Located at north latitude 31º, Shennongjia Natural Reserve, a well-protected biological gene bank, is now regarded as "A must see place" by the Americans, as well entitled "One of the 50 Places that Foreigners Must Visit in China" by foreign diplomatic envoys and the media. But over 20 years ago, the area experienced massive deforestation. Some overseas media even ventured to assert that Shennongjia would disappear off the face of the earth within five years.

"We are now confident that China has successfully protected the Shennongjia Natural Reserve. Our ecological success reflects our pride and confidence, and also tells the truth," said Wang Haitao, secretary of Committee of the Communist Party of China in Shennongjia Natural Reserve in Hubei Province.

"Vanishing Theory" Caused by Deforestation

In the 1970s and 1980s, large scale lumbering took place in the forests of Shennongjia to support the national construction industry. Forest coverage decreased by 11.6 percent, triggering a series of natural disasters, including water and soil erosion, climate deterioration, droughts & floods, and landslides.

In April 1980, Professor Wu Kong, a Canadian Chinese, sent a letter to Deng Xiaoping, then the vice premier of the State Council, suggesting that the Shennongjia area be designated as an "completely protected zone" because in 1985 the Voice of America had predicted that "Shennongjia would disappear from the earth within five years." The dire warning attracted global attention. Everyone waited to see what effective measures the Chinese government would take regarding this issue.

Lumbermen Evolve into Reforestation Experts

"Instead of vanishing from the earth, Shennongjia has made great achievements in recent years," Wang said. The State Council in 1986 did designate Shennongjia as a national forest and as a wildlife reserve. In 1999, Wen Jiabao, then the vice premier of the State Council, instructed, "As an ecological treasure, Shennongjia should be included in the Natural Forest Preserve Project."

In 2000, all lumbering activity in Shennongjia ceased. Shennongjia became one of the many areas covered under the Natural Forest Preserve Project. This project aimed to convert cultivated land back into forests and grasslands. This area began to change from a "timber economy" to an "ecological economy".

In 2000, thousands of workers put down their axes and began to plant trees instead. Within a few years, 145,000 mu (9,667 hectare) of forest was recreated, 317,000 mu (21,133 hectare) of forest cropland was cultivated and 134,000 mu (8,933 hectare) of land was converted to forests or grassland. Living tree reserves increased by 5.538 million square meters as compared with 1982, with a yearly average growth of 290,200 square meters. The forest coverage of Shennongjia climbed to 88 percent from 73 percent, and reached 96 percent within the natural reserve area.

Shennongjia Natural Reserve announced on December 20, 2005 that it would be closed to visitors from January 4 to March 25, 2006, the first time since opening in 1992. During this period, some renovations were implemented. An environment was created for over 1,000 species of wild animals to rest, and efforts were made to restore the local ecological environment as "China's Biological Gene Bank".

More Golden Monkeys

In April this year, 20-some experts and professors from the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, the International Botanic Garden, the Mexican Botanic Garden and Harvard University visited Shennongjia. They praised the region, saying that "It is rare spot on the globe, with biological diversity, ecological integrity and the originality of the forest."

Wang Haitao said that he was very glad to hear what the international professionals had said, but the response from nature was even more significant. "Golden monkeys require a specific niche in the ecological environment," he said. "However, the number of golden monkeys in Shennongjia area has increased from 600 to over 1,300 in recent years." According to a staff member from the golden monkey protection base in Shennongjia, the number of golden monkeys has grown, and they cohabit well with the staff.

In Shennongjia arrow bamboo previously grew profusely, providing a habitat for China's giant panda. Because large amounts of this arrow bamboo sprouted and then died off, the pandas migrated westward. In 2005, due to greatly improved environmental conditions at Shennongjia, some bamboo began sprouting again. And, according to local farmers, panda tracks have also reappeared.

(China Development Gateway by Xu Lin August 6, 2007)