Chapter 11: People and biodiversity

Xie Yan and Wang Song
Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100080

Biodiversity in China

China is one of the world's richest countries in terms of biodiversity. China owes its great natural richness to its large size, great range of physical conditions and the fact it contains ancient centers of evolution and dispersion with many areas that served as Pleistocene refuge during the glacial time. China is also one of only three megadiversity countries that span two major bio-geographic regions, i.e., the Palaearctic and Oriental Realms. China encompasses many areas that were not affected by glaciation, and thus there are numerous rare and precious species of animals and plants as well as pre-tertiary relics which are extinct in other parts of the world, such as the Giant Panda, the Yangtze River Dolphin, the Dawn Redwood, and the Cathay Silver Fir.

Ecosystem Diversity

China has a vast territory with complex climate, varied geomorphic types, a large river networks, many lakes, and long coastlines. Such complicated natural conditions inevitably form diversified habitats and ecosystems. The terrestrial ecosystem can be divided into several types such as forest, shrubland, meadow, steppe, savannah, desert, tundra, and marsh among others. The aquatic ecosystem can be classified as marine, rivers, and lakes. (Biodiversity Committee/CAS 1992; Chen L. et al. 1992)

Forests

The forested area in China is small with unbalanced distribution and a variety of types. The total forest area is approximately 11.5 million hectares (ha) has coverage of about 12% of China's total landmass. The proportion of forest coverage ranges from 55% to 4% in various provinces. Forest cover can be roughly classified as coniferous forest, broad-leaved deciduous forest, and coniferous and deciduous mixed forest. Meanwhile, it consists of 212 formations indicated by the dominant species, co-dominant species or characteristic species in arbour layer. In addition, the bamboo forests of China are equally rich, with 36 formations, and the shrublands are fairly complicated with 113 formations. (Chen L. X. et al. 1992)
The coniferous forest in China consists of taiga (44 types), warm temperate coniferous forest (5 types) and subtropical and tropical coniferous forest (27 types). The temperate coniferous and deciduous broad-leaved mixed forest is mainly distributed in Northeast China. The Broad-leaved deciduous forest involves 42 main types widely distributed over hilly areas and mid or lower mountainous areas in the temperate zone, the warm temperate zone and the subtropical zone of China. Historically, it is the zonal vegetation of the warm temperate zone and that has been severely degraded. The Broad-leaved evergreen forest is composed of many broad-leaved evergreen tree species in the subtropical zone. Tropical monsoon forest and tropical rain forest cover a small area in southern China, occupying only 0.5% of the total area, but host 25% of the total number of species in the country. These forests are mainly distributed in the southwest part of Yunnan Province, Hainan Island, southern Guangxi, and southeastern Tibet. Twenty-four main types are dominated by more than one characteristic species. These tropical forests have been seriously depleted in the past half-century, thus and protection of the remaining tropical forest is a priority for conservation of biodiversity in China.

Meadows, Steppes and Savanna

The dominant species are mesophytes and perennial plants. They can be divided into various types: typical meadows (27 formations), saline meadows (20 formations), marsh meadows (9 formations) and high cold meadows (21 formations).
Steppes in China consist of perennial xeric herbs, occur from temperate to tropical zones, and is an ecosystem that developed in the hydrothermal conditions of semi-humid and semi-arid regions. There are 45 formations of steppe, roughly classified as meadow steppe, typical steppe, desert steppe and high cold steppe. The steppe can be found in temperate semi-arid zones, such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and arid mountainous areas with dominant species of needlegrass, fescuegrass, Aneurolepidium, Cleistogenes and wormwood respectively. The total area of temperate steppe in China is 315 million ha. Due to over exploitation and over-grazing, the steppe regions have deteriorated and the degenerative area has been estimated to be 30% of the total.
Influenced by the warm air mass from the South China Sea and Indian Ocean, the tropical regions are covered with tropical forests, while the arid savannah in China can only be found in the xerothermic (both dry and hot) valley in southern Yunnan and some parts of Hainan Island. However, some tropical forests have become secondary savannah.

Desert

Desert covers a total of 20% of the landmass and is mainly found in the northwestern region of the country. It can be divided into four types, according to growth forms of dominant plants: (i) arboureous desert, (ii) shrub desert, (iii) semi-shrub and small semi-shrub desert, and (iv) cushion-like small semi-shrub desert. The numbers of plants, animals and microorganisms in this ecosystem are relatively small, and the food chain within the ecosystem is simple. The dominant plants are Saxoul, Przewalsk Ephedra, Common Beancaper, Nitraria, Songory Reaumuria and Ceratodes. Among animals, lizards (reptiles) predominate, not only in species numbers but also in population size. There are a number of animal species representing the desert fauna, such as Bactrian Camel, Wild Ass, as well as many rodents like Jerboas and Gerbils. The Przewalski's Horse has been extinct in the wild for years and a re-introduction project is now underway.

Wetlands

Wetlands in China extend over an area of 25 million hectares and include some of the most biologically diverse and threatened ecosystems in Asia. China's wetlands are habitats for endangered or endemic plants and animals, and crucial staging and breeding areas for migratory bird populations including many globally threatened species. Natural wetland habitats extend into 38 million ha of man-made wetland habitats comprised of rice fields and other socio-economically-important wetland areas. The 25 million ha of wetlands includes 11 million ha of marshes and bogs, 12 million ha of lakes (natural and artificial) and 2.1 million ha of coastal salt marshes, mudflats and beaches. Approximately 80% (20 million ha) of China's wetlands are freshwater wetlands. Wetlands are distributed extensively in all regions of China, from the northernmost bank of the Heilongjiang River in the north to Hainan Island and the islands of the South China Sea in the south; from the coastline in the east to the arid Northwest Region. They even exist in the Pamirs. The great variety of such natural conditions in these different zones gives China's wetlands distinctive characteristics. (SFA, 2000)

