In 25 years, from 1000 to 1500 in 13 populations to more than 3300 in 23 populations, the protection of Yunnan golden monkey has achieved results.

introduction

"Oh-oh-oh-"A long call broke the silence of the morning.

It was dawn, and it was estimated that the Yunnan golden monkey had woken up. The patrolmen of Xiangguqing in Tacheng Town, Weixi Lisu Autonomous County, Yunnan Province began to shout to the forest.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh …" Soon, there was a reply in the Woods.

Xiangguqing, located in Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province, is home to 10 "families" and more than 60 Yunnan golden monkeys. It is the only place where people can observe Yunnan golden monkeys at close range. Get along with each other day and night, the patrolmen have established a special connection with these Yunnan golden monkeys: only under their call will Yunnan golden monkeys appear from the deep mountains and forests. This makes the tourists from afar amazed.

Yunnan golden monkey with a nose facing upwards, pink lips and big eyes is a rare and endangered first-class protected animal unique to China, living in alpine forests at an altitude of 2,500 to 4,700 meters. Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve is located in the core area of "Three Parallel Rivers" world natural heritage, and it is the habitat of about 60% Yunnan golden monkey.

In October this year, the 15th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity will be held in Kunming, Yunnan. "As the chairman of the Kunming Conference, China is willing to share its experience in biodiversity management and ecological civilization construction with all parties." On September 30, 2020, the Chairman of the Supreme Leader pointed out in an important speech at the United Nations Biodiversity Summit that "at present, the global extinction rate is accelerating, and the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem degradation pose great risks to human survival and development. The COVID-19 epidemic tells us that man and nature are a community of destiny. We must work together, take action, protect in development, develop in protection, and build a harmonious beautiful homeland. "

"The mountains are high and the mountains are long." After long-term protection, the population and total number of Yunnan golden monkey have been increasing. At the end of April this year, Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Bureau announced the dynamic monitoring results of Yunnan golden monkey which lasted for more than two years. The population and total number of Yunnan golden monkey have increased from 1000 to 1500 in 13 populations in 1996 to more than 3300 in 23 populations at present. The dynamic monitoring of Yunnan golden monkey was carried out in a coordinated way of "government+non-profit organizations+experts+protectors+community residents", and its result "Green Paper on the Protection of Yunnan golden monkey" has also been officially published.

The protection effect of Yunnan golden monkey is a vivid example of China’s continuous promotion of biodiversity management and ecological civilization construction. In summer, the reporter walked into Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve to visit how Yunnan golden monkey ushered in a recovery growth.

Strengthen field patrol

The patrol force is growing, the means are becoming more diverse and the system is becoming more standardized.

Every day, from 6 am to 8: 30 pm, Yu Jianhua is guarding the monkeys in Xiangguqing. What sheltered him from the wind and rain was a simple plastic shed. In the early morning, he led the guarded Yunnan golden monkey from the night-stay point to the monkey-watching point, fed them pineapples and apples, and welcomed the tourists who came to visit in the morning. As soon as the monkey is in a bad mental state, he will immediately contact the nearby wildlife rescue station. When the monkey took a nap, he quickly grabbed a bite to eat.

Yu Jianhua is 69 years old. From the age of 14 to 45, he lived mainly by hunting. At one time, many villagers around Xiangguqing hunted and cut down trees for their livelihood, and the habitat of Yunnan golden monkey was affected. The number of monkeys was once reduced, and the protection situation was grim.

Improving biological habitat is the basis of biodiversity protection. In 1983, the Yunnan provincial government approved the establishment of Baima Snow Mountain Provincial Nature Reserve (in 1988, it was upgraded to a national nature reserve with the approval of the State Council), and then the Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve Management Office was set up in Deqin Forestry Bureau, with two protection stations, namely Xiaruo and Yeri, and Shusong Experimental Station, which opened the prelude to the protection of Yunnan golden monkey. In that year, Zhong Tai, currently the deputy director of the Management and Protection Bureau of Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve in Yunnan, was recruited and assigned to Yeri Protection Station, becoming the first batch of staff specializing in the protection of Yunnan golden monkeys.

