Tourist curbs conducive to pandas safety
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-07-17 10:27
The possible influx of tourists will not threaten the habitat of giant pandas
that was listed as a World Heritage Site on Wednesday, officials said.
Tourists will no longer be allowed to visit some core areas of the habitat,
Hu Bin, deputy director of the tourism department of southwest China's Sichuan
Province, told a press conference on Friday.
The new World Heritage Site is a giant panda habitat in the Qionglai
mountains.
It covers nine scenic spots and eight reserves, where about 300 giant pandas
and other rare species live.
Citing the province's success in protecting Jiuzhaigou, a World Natural
Heritage Site listed in 1992, Hu said Sichuan is able to offset pressure on the
panda habitat.
Hu said the scenic resort of Jiuzhaigou has set an example in balancing
tourism and heritage protection.
The province will set up World Heritage management offices to coordinate
protection of the pandas.
Tourists can enter no more than 1 percent of the area of Wolong, a well-known
reserve with a topnotch giant panda research center, said Zhang Liming, an
official at the reserve.
Cui Xuezhen, former director of the Fengtongzhai nature reserve, said the
protection plan will aim to consolidate habitats and enlarge the genetic bank of
giant pandas.
"The current habitats are separated by rivers and roads, which make it almost
impossible for them to migrate," Cui said.
China launched "the giant panda ecological corridor" in 1987 to plant bamboo
forests among the giant panda habitats so they will be
connected.
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