Freshwater ecosystems

Inland freshwater ecosystems are distributed mainly in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions, Guizhou-Yunnan plateau, Jianghan Plain and Sanjiang Plain. Among numerous rivers, streams and lakes in China, there are 22 rivers longer than 1,000 kilometers and 2,848 lakes larger than 1 km2. Lakes in China are rich in aquatic biological resources and species, provide habitats and the growing environment for different varieties of phytoplankton, zooplankton, aquatic vascular plants, and freshwater fish feed that breed in these lakes, of which about 690 species and subspecies are endemic to China. Many lakes are connected with rivers with similar species composition. China is one of the largest producers of freshwater fish in the world. The Silver Carp, Bighead and Grass Carp are well-known aquacultures.

Marine ecosystems

China's seawater covers three climatic zones (warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical), and there are a number of coastal and marine ecosystems, such as the coastal flat, estuarine, coastal wetland, mangrove, coral reef, marine island and oceanic ecosystems. There are 1,694 species of fish recorded from China's seas, consisting of 175 chondrichthyes and 1,519 teleosts. From the total of 2,804 fish species recorded, 440 are endemic.
In addition, there are 17 formations of tundra, alpine cushion-like and alpine mobile sand vegetation, with small distribution areas.

Regional Characteristics of Biodiversity

China is a vast area with large variations in topography, climate, and altitude, and is characterized by diverse geography, ecosystems, and species in different regions. Following MacKinnon, J. 1996, there are 7 bio-geographical Provinces outlined below (see map 1):

Northeast China Provinces

This region comprises the northeast China plain and surrounding mountain ranges (Da Xinan and Changbai Shan mountains). The plain areas are flat and swampy, dominated by reeds interspersed with numerous small lakes. The Da Xinan mountains show considerable variation in vegetation type. In the extreme north is a permafrost region that which forms the southernmost extension of the taiga forests. The central Da Xingan Mountains have a typical altitudinal zonation. The climate is harsh and the flora relatively simple. The forests on the eastern side of the plain, however, are much richer and also contain many endemic species. The tallest mountain Changbai Shan shows the complete altitudinal zoning with broadleaf deciduous forests, swampy areas, mixed coniferous and broadleaf forest, temperate conifer forest, alpine tundra. The fauna of this region is rather distinct from the rest of China. Several large mammals characteristic of Siberia are found here: sable, wolverine, Arctic Hare, moose, red deer, Siberian Musk Deer, brown bear and Siberian Tiger. Characteristic birds include Hazel Grouse. The swampy areas are important breeding areas for cranes and storks.

North China Province

This region comprises temperate northeast China from approximately the Yangtze River as far north as the Great Wall and as far west as the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi Province. It is a region comprised of hills, plains and low mountain ranges. The area has had a high human density for hundreds of years and was the economic, cultural and political center of Chinese civilization. The natural vegetation is for the most part deciduous broadleaf forest dominated by oak. However, there is little primary vegetation remaining and most of the trees and forests are secondary or planted by man. The fauna is typically temperate woodland with deer, foxes, badgers and pheasant characteristics. The large mammal fauna has been decimated or exterminated in most areas.

Northwest China Province

This region covers a vast area of 2.9 million km2, and consists geographically of both temperate steppes in the east (Ordos Plateau and Nei Mongol Plateau together with the He Lan Shan, Yin Shan and southern extension of Da Xingan mountains) and the desert and semi-desert area in the west (Ala Shan Plateau, Junggar and the Tarim desert basins together with the Altai and Tian Shan mountains). Vegetation closely follows climate with temperate grasslands dominating the eastern steppes, and desert increasing toward the west. Montane grasslands of bluegrass and fescuegrass are topped by belts of coniferous forest, mainly Siberian larch and Siberian fir in the Altai Mountains and spruce in the Tian Shan. On the higher slopes are alpine meadows of sedge with some dwarf birch.

Tibetan Plateau and Himalayas Province

An enormous plateau elevated to a height of approximately 4000m covers a total of 2.5million km2, or one quarter of all China and supports less than 1% of the country's population and less than 1% of its total cropland. Geologically, the plateau is very young being the result of major tectonic uplift caused by the impact of the Indian subconntinental plate with the main Asian continental plate and the rising of the Himalayas and the plateau. This is the largest, highest and youngest plateau in the world, and it exerts a great climatic influence regionally and even globally. Due to its high elevation the region is frigid. The fauna and flora of this unique geographical region are quite distinctive though poor in land cover and species richness. Wildlife in the central and northwestern parts is related to the paleoarctic and panarctic regions, while in the southeast it is much richer with a gradual increase in species of Indo-Malayan origin and Himalayan affinities. This is the distribution center for the Rhododendron species (spp.) and many alpine plant genera. The highly distinct species of wildlife include Yak, Wild Ass, Tibetan Antelope and some species rodents and lagomorphs, as well as Snow Leopard. The major threats to biodiversity in the region are over-hunting and trapping, as well as over grazing. Illegal hunting of Tibetan Antelope, for the shatush (i.e. wool), has caused serious decline in the population of the species.