When I first arrived at the protection station, Zhong Tai still remembers: "When I came to the protection station, I had to take a truck to Benzilan Town, Deqin County, and then follow the caravan for three days. At that time, the protection station didn’t even have office space. We built the station by ourselves. " A mule became the main means of transportation for the four staff members of the protection station to transport materials.

It is not easy to build a station, and it is not difficult to carry out protection work. Yunnan golden monkey lives in high mountains and dense forests far away from human beings, and the population is very small, so it is difficult to see. "Tell the masses to protect Yunnan golden monkeys, but what they look like, most people have never seen them." Zhong Tai said.

In order to assist researchers in investigating Yunnan golden monkey, Zhong Taihe and his colleagues often carry a dozen pairs of rubber shoes into the mountains-wading through mountains and rivers, and they can wear out a pair of shoes in three to five days, and it takes more than 10 days or even a month to turn around in the mountains. Everything comes to him who waits. At the end of 1985, Zhong Tai, together with experts from Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, met Yunnan golden monkey for the first time. Only then did he know that the adult Yunnan golden monkey was black and white, not as golden as Sichuan golden monkey.

After more than 10 years, the team of tracking and monitoring Yunnan golden monkey has gradually grown, and Yu Jianhua is one of them. "Don’t hunt, go up the mountain to find and patrol the Yunnan golden monkey." In the spring of 1997, Li Hu, then director of Weixi County Forestry Bureau, found Yu Jianhua. The county forestry bureau also squeezed out a part of the poor office funds to pay 6 yuan’s daily salary to each patrol member. In this way, Yu Jianhua became one of the first local three Yunnan golden monkey patrolmen.

In order to find the Yunnan golden monkey, Yu Jianhua and his colleagues crossed the mountains and walked more than ten kilometers of mountain roads every day. On rainy days, the mountains are foggy and the visibility is only a few meters. They are hiding from the rain under trees and rocks, and they are all wet. In snowy days, the snow in the mountains often does not cross the waist, and the rugged mountain road is even more difficult.

Over the years, Yu Jianhua and his colleagues have discovered hundreds of monkeys, and gradually figured out the way to find Yunnan golden monkeys: either tracking them according to the feces on the ground and the food they left behind, or climbing to the trees on the ridge to explore the sounds of Yunnan golden monkeys, or placing their favorite foods such as bamboo shoots, wild fruits and pineapples along the way, or waiting not far from the drinking point …

"After following the monkeys for seven or eight years, we not only found the monkeys, but also gained their trust." Yu Jianhua said, "The monkey remembered our voice and appearance, saw us, let down his guard, and stayed in the tree for food and a nap."

With the passage of time, tracking patrol entered the standardized track.

This year’s continuous dry weather has turned the thick moss in the dense forest of Baima Snow Mountain into yellow. To solve this problem found in the field patrol, Benzilan Management Office cleaned up and repaired the drinking points in the forest and built three new reservoirs for wild animals such as Yunnan golden monkeys to drink. The construction of the reservoir is quite particular: in order to prevent monkeys from falling into the water, the length, width and depth of the reservoir are tailor-made; Put medicine and salt in the pool to prevent diseases.

Benzilan Management Office was formed in 2005 by the merger of Xiaruo and Yeri Conservation Stations and Shusong Experimental Station, and directly belongs to Deqin Branch of Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve Management and Protection Bureau. When the reporter interviewed here, half of the 10 staff members were on patrol in the wild. Chen Jie, deputy director of the management office, said that patrol is one of the most basic and important tasks of resource management and protection in protected areas, and it is now increasingly standardized. "Daily patrol and monitoring patrol should make an annual plan in advance, clarify the route, and focus on finding and solving problems; The inspection and patrol of irregular and indefinite lines is to act immediately after receiving reports from the masses. "

Yu Jianhua’s son, Yu Zhonghua, has been engaged in patrol work in Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve for 15 years. He talks about the protection of Yunnan golden monkeys: what food they have all year round, what wild animals are there in their habitat … Compared with his father, Yu Zhonghua pays more attention to observation and research. He will consult the researchers who come to the reserve for field trips, and upload his own videos of Yunnan golden monkeys to the network and share them with fans.

