Inventory of "family background"

At present, there are more than 1400 kinds of wild vertebrates, accounting for more than 45% of the total number of the country, ranking second in the country

● Sichuan is still the world's largest habitat for giant pandas

● The distribution density of snow leopards in the snow leopard habitat is nearly 10 times higher than the average value of other snow leopard habitats in China

There are more than 14400 species of higher plants, accounting for more than 1/3 of the total in China

● Species once thought to be extinct or about to be extinct at home and abroad, such as Cypress laxiflora, Cheqian in Fengdu, Pteridopsis glabra, have been rediscovered in Sichuan

● The total population of "plant living fossil" Davidia involucrata exceeds 100 million

May 22, 2024 is the 24th International Biodiversity Day. The theme of this year's publicity is "Biodiversity, you and I participate together".

Sichuan spans five geomorphic units, including the Qinghai Tibet Plateau and Hengduan Mountains, covering six climatic gradients, including the subtropical zone, warm temperate zone and cold temperate zone, and is rich in biodiversity. As one of the 36 biodiversity hotspots in the world, how rich is Sichuan's biodiversity "family background"? What has been done in biodiversity conservation?

　　 The effect of ecosystem restoration seen from the returning black necked cranes

"The black necked cranes are back!" On March 13, Ruoergai County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, witnessed the arrival of four black necked cranes at Huahu, and the plateau crane watchers were excited like Ke. These black necked cranes are the first group of black necked cranes to return to the Zoige Wetland this year, which is several days ahead of the arrival time last year.

Not only black necked cranes. In November last year, the Zoige Wetland National Nature Reserve carried out an annual black necked crane monitoring and migrant waterbird survey, and a total of 4819 migratory waterbirds of 15 species were monitored. A total of 282 black necked cranes were monitored inside and outside the reserve. Compared with the data of the southward migration season in previous years, the number of migratory waterbirds in the reserve showed an increasing trend.

The ecological protection achievements of Ruoergai County are the portrayal of the whole ecological protection in Sichuan. The relevant person in charge of the Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau said that at present, Sichuan is building a nature reserve system with national parks as the main body, nature reserves as the foundation, and various natural parks as the supplement to ensure the effective protection of important ecosystems and biodiversity.

In terms of management, Sichuan continued to strengthen ecological protection and restoration, establish and improve relevant planning systems, and constantly improve relevant mechanisms and systems. For example, we took the lead in establishing a three-level ecological restoration planning system at the provincial, municipal and county levels in the country, and issued policy documents such as the Implementation Plan for the Establishment of a Natural Reserve System with National Parks as the Main Body in Sichuan Province, and the Measures for the Management of Giant Panda National Parks in Sichuan Province.

A set of data can support the achievements made in the conservation and restoration of ecosystem diversity in Sichuan - at present, the forest coverage rate in Sichuan Province is 51.84%, and the forest coverage rate is 35.72%; The trend of grassland degradation was effectively curbed, and the comprehensive vegetation coverage of grassland reached 82.57%, more than 30 percentage points higher than the national average; Sichuan has built 3 internationally important wetlands and 32 wetland nature reserves. In the past ten years, the number of wetland parks has increased from 13 to 55, and the wetland protection rate has increased to 57%; Compared with the last monitoring cycle, the desertification area of the whole province has decreased by 993100 mu, the desertification area has decreased by 2.7741 million mu, and the rocky desertification area has decreased by 3.3089 million mu

The protection scope of national parks and nature reserves covers important wildlife habitats and representatives of typical natural ecosystems in the province. The protection of ecosystems has laid a solid foundation for biodiversity conservation. At present, more than 70% of the areas in Sichuan's Giant Panda National Park have been established, Ruoergai National Park has been approved to be established, and Gongga Mountain National Park has been included in the national park spatial layout plan; There are 165 nature reserves in Sichuan Province, covering 3 categories and 8 types.

　　 Seeing the Growth of Animal and Plant Populations from Eurasian Otters in Downtown

"Finally!" In March this year, after two years of tracking, the engineer team from Sichuan Forestry Survey, Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd. took the first clear picture of Eurasian otters in Dujiangyan during the forest resource survey, and the shooting place was downtown. This reflects the effect of ecological protection in the region from one side.

According to local feedback, the population size of Eurasian otters in Sichuan has significantly expanded. In the past five years, Eurasian otters have been found more than 20 times in Xuyong County, Pingwu County, Qingchuan County and other places.

In addition to swimming in the water, the population of wild animals flying in the sky and running on the ground is also growing. At present, the total number of birds in Sichuan Province is 757, and more than half of the birds in China live in Sichuan. Important rare animals such as giant panda, snow leopard and takin inhabiting in Sichuan appear more frequently: Sichuan is still the largest giant panda habitat in the world at present, and the distribution density of snow leopard in snow leopard habitat is nearly 10 times higher than the average value of other snow leopard habitats in China. In addition, Sichuan continues to make efforts in the overall protection of wild plants. In recent years, species that were considered extinct or about to be extinct at home and abroad, such as Cypress laxiflora, Cheqian in Fengdu, and Pteridopsis glabra, have been rediscovered in Sichuan. The total number of "living fossil plants" Davidia involucrata is more than 100 million.

According to statistics, there are more than 1400 kinds of wild vertebrates in Sichuan, accounting for more than 45% of the national total, ranking the second in China, including more than 300 kinds of animals listed in the National Key Protected Wildlife List; There are more than 14400 species of higher plants, accounting for more than 1/3 of the total number in China.

"This year, Sichuan will continue to promote ex situ conservation and wild reintroduction of rare species, firmly build an important ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, and constantly enrich the background of beautiful Sichuan," said the relevant person in charge of the provincial forestry and grass bureau. (Chen Junling, full media reporter of Sichuan Daily)

Related reading

　　 The iron trees here bloom every year

As the saying goes, "An iron tree will blossom in a hundred years.". Panzhihua cycads can bloom every year. Recently, it is the flowering season of Panzhihua Cycas.

Cycas is the oldest existing seed plant on the earth, known as "living fossil plant". On May 22, the reporter came to Sichuan Panzhihua Cycas National Nature Reserve (hereinafter referred to as "the Reserve"). This is the only national nature reserve in China that mainly protects cycads. The reporter saw that the staff carefully shook the male cones to collect pollen, and then spread the pollen evenly on the female cones. Yu Zhixiang, senior engineer of the Scientific Research and Development Department of the Reserve Protection Center, said, "When cycads bloom, we will conduct artificial pollination on cycads in Panzhihua in the Science Popularization Area. After artificial pollination, a female plant can produce more than 200 seeds, while without artificial pollination, a female plant can only produce more than 10 seeds at most."

Around September every year, the staff will collect the artificially pollinated seeds of Cycas Panzhihua, and the successfully bred seedlings will be returned to the field through seed awakening, germination, seedling raising and other links.

After years of protection, the number of wild Panzhihua Cycas here has increased from more than 234000 in the 1980s and 1990s to more than 385000 now, and more than 60000 Cycas in Panzhihua have been artificially bred. (Sichuan Daily full media reporter Lan Nan observes Zhan Lushan and Han Jiawei in Panzhihua)

Share to let more people see