Let’s breathe in the forest and explore the natural treasures of Gaoligong Mountain

Get to know Gaoligong Mountain

Gaoligong Mountain originates from Tanggula Mountain on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The east-west Boshula Range is one of its mountain systems. It turns due to crustal movement in the Hengduan Mountain area at the junction of Tibet and Yunnan. After entering Yunnan, it is called Gaoligong Mountain and then forms a north-south orientation, which is in sharp contrast to many east-west mountain ranges in my country. Gaoligong Mountain has significant differences in altitude, with the highest point reaching 5,128 meters, while the lowest point in my country is 210 meters. Gaoligong Mountain has a unique geographical location, with the Nujiang River to the east and the Longchuan River, a tributary of the Irrawaddy River, to the west. The combination of this mountain range and river has formed a magnificent landscape of alternating high mountains and canyons, becoming the iconic image of the mountains in Yunnan Province.

Gaoligong Mountain occupies an important position both geographically and ecologically. From an international perspective , as the boundary mountain between China and Myanmar, it not only has a special geographical location, but is also the most biodiverse region in China and one of the 36 biodiversity hotspots in the world. At the national level , Gaoligong Mountain is an important cornerstone of China's southwest ecological security barrier. For Yunnan Province , it is a key area for striving to become a demonstration area for national unity and progress, a pioneer in ecological civilization construction, and a radiation center facing South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is also an important section for implementing the cross-border protection of China, Myanmar and India under the "Belt and Road" initiative.

Gaoligong Mountain has a highly rich biodiversity, a complete vertical spectrum of vegetation, an important area of ​​Chinese flora, and a junction of fauna. It is known as the "World Natural Museum" and "Suture Line of the Earth".

Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Yunnan Province, with a total area of ​​405,200 hectares. It has two management bureaus, Baoshan and Nujiang. The Baoshan Management Bureau has two branches, Tengchong and Longyang, and 11 management stations, implementing vertical management.

In terms of biodiversity, Gaoligong Mountain is very rich in resources, with 5,726 recorded higher plant species, of which 382 are endemic; there are 3,066 animal species, including 796 bird species, making it one of the bird-richest regions in China .

In addition, there are 6 species and varieties of national first-class protected plants, 129 species and varieties of national second-class protected plants, 48 ​​species of national first-class protected animals, and 184 species of national second-class protected animals in the reserve.

Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve has been under construction for more than 40 years and has won many awards. Since its establishment as a provincial nature reserve in 1983, it was promoted to a national nature reserve in 1986, included in the World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2000, and listed as a World Natural Heritage Site in 2003 as an important part of the Three Parallel Rivers. In 2018, the reserve was rated as excellent in both national and provincial assessments. In 2020, the ecological monitoring status assessment of nature reserves in Yunnan Province ranked first . The biggest function of nature reserves is ecological function. In 2018, Yunnan Province organized relevant institutions to evaluate the value of ecological service functions of six indicators in 45 nature reserves in Yunnan Province: biodiversity protection value, water conservation value, soil conservation value, carbon fixation and oxygen release value, atmospheric environment purification value, and nutrient accumulation value. The ecological value assessment of the forest ecology of Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve is close to 50 billion, ranking first among the 45 nature reserves.

Protecting Gaoligong Mountain

Protection and development are eternal themes of mutual dependence and promotion. In particular, the development of surrounding communities is crucial to the protection of protected areas. The focus of this sharing is on the development of surrounding communities.

Similar to other protected areas, we had many conflicts with local communities and residents in the early days of our establishment, mainly because of the sudden restrictions on access, logging and excavation, which caused people to not adapt. In order to deal with these conflicts, we strengthened the strategy of "loosening" to reduce residents' dependence on the protected area and thus reduce conflicts. To this end, we carried out a lot of construction in the surrounding communities and successfully applied for a number of projects, such as biodiversity conservation and community development projects, forest conservation and community development projects, etc. These projects all adopt participatory management methods, allowing local communities and residents to directly participate, and carry out community construction based on their wishes and enthusiasm.