Southwest China Province

This division has a total area of 767,000 km2 stretching from the southeast corner of Xizang through central and northern Yunnan and an arc through western Sichuan. It is a geographically complex area of sub-tropical to sub-alpine mountains cut into a number of subunits by major river gorges. The whole region is comprised of the fanning hills of the eastern Himalayas and Xizang plateau, particularly the Hengduan and Min mountain systems with altitudes ranging between below 1000m in the valley floors to glacial peaks of over 6000m on the highest ridges. Thus, the area has spectacular scenery with raging rivers, gorges, and very rich fauna and flora. The vegetation shows typical diversity vertically from subtropical hard leaved evergreen broadleaf forest at lower altitudes changing to higher mountain cover with deciduous temperate broadleaf forests, mixed broadleaf conifer forests, coniferous sub-alpine forests with dense bamboo and rhododendron as well as alpine meadows above the tree line. Fauna is extremely rich, and is composed of Palaearctic fauna at higher altitudes and Indo-Malayan fauna at lower altitudes. There are a large numbers of special endemic species including the Giant Panda, Golden Monkey and many species of pheasants. No less than 27 species of pheasants are found in this region and it is considered that the area is the distribution center of the group. Major rivers cutting through the region have acted as barriers to various species biogeographically. Logging and overgrazing linked with population pressure have been the major threats to biodiversity

Central China Province

A large unit of the 1.18 million km2 comprising most of China south of the Chang Jiang and as far west as central Yunnan and Sichuan, consists of montane and hilly terrain intersected by large river basins and valleys and some large lakes. The large Sichuan basin with an area of 260,000 km2, contains about 100 million people and is the most densely populated area in China. The climate is humid subtropical and the original vegetation was evergreen broadleaf forest except on higher hills where conifers predominated. Rainfall is generally higher than 750mm, and rice is the predominant crop. However, the region has been almost entirely replaced by plantations and farmland. The fauna is of subtropical composition with a mixture of Indo-Malayan and Paleoarctic elements, such as South China Tiger, leopard, sambar, Black Muntjac, monkeys, pheasants and other familiar Chinese wildlife. Meanwhile, there are also several endemic species, such as Chinese Water Deer, Giant Salamander, Cabot's Tragopan and Taiwan Muntjac. The region is the winter feeding area for huge numbers of northern waterfowl including many species of ducks, geese and cranes. Population pressure, pollution, over-hunting and trapping are considered as major threats to biodiversity.

Tropical South China Province

The tropical zone of China is not extensive with a total area of 271,000 km2 in the southwest of Yunnan, in a narrow band along the southern coasts of Guangxi and Guangdong as well as both the Hainan and Taiwan islands. Soils in the zone are acidic and the climate is typically humid tropical year-round. The natural vegetation of the zone is tropical evergreen forests dominated by dipterocarp species in the sheltered valleys, semi-evergreen forests on other lowlying areas and subtropical evergreen broadleaf forests on hills dominated by beech family species. Rainfall ranges between 1200-3000mm. Deciduous monsoon forests occur in some western areas, while Montane evergreen forests and cloud forests occur on the highest peaks. The forests in the more sheltered parts of southwest Hainan and Yunnan are very tall and luxuriant. Meanwhile, faunal affinities of the tropical zone are strongly Indo-Malayan with such familiar big game as Asian elephant, gaur, tiger, other tropical groups such as binturong, slow loris, leaf monkeys, gibbons and tropical birds including hornbills, peacock, broadbills, pittas and Asian fairy bluebird. Biologically these are the richest and most diverse habitats in China, but also some of the most fragile. Much of the natural vegetation has been destroyed in the zone, and the major threats to biodiversity are deforestation, over and unsustainable use of resources.

Species Diversity

Number of Species
As a megabiodiversity country, China accounts for 10 per cent of the total number of species in the world. According to new statistics, the total number of all existing species in China is over 83,000, including marine organisms but excluding soil organisms, microorganisms and insects (Table 1.1).
New taxa and new records are being described and reported annually even with difficulties in financial support for fauna and flora study in recent decades. For instance, from 1980-1986, the number of new species of insects and angiosperms identified was 500 annually.

Table 1 Number of Species of Major Taxa in China (in comparison with the world totals) (Wang Sung, et al. 1997; Wang Sung, 1998; MacKinnon, J. et al. 2000)

Endemi

The study of endemism is important not only for understanding the characteristics and formation of fauna and flora, but also in setting priorities of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. As mentioned above, China is well known for its unique species of animals and plants, many of which are strictly confined in distribution. For example, the monotypic genus and species, Cathay Silver Fir, only occurs in the southern parts of China, the Yangtze River Dolphin only lives in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Giant Panda and the Golden Monkey are confined in their distribution to the south-western mountainous regions, Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi. The numbers of endemic genera and species of some selected groups of fauna and flora are shown in the following table.

Table 2 Number of Endemic Genera or Species in China (Wang S, et al. 1997; Wang S, et al., 1998)

