Little was known about the reclusive giant panda when WWF chose it as our logo in the early 1960s. The first modern field research only began two decades later when Dr. George Schaller of WWF and Professor Hu Jinchu of Sichuan Normal University began field research in Wolong and Tangiiahe Nature Reserves in Sichuan. The results of this work and later research in the Changqing Reserve form the basis for the understanding of the ecology and behavior of the wild panda that we have today.
Over the past 30 years, WWF has helped the Chinese government establish a giant panda conservation network, which consists of 62 Giant panda nature reserves, key corridors, and forest farms that cover 71 per cent of the giant panda population and 57 per cent of its habitat. This amounts to 1.34 million hectares, almost double the area of Shanghai. WWF participated in the second national giant panda survey from 1985-1988, and the third from 1999-2003. In 2001, we introduced integrated landscape protection concepts to China, and have applied them to the ongoing projects in Qinling and Minshan. For their contributions to giant panda conservation, WWF awarded the “Gift to the Earth” to the Shanxi government in 2003, as well as the Sichuan and Gansu governments in 2006. With WWF support, the State Forestry Administration nationally unified the Technical Regulations for Monitoring of Giant Panda and Its Habitat in 2008. Since then we have worked with the government to extend integrated landscape conservation to all giant panda landscapes. In addition, WWF supports the green recovery of giant panda habitats and reconstruction of local communities to mitigate the damage caused by the May 12, 2008 earthquake on the home of giant pandas.
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Over the past 30 years, WWF has helped the Chinese government establish a giant panda conservation network, which consists of 62 Giant panda nature reserves, key corridors, and forest farms that cover 71 per cent of the giant panda population and 57 per cent of its habitat. This amounts to 1.34 million hectares, almost double the area of Shanghai. WWF participated in the second national giant panda survey from 1985-1988, and the third from 1999-2003. In 2001, we introduced integrated landscape protection concepts to China, and have applied them to the ongoing projects in Qinling and Minshan. For their contributions to giant panda conservation, WWF awarded the “Gift to the Earth” to the Shanxi government in 2003, as well as the Sichuan and Gansu governments in 2006. With WWF support, the State Forestry Administration nationally unified the Technical Regulations for Monitoring of Giant Panda and Its Habitat in 2008. Since then we have worked with the government to extend integrated landscape conservation to all giant panda landscapes. In addition, WWF supports the green recovery of giant panda habitats and reconstruction of local communities to mitigate the damage caused by the May 12, 2008 earthquake on the home of giant pandas.
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