During the implementation of the project, community residents were directly involved in the management of the project teams. With the support and guidance of the nature reserve and relevant agencies, these teams gradually transitioned into a conservation association - Gaoligong Mountain Baihualing Biodiversity Conservation Association. This is the first farmer biodiversity conservation association in China and even in the world , and it has pioneered the joint protection of communities and nature reserves.

Driven by the experience of Baihualing, several conservation organizations were established around our reserve. Eventually, 28 organizations participated in the management of the reserve, achieving remarkable results. In addition, we continued to provide planting services, firewood-saving stoves, electricity instead of firewood, solar energy construction and other engineering projects for surrounding communities, benefiting farmers and surrounding communities, and promoting conservation work from another level, achieving ecological sharing.

At the same time, we have also implemented an ecological migration project to relocate some residents around the reserve and give them priority in participating in conservation work, such as serving as ecological forest rangers. In the past decade, we have continuously applied for small projects, such as Rural Eyes, Drinking Water and Remembering the Source, Environmental Governance and Industrial Planting, with a cumulative investment of more than 12 million yuan, and achieved good results.

Through community co-management, community residents have transformed from "destroyers" to "guardians", and surrounding communities have also benefited from this. We have not only protected the green mountains and clear waters, but also created mountains of gold and silver.

Sharing Gaoligong Mountain

Gaoligong Mountain is mysterious, rich and colorful, and is itself a natural school. Relying on the natural and cultural resources of Gaoligong Mountain, we have established the first nature school in mainland China. We have proposed the concept of "connecting the heart with nature" for nature education, and advocated the "three-heart nature education" based on experience , namely, heart to nature: walk into nature, establish connection, cultivate natural feelings, and enhance the closeness and love for nature; heart-moving experience : feel nature, implement heart-moving experience activities, and inspire people's friendly feelings towards nature; heart-moving action : start with small things, change the lifestyle from the bottom of the heart, encourage people to consciously participate in nature protection work, and protect nature with practical actions.

Based on biocultural diversity, the nine ecological business cards of Gaoligong Mountain are summarized as follows:

The world's largest tree rhododendron . The tree rhododendron is a species unique to Gaoligong Mountain. Behind the tree rhododendron is the story of the search and protection of many botanists and grassroots forestry workers. At present, the original ecology of the tree rhododendron is only distributed in a narrow area in the Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve, and more than 1,500 plants have been artificially cultivated.

The world's largest artificial Taiwania baldun forest per unit volume bears witness to the tradition and effectiveness of afforestation in the communities surrounding Gaoligong Mountain.

The best-preserved ancient southern silk road in China was known as the "Shu Shen Du Road" during the Western Han Dynasty.

Gaoligong Mountain is the war site with the highest altitude . There are many war sites left in the mountain, which are called "war sites on the clouds" due to its high altitude.

The first gibbon named by a Chinese scientist . The endemic gibbon named after Gaoligong Mountain is also known as the Skywalker gibbon internationally.

Baihualing is a five-star bird watching destination in China . Gaoligong Mountain has 796 bird species recorded. It has rich bird resources, and most of the recorded bird species can be observed in Baihualing.

Since the 1980s, more than 600 new species have been published in Gaoligong Mountain, making it the region in China with the most new species published in the past 40 years.

The first farmers’ biodiversity conservation organization in China was established.

We established the first nature school in mainland China .

In the field of nature education, we have edited and designed a series of teaching materials and courses for nature education, built education bases, and successfully held the Nature Education Forum of the Five Southwest Provinces. At the same time, we have also carried out a series of education and sharing activities for primary and secondary school students, families, colleges and universities, and the public. Recognized by the competent authorities and the industry, it has become the first nature education pilot base in Yunnan Province, one of the first 20 nature education school bases in the country, a national science popularization education base, and a Yunnan Province social science popularization base.