Genetic Diversity

Genetic diversity is probably the central issue in the biodiversity. A species, in a sense, is a unique gene pool as it consists of numerous genotypes. Therefore, the species diversity on earth also means the diversity of gene, but the latter goes far beyond the scope of the species diversity (Ji and Su, 1999). Like the profuse biodiversity of China, China's genetic diversity is also very rich. This is obvious just by noting the percentage of Chinese species to the total of the world (See Table 1). Conserving the genetic diversity both from the wild population and captive breeding animals and cultivated plants is essential to species conservation especially for those rare and endangered species.
Agriculture has a long development history in China, whose cultivated crops, fruit trees and cash crops all occupy important positions in the world. There are more than 600 species of domestic plants and over 100,000 varieties. China is one of the eight original centers of crops in the world. Of the roughly 1,200 species of cultivated crops in the world, about 200 originated in China, accounting for about 17% of the total. China also has many varieties of domesticated animals and birds. According to 1989 statistics, there were over 590 varieties of domesticated mammals and poultry, including 66 kinds of horses, 20 asses, 73 cattle, 20 water buffalo, 50 yaks, 4 camels, 79 sheep, 43 goats, 113 pigs, 109 chickens, 35 ducks, 21 geese, and 3 turkeys (Wang Sung, et al. 1997). Conservation of Genetic diversity is vital in order to remain the evolutionary potential of a species as well as to maintain the genetic resources for long-term sustainability of agriculture to meet the demand of human being.
Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)
Since 1980s, there have been significant advances in genetic engineering and a large number of transgenic organisms have been created. Biotechnological studies in China began during the Sixth Five-year-plan, and by the end of the Eighth Five-year-plan many achievements had been realized. Applications in medical treatment include human-interferon (INF-a), surface antigen hepatitis B vaccine and erythropoietin (EPO). Different kinds of transgenic crops (including rice, corn, cotton, soybean, tomato and tobacco) with herbicide traits, virus and pest resistance, and salt tolerance have been developed, and fast growing transgenic animals (such as carp, rabbit and pigs) have been created. GMOs have brought or will bring about great economic benefits to human beings, however there remains concern that the release of GMOs may result in large ecological and economic risks. GMOs may potentially harm human health, become weeds, hybrid with native wild relatives, or become harmful invasive species. The first bio-safety regulation in China "The criteria of the quality control of gene engineered products" was formulated in 1990 and is aimed at genetically engineered drugs. The other universally applicable regulation to gene-engineered products is the "Regulation for management of gene engineering safety" issued by the State Commission of Science and Technology in 1993. This regulation provides a management system for genetic engineering and sets the limits of different approval authorities (SEPA, 1998).

Status of Biodiversity

Due to human interference as well as loss of natural habitat, biological resources are being exhausted at an alarming rate in China. China's Red Data Books for animals gives rough estimates that show that about 533 vertebrate species are endangered (11.6% of the total vertebrate). This figure is far from sufficient, as many groups of mammals, the insectivores, bats, and rodents have not been effectively evaluated. A first tentative list with the numbers of endangered plant species was as follows: Bryophytes 28, Pteridophytes 80, Gymnospermae 75, and Angiospermae 836. In total 1,019 species, representing approximately 3.5% of the higher plants are considered endangered.

Table 4 Estimated Number of Endangered Species in China (Fu L., 1992; Wang S., 1998)

However, it is estimated that 10% of plant species are endangered or vulnerable in temperate zones, while in tropical and subtropical zones the number is much higher. Owing to heavy deforestation, the estimated proportion of endangered or vulnerable plant species in China is about 15-20%, or about 4,000 - 5,000 species of higher plants. (Biodiversity Committee/CAS 1992)
Based on the records of the extinction of plants and animals in Chinese history, animals species of rhino, Pere David's deer, saiga, Caspian tiger, Douc langur, as well as plant species of Szechwan arborvitae, sweet ombracharis, and minute-lobe machilus among others have been extinct for decades or even centuries. It is believed that the Saiga extirpated in Xinjiang just a half century ago.

In China, the well-known species threatened near extinction include: Crested ibis, South China tiger and Siberian tiger, cloud leopard, giant panda, langur, gibbon, dugong, swamp deer, Yangtze river dolphin, beakless orchid, two-stamen orchid, Hainan cycas, Mann plumyew, ginger ginseng, Asiatic ginseng, and desertliving cistanche. Among these species, the crested ibis was still abundant in a rather wide range in the 1950's but only a small population was found in the late 1970's.
There are difficulties in estimating the endangered species of those large groups such as insects, snails and other invertebrates, and fungi and mosses. Many species in these groups have yet to be classified. There might be many more endangered species in lower plants, but at present even an estimate numbers are unavailable.

Benefit of Biodiversity to People

China's natural living resources are ranked as third in the world and first in the Northern Hemisphere. These resources provide an enormous range of products, but also immensely valuable ecological services that are essential for the healthy development of the Chinese economy, agricultural systems, hydrology, and atmospheric stability. In total these services are valued much higher than the direct products provided through biodiversity, and planning mistakes where natural ecosystems are destroyed to make way for inferior production systems is due to a widespread lack of appreciation of the value of ecological services. A conservative estimate of the value of products and services is approximated to be between 257 and 421 $US billion per year. The figures and notes as to how the various component figures were arrived at were provided in the Third BWG/CCICED Annual Report in 1995.

Table 4 An Estimated Economic Values of Biodiversity (BWG/CCICED, 1995)

Ecosystems Services

The indirect values of ecosystems are mainly incarnated through its ecological functions, however, it has often been neglected by people including even those policy makers. Some of the most important functions of ecosystems are: 1) supplying rich species and genetic resource for the biologic evolution and system succession; 2) forming the structures and functions for the maintenance of ecosystem; 3) ecosystem services, e.g. the production of organic substances, maintenance of the balance between CO2 and O2 in the atmosphere, cycle and store of nutrimental substances, water and soil conservation, water preservation, and purification of the environmental pollution. (BWG/CCICED,1996)

Wildlife Products

One of the direct benefits of biodiversity is that it provides wildlife resources. In Chinese society wildlife is traditionally used as food, medicine, or for processing raw material, and thus is closely related with livelihood. Along with social and economic development, the extent of wildlife use has been expanded dramatically in recent decades.
According to a preliminary survey in the Guangdong province, which is one of the largest wild-animal utilization provinces in southern China, among the 91 kinds of wild-animal presently involved in trade, 38 are used as food; 32 as wild-animal medicinal material and medicated wine; 30 (not include snakes) as raw material; and 9 as pets (BWG/CCICED, 1997).
A recent large-scaled national survey on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) indicates that there are 12,772 kinds of TCM resources, among them are over 11,118 medicinal plants and 1,547 medicinal animals. Except for a few TCM sources from domestic animals and plans, most TCMs come from wild source thus traditional Chinese medical practices depend on the existence of a vibrant natural world. (Zhang et al., 2000).
Some data indicates that the amount of utilized wildlife in China is continuously increasing. Although the numbers of some species have declined due to the long-termed overuse, the total amount of utilization has never decreased. During 1981 to 1993, the number of factories producing TCM doubled, while the total production value shot up 11 times. Foreign trade in TCM has also increased from 400 million US dollars in 1994 to about 600 million today.