"In the early years, patrolling the mountains protected long-term camping. Now the protected area uses infrared monitoring to observe animal activities, collect scientific data and control poaching activities." Yu Zhonghua told reporters that nowadays, we pay attention to the application of scientific and technological means in patrol. Many high-definition cameras are deployed in the deep mountains and forests, and one camera can monitor the surrounding area with a radius of two kilometers. The video system is directly connected with the relevant administrative departments of Yunnan Province and Diqing Prefecture, realizing remote online monitoring and dispatching.

The patrol force is also strengthening. The patrol team of Xiangguqing has expanded from the initial 3 to 28, among which many experienced the transformation from hunters to patrols. The treatment guarantee is also improving. "At first, the county forestry bureau allocated wages from office funds, but now it has been transferred to the special funds of Yunnan Golden Monkey National Park in the protected area, and the salary has been raised to 1,800 yuan per month." Yu Jianhua introduced.

Strengthen scientific research support

Carry out research on conservation biology and ecological behavior of Yunnan golden monkey, and at the same time carry out monitoring research and systematic protection of the whole forest ecosystem.

Not long ago, the "Mi Li" family of Yunnan golden monkey liked to add a baby monkey, which is the eleventh baby monkey newly born this year in Xiangguqing’s exhibition group.

"The female monkeys in the display group give birth to one child every two years on average. For the rare and endangered Yunnan golden monkey, such growth is very rare." Yu Jianhua is beaming.

Behind the rejuvenation of Yunnan golden monkey population, it is inseparable from the efforts of scientific research and patrol personnel. In May, 2008, Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve separated some families from Xiangguqing-Monkey Group, on the one hand, it showed them to the outside world and developed eco-tourism; On the other hand, it explores the management of "native place", that is, through manual intervention, some Yunnan golden monkeys are confined to relatively fixed areas for scientific observation and protection.

Today, more than 60 Yunnan golden monkeys in Xiangguqing show monkeys. Their living area is located in Yunnan Golden Monkey National Park in Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve. The surrounding forest vegetation community is complete and the environment is livable. In addition to the staple foods such as pineapples, Yu Jianhua and his colleagues also prepared supplementary foods such as eggs, apples and pumpkin seeds for them to improve nutrition.

"The monkeys will change an area for the night every day. In order to prevent them from getting sick, we will wait for them to choose a rest area and make sure there is no problem before going down the mountain." Yu Jianhua waited for the monkeys to sleep before going home every day. The next morning, before the monkeys woke up, he came to the monkeys.

Getting along with each other day and night, Yu Jianhua can name every monkey, and he can tell their joys and sorrows by shouting. This is closely related to the management of "native place"-researchers have established a family file for each Yunnan golden monkey, recording its family members, age structure and blood relationship in detail. "Field patrol can only discover and roughly grasp the number and distribution of monkeys, and’ native’ management is helpful for close scientific observation and research on conservation biology and ecological behavior of Yunnan golden monkey." Zhong Tai said.

Close observation helped researchers discover the "earth" for treating diarrhea in Yunnan golden monkey. Lai Jiandong, the stationmaster of the Wildlife Rescue Station in Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve, recalled that the Yunnan golden monkey in the reserve had been infected with parasites and was in a poor mental state. The rescue station tried many drugs to no avail. Later, the mystery was found in the recipes used to improve the nutrition of Yunnan golden monkey: pumpkin seeds and sumac seeds can effectively inhibit parasites and are very useful for treating diarrhea of Yunnan golden monkey.

