© Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China

Zhang Hemin, director of the Wolong nature reserve, a major part of the Giant Panda Sanctuaries in Sichuan. The sanctuaries, one of the few places in the world where giant pandas still live in the wild, has just been inscribed on the World Heritage List.

Interview by Weiny Cauhapé

Question: Why do you think it is important to protect the giant panda?

Answer: First of all, because it is endangered. At present China is the only country where giant pandas continue to live in the wild, with a population of only 1,500 individuals. Beyond that, the existence of giant pandas is extremely old in the history of evolution, going back 12 million years. In the middle of the Pleistocene, the oldest period of the quaternary era, the giant panda went through a period of very rapid development. After an evolution of three million years as a carnivore, the giant panda became a "vegetarian" with bamboo as its principal food source. Outside of China, fossils of great pandas were discovered in Burma and Viet Nam. Unfortunately, the radical change in climate proved fatal to many families of pandas. The survivors fled to the mountains and deep valleys in three Chinese provinces, Sichuan, Shanxi and Gansu, where they still live.

Question: In your opinion, will being inscribed on the World Heritage List have direct consequences for the site?

Answer: Certainly, because for a long time now, the giant pandas have been located in separate and scattered areas, or "islets", where encounter and interaction between different groups is difficult. In this context, inbreeding is inevitable, which results in their having reduced capacity to adapt to environmental change, a lower reproductive rate and less resistance to disease. Inscription on the World Heritage List should allow us to gradually extend the giant panda zone to the mountains in Minshan, Liangshan, Xianglingshan and Qinling, to create one single reserve. The giant pandas will then have the opportunity to free themselves from these "islets" and the environment will be greatly improved.

Question: Aren't you afraid that it will also cause an influx of tourists to the reserve?

Answer: I think not. In our reserve, an eco-tourism programme allows us to limit the number of visitors. In addition, the size of the area open to visitors represents only 1% of the total surface of the reserve. And furthermore we are setting up an advisory committee of recognized experts in environment, tourism and land use, which will supervise eco-tourism development and conservation.