Eco-tourism/Recreation

Biodiversity also supports tourism and other recreational resource uses that have an important development value. Environmental components such as biodiversity, ecosystems, landscapes, and natural processes contained in ecosystems make up of the basis of people's recreation and appreciation. Further more, eco-tourism also has the important function of education.
By the end of 1999, China had established 1118 nature reserves, totaling 86,410,000 ha or 8.62% of the national territory. Up to 1994, China has already established 512 scenic sites, totaling 9,600,000 ha or 1% of the national territory, and the Taishan Mountain, Huangshan Mountain, Wulingyuan, Jiuzaigou, Huanglong Temple, Dujiangyan are all on the 'List of World Heritages'. Along with rising forest tourism, construction of forest parks is growing very quickly. By the end of 1995, 755 forest parks were established with a total area of 6,900,000 ha.
Since the late 1980s', many nature reserves have successively developed ecological tourism, and such exploitation was increasingly prevalent in the 1990s'. So far, over 75% of nature reserves have launched touring activities in their experimental or buffer sections to different extents. Some of them already have preliminary traffic and tourism facilities with accommodation and business services, and even can provide higher quality service for recreation, communication, shopping and accommodation. In 1994, the total tourism income of all Chinese nature reserves was 30-50 million yuan. In 1995, Chinese forest parks totally received 60,910,000 Chinese and foreign tourists, and the direct income was 520,780,000 yuan. Some regions have designedly exploited international hunting activity from the 1980s'. 14 external hunting fields built in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei, Hunan and Qinghai provinces, have already received many overseas hunters (SEPA, 1998). In 1999, the total tourism revenue of China was 400.214 billion yuan; and foreign exchange profit accounted for 7.2% of the export revenue in that year. International Travel Organizations predicted that China will be the largest travel destination country and the fourth largest tourist country with the international tourist number of 137 million (LU Dadao et al., 2001).

Other Biodiversity Services

The benefit of biodiversity to human beings is extensive. Besides the above-mentioned values of biodiversity, other services include the existence of wild kindred species in improving the gene quality of crops, preservation of harmonious environments, maintenance of minorities' living and cultures, and assurance of a stable life sustaining system.
China is especially affluent in biodiversity and wild kindred species of crops, and is also an important genetic center for world crops. Making use of the abundant wild kindred species resources, China bred more than 5000 new varieties of 41 crops from 1949 to 1992, which contributed significantly to the achievement of high yield, grade and production in Chinese agriculture (Hou and Gao,1999).

Human Impact on Biodiversity

Habitat Destruction
Habitat destruction has been a significant issue for the past 40 years mainly due to logging, dams, forest fires, and land reclamation. Habitat destruction should be regarded as having the biggest impact on biodiversity, while wildlife trade is now starting to have the largest impact (see Box 1 in Section 3.2) .

Logging

The pace of logging has consistently outpaced replanting for the past half decade until 1999. Due to over felling and the logging renewal, open forest, trace land and wasteland extend in many regions. Statistics from1978 indicate that 1/3 of forests after logging degraded to waste and bare hills. During 1977-1981, the area of open forests increased by 10% reaching 17.2 million ha or 14-15% of the total forest area in China. For instance, timber harvest levels in Sichuan province rose from 100,000 to 500,000 m3/annum in the 1950s to 3,000,000 m3/annum in the 1960s. In recent years China's forest cover rate has increased, but this is mainly due to increases in artificial forest. Natural forest cover continues to decline. The sharp reduction of natural forests directly threatens the survival of plants from lichen and moss to higher order species. (Chen L. X., et al. 1992; MacKinnon, J et al. 1996)

Land Reclamation

It is estimated that 1/3 of China's existent farmlands were developed by reclaiming virgin forests. The problem is particularly serious in the tropical areas of China. The expropriated forestry land of the whole country was 27526ha from 1985-1989, 7989ha in 1990 and 440,000 ha in 1993. Under the long effects of human activities, wetland has been constantly enclosed for cultivation, polluted and filled up. Agricultural inning and city development makes up of the main causes of China's disappearing wetlands. According to preliminary statistics, over the past 40 years over 100 million ha of beach-land in the coastal regions of China has been enclosed, or 50% of the total area of coastal wetlands. It is also estimated that from 1950 to 1980 the number of China's natural lakes diminished from 2800 to 2350, with a 7-11% reduction of the total lake area. Owing to severe pollution and over-nourishment, lakes around some cities have already or nearly lost the ecosystem function. Being ceaselessly reclaimed, polluted and filled up, wetland area is increasingly in decline while species dependant on wetlands decrease.

Fire

According to the 1987, 1988, 1990, 1996 and 1999's Chinese Yearbook of Forestry, during the 37 years from 1950 to 1987, forest fires happened 15838 times annually with a frequency of 13.9 time per 100,000 ha; the average stricken forest area was 940,000 ha per year and the average forest fire stricken ratio was 8.5%; the average death and injury caused by forest fires were 110 and 690 person per year respectively. From 1988 to 1999, forest fires happened 7495 times annually and struck 54,000 ha of forest; the average death and injury caused by forest fires were 40 and 178 person per year respectively. Over 25 years China lost 8.6 million ha to fire. One fire on Mt. Daxinganling in 1987 destroyed 1 million ha of northern conifer forest. In many areas fire was the result of logging which creates fire-prone grassland.