"Adult male monkeys often have fights, and we don’t directly intervene in this, because it helps the reproduction and communication between different monkey groups and avoids inbreeding. Once a monkey is found to be injured in the fight, please immediately ask the staff of the wildlife rescue station to come to the rescue. " Zhong Tai said that in order to reduce the internal competition among monkeys and promote the gene exchange among different monkeys, the number of Yunnan golden monkeys showing the monkeys should be kept within 70. "Once it exceeds 70, it will be properly grouped."

The monitoring and research on the habitat of Yunnan golden monkey, and the broadening and protection are also advancing simultaneously.

The vehicle stopped at the side of National Highway 214, and the reporter went downhill along the mountain path. It took about an hour to walk to Quzonggong, an alpine meadow in Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve. Two huge U-shaped valleys meet here, and two rivers, Jini and Jiniu, flow out. It is located in the upper reaches of Zhubaluo River, a tributary of Jinsha River, and Quzonggong ecological positioning monitoring station is built here.

Walking along the Jiniu River, pieces of white tarpaulins laid under the dense forest on the roadside caught the attention of reporters. "There are many tree species such as spruce, fir and big-fruit sequoia, which is a stable forest ecological community." Tibu, the stationmaster of Quzonggong Ecological Positioning Monitoring Station, said, "These white tarpaulins are mainly used to collect fallen leaves and fallen fruits on trees. We analyze the forest canopy density through the number of fallen leaves and fruits in an area; By detecting and testing fallen leaves, analyze whether there are pests and diseases in relevant forest areas, and then realize the health monitoring of forest ecosystems. "

After years of patrol, Yu Zhonghua observed this phenomenon: "The places where Yunnan golden monkeys love to move are often places with many kinds of animals and plants and stable forest ecology. Some artificial forests with single tree species are not willing to go. "

Mao Wei, deputy director of the Management and Protection Bureau of Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve, believes that the protection of Yunnan golden monkey needs to adhere to systematic thinking, protect the diversity of animals and plants, establish a stable and complete forest ecosystem, and create a good habitat for Yunnan golden monkey.

In recent years, researchers and patrolmen of Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve, together with Yu Li, a researcher from Yunnan University, and other research teams have jointly conducted field surveys to analyze the DNA genetic relationship of Yunnan golden monkey, and a species gene bank is being built. They have collected 3051 fecal samples from 22 Yunnan golden snub-nosed monkeys, and found that the genetic diversity of Yunnan golden snub-nosed monkeys is at the middle-upper level compared with other primates. In order to improve the genetic diversity, they proposed to build an ecological corridor connecting the habitats of Yunnan golden monkey.

In July 2019, Yunnan Forestry and Grassland Bureau, together with more than 10 associations and scientific research institutions including the Provincial Green Environment Development Foundation, initiated the establishment of a nationwide protection network for Yunnan golden monkey to strengthen the protection of Yunnan golden monkey population and its habitat. By the end of last year, 6,100 mu of ecological corridor had been restored and afforested, and 630,000 trees such as spruce, Pinus armandii and fir had been planted.

Form a protective resultant force

Explore the community co-management mechanism to guide the masses from passive protection to active protection of Yunnan golden monkey.

At one time, there were more than 70,000 farmers in Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve and its surrounding area of 3 kilometers, including cutting firewood, digging Cordyceps and Tricholoma matsutake, and reclaiming land for agriculture and animal husbandry.

On the one hand, it is the survival of Yunnan golden monkey, and on the other hand, it is the livelihood of the masses. How to coordinate biodiversity protection and help farmers increase their income to achieve a win-win situation?

"In recent years, the protection measures for Yunnan golden monkey have been continuously strengthened, and the results are obvious." Xie Hongfang, who stepped down as director of the Management and Protection Bureau of Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve last year, said, "In the long run, we must better mobilize the enthusiasm of surrounding villagers to benefit from protection."

In the early morning, Yu Xinhua, a villager in Xiangguqing, climbed a hillside covered with nettles and came to a shady shed. The Chinese herbal medicines such as Paris polyphylla var. yunnanensis, Gentiana macrophylla and Cynomorium songaricum in the field grew gratifying. After working in the field, he went to the nearby bee farm to cut honey. Planting Chinese herbal medicine and beekeeping, Yu Xinhua’s family earns more than 50 thousand yuan a year.

