx of tourists will not threaten the habitat of
giant pandas that was listed as a World Heritage Site on Wednesday, local
officials said.
Tourists will no longer be allowed to visit some core
areas of the habitat although they were permitted to do so before the heritage
listing, said Hu Bin, deputy director of the tourism department of southwest
China's Sichuan Province, at a press conference on Friday.
The new World
Heritage Site is a giant panda habitat stretching in the Qionglai mountain
chain.
The habitat covers nine scenic spots and eight natural reserves,
where about 300 giant pandas and other rare wildlife species live on a total
area of 9,510 square kilometers.
Citing the province's successful
experience in protecting Jiuzhaigou, a world natural heritage site listed in
1992, Hu said Sichuan is able to offset the pressure on the panda habitat caused
by tourists influx.
Hu said the scenic resort of Jiuzhaigou has set an
example for the province to follow in seeking balance between tourism
development and heritage protection.
The province will set up world
heritage management offices of various administrative levels in the giant panda
habitat area to coordinate protection efforts on the rare animal.
Tourists can enter no more than one percent of the total area of Wolong,
a well-known reserve where a topnotch giant panda research center lies, said
Zhang Liming, an official with the Wolong reserve.
In the future, the
protection will aim to incorporate separated habitats and enlarge the genetic
bank of giant pandas, said Cui Xuezhen, former director of the Fengtongzhai
natural reserve.
"The current giant panda habitats are separated by
rivers and roads, which make it almost impossible for them to migrate," Cui
said.
China launched a program named "the giant panda ecological
corridor" in 1987 to plant bamboo forests among the relatively isolated giant
panda habitat areas so that they will be connected.
Local governments
are also removing factories and buildings from the domain of giant
pandas.
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