Hydropower Projects

Dams are seen as a way to harness clean energy from China's major rivers as well as to reduce flooding and improve navigation but they carry the following heavy negative impacts to the environment. For example, flooding of valuable wildlife habitat, often rare and limited moist riverine areas, cutting of animal migration corridors, cutting of the migration routes of fish and other aquatic animals in the rivers, increase in rates of upstream sedimentation, increasing the incidence of flooding, reduction in the downstream water table, potentially damaging wetlands and riverine habitat and encouraging coastal salinisation, and displacement of people that involves indirect damage to other areas needed for relocation.

Other Factors

Presently, firewood forest is still the main living energy source for villages in many mountainous areas of China. Firewood accounts for between 68-74% of the energy structure. Living energy sources for villages in droughty regions are especially scarce. According to statistics, Western China is short of 659 tons standard coals and 3-6 month's firewood annually for living. Insufficient energy sources cause village residents to increase the strength, frequentness and range of gathering firewood.
Large-scale exploration and exploitation of mine resources, construction of towns and roads, water and oceanic projects, recreational tourism as well as the unreasonable distribution of water in droughty areas all result in the destruction of wildlife's habitat (SEPA, 1998). The age long excessive foraging, intense mowing and unchecked digging of wild traditional medicinal material or fuel woods has also resulted in rapid degradation of China's temperate plains and intensified Desertification and soil erosion on farmlands. For example, 50% of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region consists of degraded pastures and 20% is seriously degraded.
It should also be mentioned that in many areas, caves have been destroyed for various uses regardless of its specific fauna resulting in some bat and fish species being totally eradicated. In addition, the coral reef in the South China Sea has been harvested excessively, resulting in the disappearance of the coral reef fish and other species.

Over-exploitation and Wildlife Trade

In China, the extent of over-exploitation is particularly severe. Animal or plant resources suffer from excessive logging, digging or hunting if there is any economic value associated with the resource.
The over-exploitation of plant resources is mainly evident in the demand for timber, energy, medicinal material, and forage grass. Ceaseless over-collection and random digging endanger wild traditional

medicinal materials happened throughout China's plains. For example, Ephedra, Liquorice, Milkvetch, Divaricate Saposhnikovia, Thorowax, Thinleaf Milkwort, Cistanche and Songaria Cynomorium are on the brink of extinction. In the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the former large quantities of Elegant Falsetamarisk have nearly been felled out, while sandliving Sophora and common Ceratoides are heavily dug for firewood.
The over-exploitation of animal resource is largely due to food and medical uses. The Mongolian Gazelle, which was once widely distributed in the Inner Mongolia steppe, has diminished significantly due to over hunting and killing. Some Accipiters (hawks) which are common in the plains such as Sparrow-Hawk and Red Kite also have become very rare. Wild Horse, Saiga Antelope, Caspian Tiger, Desert Bear, Wild Camel and Mongolian Wild Ass also vanished in environments characterised by increasing scarcity of animal resources. On the north edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, wild yak, Tibetan wild ass and Tibetan antelope, Tibetan gazelle, etc. have been poached in large numbers in recent years.
In the sea, degradation in water quality and excessive exploitation (especially over-fishing of parent and immature fishes) has led to serious declines in fishery production. Destructive fishing methods using explosives and poisons add to the total loss of habitat and biodiversity. Extensive coral mining has eliminated over 70% of the corals once widespread around Hainan Island together with an uncountable number of reef dwelling organisms.

Invasive Species

Although China has benefited economically by the introduction of new species from outside the country, many introduced species are extremely damaging to human health, environment, and the economy. China is a vast country rich in biodiversity, which makes it especially vulnerable to invasive species. Since many invasive species have long lag times from initial establishment until the appearance of a full-blown invasion, the full effects of the invaders arriving in China may not be felt until well into the 21st century. For many years, the departments of agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry, as well as customs authorities in China, have paid great attention to the potential harm from a small number of alien species, leading to the quarantine of alien diseases and pests. However, the potential threats to China's natural heritage are not yet widely recognized.

Pollution

Along with the development of industry and agriculture, exploitation of mine resource and construction of towns and roads, environmental pollution becomes and ever increasing problem that greatly threatens biodiversity.
Freshwater and wetlands in China are seriously polluted by industrial and domestic wastewater, causing major decline of aquatic fauna and flora. A survey by the fishery department on 532 inland water areas concluded that 82.3% of rivers and lakes in China have been polluted. The pollution is particularly serious in some important river sections, and it is worse in the north than in the pluuiose south. Chemical fertilizer, pesticides, heavy metals and other dangerous components in the water sometimes poison aquatics or affect their growth. The decomposition of vast amounts of organic matter consumes oxygen and releases poisonous gases, which does significant damage to the environment. The over-nourishment of water area also causes the simplification of plankton species, and float grasses, bottom animals and fishes reduce sharply. In the past 20-30 years, due to the sewage and development of aquaculture, species of zooplanktons and bottom animals in the East Lake of Wuhan city diminished from 203 and 113 to 171 and 26 respectively, while diversity of the fishes also diminished by about 60. The Songhuajiang River was formerly a famous fish producing area. Because of severe hydrargyrum pollution, grass carp, silver carp, bighead carp, crucian carp and catfish in the river are endangered; herring, gurnard, pike, black carp and triangular bream are now extinct.
Pollution is not only a problem for inland waterways but is carried out to sea as well. The decline of China's oceanic fishery resource began in middle 1960s'. During the 1970s', along with the large-scale exploitation of petroleum as well as the increase of industry and life wastewater drained into the sea, the pollution of coastal fishery waters became increasingly serious. Today, the total seawater fishing area has been reduced by one-third. Pollution has also caused the over-nourishment of seawater. Frequent oceanic harmful algae blooms (HABs) result in the death of large numbers of fish, shrimp, and shellfish especially some bottom fauna, and seriously imperils biodiversity. There have been more than 200 occurrences of HABs during the past ten years. During the three years from 1997 to 1999, 45 occurrences of large-scale HABs were recorded. They resulted in a loss of commercial sea resources estimated at China Yuan Renminbi (CNY) 2 billion. Sectors with severe pollution concentrations, e.g. tidal zones of some limber passages, sometimes experience species extinction. Prawns, River Crab, Yellow Croaker and Whitebait have almost disappeared from the Bohai Sea.
Sulfur dioxide emission from coal-fired thermal power stations is causing acid rain problems in several regions of southwest China. In the south, pH values of acid rain range from 6 to as low as 3.4. There is already evidence that the acid rain in Southwest China is damaging soils and forests in the immediate vicinity of the concentration centers. In 1994, China's annual emission of sulfur dioxide was 18.25 million tons. A primary survey conducted in Sichuan, Guizhou, Guangdong and Guangxi provinces found that there are over 15000 ha of sphacelate forests and 400 ha of destroyed forest, which cause the acidification of soil and water and effect the survival of terrestrial and aquatic creatures.
In cities, construction dust, wind-blown dusts, automobile exhaust and discharge of chemical gases add to the growing smog and air pollution problem.
China applies about 1.5 million metric tones of pesticides (mostly insecticides with some herbicides and fungicides) a year. Such chemicals spread into natural ecosystems, especially aquatic systems, causing major losses to insect, amphibian and fish fauna and indirectly birds. In grasslands, pesticides have directly killed key species like pika, which led to dramatic degradation of local grasslands.