Yu Xinhua began to raise bees in 2011, but different from his parents’ methods, according to the expert’s guidance, his family’s beehives are no longer made of hollowed trunks, but new hives that are warm and hygienic. "Beekeeping with new beehives is easy to manage and the quality of honey produced is higher." Yu Xinhua said, "Thanks to the community condominium project, teachers from Yunnan Agricultural University were invited to teach us scientific beekeeping methods."

Since 2014, Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve has carried out the exploration of community condominium for biodiversity conservation, taking the management of natural resources in the reserve and community economic and social development as a whole, focusing on improving the livelihood of the villagers in the reserve and surrounding areas, changing their production and lifestyle, and guiding the masses to change from passive protection to active protection.

The practice of community condominium exploration has brought many changes, and Tricholoma matsutake resource management is one of them. Around July every year, when the rainy season comes, it is a good time to dig pine mushrooms, which is the main source of income for many villagers around the reserve. For a long time in the past, out of the psychology of "I don’t dig, others will dig", many immature velvet and old velvet that will leave seeds after opening an umbrella have also been dug, resulting in a decline in the output of Tricholoma matsutake year by year. The masses reflected this problem to the Protected Area Management and Protection Bureau.

The staff of the reserve discussed with the villagers to strengthen the management of Tricholoma matsutake resources, and decided to start with banning the mining of Tricholoma matsutake. At this time, the question came: how old is the velvet? Some people suggest measuring the size, but what if the person who measures it is a good friend? Finally, everyone agreed: welding steel rings according to a certain size, which can pass through is baby velvet, strictly prohibiting mining, and formulating punishment rules; Carry out intermittent picking, take three days off and let Tricholoma matsutake a breath; The growth of local Tricholoma matsutake can not be separated from Pinus yunnanensis and Quercus alpina. Many villages explicitly prohibit logging and firewood in village regulations to ensure the long-term income of Tricholoma matsutake.

Over the past few years, the matsutake of Baima Snow Mountain has gradually become a hot commodity in the market, which not only helps farmers increase their income, but also makes villagers realize the importance of protecting forest ecology.

Walking into Xiangguqing, the wooden board covered by the roof of every household disappeared, and it was replaced by a new material, resin tile. Zhong Tai, who has worked in Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve for 38 years, said: "In the past, villagers used wooden’ roof boards’-cut down spruce trees and sawed them into pieces. Today, the experience of’ board to tile’ has been promoted in Diqing Prefecture. "

"The community co-management mechanism insists on reflecting the demands from the bottom up. According to the needs of the people’s production and life, the protected area management and protection bureau studies and solves problems, and demonstrates and explores by means of project system to drive and guide the surrounding villagers to protect and develop in protection." Zhao Weidong, a senior engineer of Baima Snow Mountain National Nature Reserve Management and Protection Bureau, said that in recent years, the community co-management mechanism has been promoted in Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve and its surrounding areas, and the number of 15 species of national first-class protected wild animals, including Yunnan golden monkey, has been steadily increasing.

In September 2017, the Central Office and the State Council issued the "Overall Plan for Establishing a National Park System", which clearly stated "establishing a community co-management mechanism". In Xie Hongfang’s view, the community co-management mechanism is a microcosm of the powerful measures taken by the state to protect biodiversity. "At the end of the 1990s, China began to ban the felling of natural forests, and the’ wood finance’ of cutting down trees and selling money in some counties and districts gradually ended, which directly protected the living environment of Yunnan golden monkey. Especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, we have adhered to the principle that mountains, rivers, fields, lakes, grass and sand are living communities, and jointly promoted biodiversity management. Practicing Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets’s concept and exploring the realization path of ecological value transformation have promoted new achievements in the protection of Yunnan golden monkey. " (Reporter Zhang Fan Xu Yuanfeng Yang Wenming)