Is it contradictory to protect a certain species with protecting biodiversity?

A few days ago (May 22) was the International Day for Biological Diversity .

Regarding biodiversity conservation, many people have a question: For animals like pandas, the country has invested a lot of time, energy, and money to protect them. Doesn't doing so much to protect this one species go against our concern about protecting biodiversity?

The cute giant pandas attract much attention | Tamarocochinop / wiki commons

Protecting diversity for humanity’s sake

Everything in nature is closely related to humans. The organisms living around humans, from microorganisms such as mycoplasma and chlamydia to animals and plants that we are familiar with, constitute a complex organic system. Without the Earth, a living community, humans cannot survive and develop alone.

The Earth has evolved for at least 5 billion years, and life has been around for more than 3 billion years. Today, there are still a lot of organisms living on Earth. Scientists have discovered and named about 380,000 plant species and nearly 3 million animal species.

National Museum of Zoology Biodiversity and Evolution Exhibition Hall | Buy National Day

However, science in the true sense has only been around for less than 300 years, and humankind’s understanding and knowledge of biodiversity has only just begun. Moreover, during these three centuries, humans have been destroying species at a rate even faster than they have been learning about them.

To this day, we are still repeating the work of our predecessors, constantly naming species we have never seen before, and trying to understand their characteristics, habits, ecological functions, evolutionary history, relationship with humans, and so on.

Discovering new species also brings new crises

my country ranks among the top in the world in terms of biological richness, second only to Indonesia and Brazil, and some groups even exceed the above two countries. It is gratifying that in recent years, new species of animals and plants have been discovered in China, such as the white-cheeked macaque in southern Tibet, the Nonggang babbler in Guangxi, the Tianxing gibbon in Yunnan, the Nujiang golden monkey...

This news is mixed. Many species were already in a rare and endangered state when they were discovered - a large enough group may actually be several species, and each new species is not large enough. There are already many endangered animals and plants. With limited human, material and financial resources, how can we protect every local species?

A new species of white-browed gibbon discovered in 2017 - the Tianxing gibbon | Fan Pengfei/sci-news

Protecting pandas is not just about protecting pandas

This is the significance of protecting giant pandas. Such huge investment, including the official establishment of the Giant Panda National Park in 2021, is by no means to protect just this species. The value of the giant panda lies in the fact that it is a flagship species and an umbrella species.

The giant panda is the main species protected by the Giant Panda National Park, but not the only one | Public Domain Pictures

The so-called flagship species is a species that can attract public attention. The selection of flagship species is not entirely based on ecological importance, but on its public appeal and attraction . The giant panda is loved by the Chinese people and the world for its cuteness, uniqueness and preciousness. It is undoubtedly a star species with unparalleled public appeal and influence. It is enough to attract public attention, so it is certainly a well-deserved flagship species.

The umbrella species is a suitable target species whose living environment requirements can cover the habitat requirements of other species. Protecting it can also provide an umbrella for other species. As an umbrella species, the giant panda's living environment can cover more other species living in the same area or similar areas. The giant panda has and will continue to provide an umbrella for other companion species.

Providing more protection for the Earth

As early as the 1950s, the country began to build nature reserves, scenic spots, forest parks and other protected areas. In Sichuan, Wanglang and Wolong were established to protect giant pandas as the target species, and poaching and deforestation were strictly prohibited.

At present, there are 67 nature reserves dedicated to protecting giant pandas, covering a habitat area of ​​more than 3.4 million hectares , and two-thirds of the wild population of giant pandas has been included in the protection system. At the same time, the state has organized and implemented the "China Giant Panda Protection and Habitat Project", which has effectively rescued giant pandas and other wild animals and plants distributed in the same area.

Many national first- and second-level protected animals, including takin, black bear, jackal, and Tibetan macaque, have been effectively protected thanks to the protection of giant pandas | Xi Zhinong/naturepl.com

As the saying goes, "If one cat succeeds, all the chickens and dogs will prosper." Scientific research shows that the protection of the giant panda, an umbrella species, has benefited as many as 96 species of local mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles in the nature reserve.

In my country, there are many rare and endangered species that can become umbrella species: Asian elephants, green peacocks, and sky-walking gibbons in Yunnan, Siberian tigers in Jilin and Heilongjiang, white-headed langurs and eastern black-crested gibbons in Guangxi, Hainan gibbons in Hainan, snow leopards in Xinjiang and Qinghai, Tibetan antelopes in Tibet, Yangtze River dolphins in the Yangtze River Basin, leopards and brown pheasants in Shanxi...

To protect the green peacock, we must preserve China's last tropical monsoon forests, where there are many more rare species that are less well-known | Wiki Commons

Only with our common concern can we give birth to more flagship species and umbrella species like the giant panda. They will hold up umbrellas everywhere to protect the homes they and other species depend on for survival, which is also the home for us humans to survive.

Author: Zhang Jinshuo

This article comes from GuokrNature (ID: GuokrNature)