Others

Population Growth China's population has doubled since 1949 and now stands at over 1.2 billion. This high population density increases pressure on all resource bases, especially further exploitation of land use causing habitat loss for wildlife.

Desertification Since 1949, there are 2,353,000 ha grassland turned to desert with expanding at a rate of 52,000 ha per year (NSTC, 1998). Such desertified lands already affect 35 million people.

Soil Erosion Depletion of forests and cultivation of steep slopes has aggravated soil erosion to severe levels. More than 5 billion tons of soil is lost annually, with a nutrient value equal to 40 million tons of chemical fertilizer, double the quantity farmers actually use. Erosion is a serious problem in 1.6 million km2 or 30% of the whole country.

Single Species Plantation The extensive planting of single species such as rubber tree, Eucalyptus, Yunnan pine, caused tragic and irreversible losses of biodiversity. These monoculture areas are normally planted in very large scales. Very little other plant species could live or allow to live in them, which leading animals, including many birds for controlling insect pests and many invertebrates which is critical to improve soil quality, could not be able to survive because of short of food and habitat. Although temporary benefits can be high and growth fast, continuous cultivation on the same land made soil fertility to become lower and water tables have been damaged. This reduction in soil fertility is causing entire forest plantations to become jeopardized and expensive. At the same time, pure planted stands have faced serious diseases, fire and problems due to insect pests.

Management Problems There are clear signs of China's growing awareness of its environmental problems and an ever-increasing commitment of land, personnel and funds to various forms of environmental protection. However, there is still a long march ahead in order to ensure that decision-makers take into account the long-term sustainable productivity of the systems they utilize. A number of problems exists such as lack of awareness, low investment, inefficient organization and lack of trained staff.

Natural disasters Natural disasters are also threats to biodiversity, such as earthquakes and 兰landslides and eruptions, floods, forest fires, snowstorms, droughts, animal and plant diseases, and insect pests.

Conservation of Biological Resources

Harmonizing Relationship between People and Biodiversity

Chinese people have begun to harmonize their relationship with biodiversity, as the notions that nature exists to serve human beings and that its order is determined by man's will are withering away. They are also beginning to realize that breaching, destroying, or randomly rearranging nature's orders will undoubtedly incur rigorous retaliation. Biodiversity is one of these fundamental orders, and is also one of the preconditions of human subsistence. Despite the demands for food, clothing, energy sources and recreations, people should not threaten biodiversity for the sake of material satisfaction. In fact, Chinese people have already begun to believe that the relationship between social development and biodiversity conservation need not be in conflict.
Since mid-1950s', the Chinese government has enact laws, systems, statutes, and regulations related to biodiversity. The government has also established nature reserves of various types, promulgated the List of key protected rare and endangered animals and plants, instituted the China's National Conservation Strategy (1987), and compiled the red books of endangered species. Started in the 7th Five-year Plan of the National Economic and Social Development publicized in 1987, the conservation and improvement of environment has been regarded as a key issue, together with the birth control.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, biodiversity conservation was formally placed on the agenda. In regards to soil resources, over-exploitation of resource, and serious pollution of cities' air and water, the Chinese government has taken a series of measures and approaches. These include restoring farmland to forest or grass, advocating high-efficiency and biochemical agriculture, forbidding illegal hunting and logging, controlling or prohibiting the discharge of pollutants into the atmosphere and certain water areas including Taihu Lake, Huaihe River, Huanghe River, and Yangtze River, planting trees and grasses on a large scale, building shelter belts as well as establishing the follow system of fishery.
Since the 1990s', natural disasters and catastrophic meteorology such as droughts, floods, tornados, HABs, sand storms and acid rain have all intensified to some extent throughout China. In the summer of 1998, super floods occurred in the Yangtze, Nenjiang and Songhuajiang rivers. The duration, water level and damages all exceed the highest records in known history. Afterwards, the government evidently strengthened measures for protecting the environment, and at last began to halt the logging of natural forests in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze and Huanghe rivers; energetically implemented the forestation project; extended and restored grassland vegetation; harnessed small drainage areas; strengthened the work of restoring farmland to forest and converting steep farm to terracing; and planted firewood forest. Beijing municipality, which is striving to host the 2008 Olympic Games and has committed itself to the construction of a "green" Beijing, was struck by unusual super sand storms in the spring of 2000. Even Shanghai in the south of the Yangtze River was affected.
However, because of the rather late start of China's biodiversity conservation, people's low ecological awareness, serious shortfalls in funding and scientific talents, and the unclear relationship between protection and development in the operational system, current advancements in China towards conservation do not meet the need of biodiversity protection and sustainable development. The conflicts between economic development and biodiversity conservation continue and are becoming more intense.

Endangered Species and Conservation

Endangered species conservation and research work started in the 1950's. Research on the Chinese Alligator was among the earliest projects. The program resulted in the establishment of reserves and breeding centres. However, the conservation of its wild population as well as its habitat needs to be further strengthened.
Surveys and research work on the flagship species, the Giant Panda, was initiated in the late 1960's and has been expanded and intensified over the past twenty years domestically and internationally. These programs lead to the establishment of a number of reserves as well as breeding centers. Currently, research initiatives on ecology, behavior, reproductive biology and population genetics are still in progress. Conservation projects on other critically endangered species such as the Chinese River Dolphin, Guizhou Snub-nosed Monkey, Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey and Crested Ibis have also been conducted and some of them were jointly sponsored with international NGOs.
Wild plants and animals are increasingly threatened by population explosion and economic development. As a result, many animals and plants, especially the rare and endemic species, as well as those of great economic value, become endangered and threatened. Since the 1950's, regulations for protection of plants and animals have been enacted but they are not sufficient to stop the decline of threatened species. The Environmental Law, Forest Law, The Wildlife Protection Law and other related legislation have been issued for preserving species and their habitats, but need to be revised and their implementation and enforcement need to be strengthened.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Red Data Books for plants and animals have been published. The First volume of the Plant Red Data Book contains 388 species of endangered and rare plants while the threatened animals volumes contains 533 species (Fu, 1992; Wang, 1998). Meanwhile, a database and information system on species including those endangered ones has been primarily developed and now in the process of further revising and improving.

In-situ Conservation -- Protected areas

China's first nature reserve was established in Guangdong Province in 1956 during a phase of intense scientific investigation of China's natural resources. Until 1978, there were 34 reserves with an area of 1.3 million ha. The formulation and releasing of 'The Environment Protection Law' and 'The Forest Law' in 1979 paved the way for a vastly more comprehensive system of protected areas. Since that time the pace of expansion has been very fast with, in the early 1990's, nearly 100 new reserves being established each year. By the end of 1999, China had established 1118 reserves, totaling 86,410,000 ha or 8.62% of the national territory. A number of the government sectors are responsible for establishment and management of these protected areas. Most sites are managed by the Ministry of Forestry at national, provincial and local levels. A smaller, though increasing, number of sites are managed by the National Environmental Protection Agency. The remaining sites are managed by the Ministries of Agriculture, Geology and Mineral Resources and Water Conservancy, the State Oceanic Administration, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, or/and local governments.
Most reserves are still at a primary stage of development, characterized by a lack of systematic scientific management although training courses for different purposes had been conducted. In most reserves, bio-inventory has not yet been developed. In spite of the problems that exist, the reserve network will play an important role in biodiversity conservation in the future.

Ex-situ Conservation

- Botanical Gardens

About 120 botanic gardens (arboreta) have been set up in China, and since 1989 they have shouldered the heavy tasks of ex situ conservation and research on rare and endangered plants of China. By 1993, about 18,000 species of Chinese flora had been cultivated in these botanic gardens, accounting for 65% of the total species of China. Three hundred and thirty two species of rare and endangered plants, accounting for 85% of the total species (389) listed in the first batch of protected plants, have been preserved in 48 botanic gardens. Among the 640 species of plants of the unpublished second batch, 154 species have been cultivated in 25 botanic gardens, accounting for 25% of the total. Moreover, a great number of living collections, arboreta and gardens for economic plants, flowering plants, and special families and genera have been established in these botanic gardens. These institutions have made a great contribution to the ex situ conservation of plant diversity in China. Many botanical gardens also conduct surveys and experiments of certain introduced rare and endangered species regarding their ecology, reproduction, cultivation and biological characters. Those gardens under the CAS were established aiming mainly at research and conservation of particular groups, such as Magnoliaceae, Cycadaceae and Zingiberaceae in South China Botanical Garden, Theaceae and Ericaceae in Kunming Botanical Garden, Dipterocartaceae and Myristicaceae in Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, and Rosaceae in Beijing Botanical Garden. While some others are engaged in sustainable resource utilization including research and experiments on the introduction, domestication and production of wild economic plants, such as Rhododendron, camelia, orchid, Chinese ginseng, Chinese yam, elevated gastrodia, and yangtao. In addition, the establishment and improvement of nation-wide network of plant ex situ conservation are now in progress.

- Zoos and Other Breeding Bases

Zoos in China are administered by Urban Construction Department of the Ministry of Construction. The history of current zoos in China dates back to the beginning of this century, when large animal collections were established in parks in various cities. Since 1949, zoos have further developed and their numbers have increased. Today, there are more than 170 zoos (including 20 large, modern zoos) and parks exhibiting variety of animals. They engage in wildlife ex situ conservation by maintaining some 600 species with more than 100,000 individuals including rare and endangered ones. More attention has been given to research on breeding and reproduction of rare and endangered animals, and studbooks for some species are now being established. Reproduction and artificial insemination of the Giant Panda succeeded in the 1950's and 1970's respectively. Captive breeding of some species has also proved promising, such as Siberian Tiger, Chinese Tiger, Lesser Panda, Clouded Leopard, Cranes, Eared-Pheasants, and Chinese Alligator. Zoos also make contributions to conservation education although it needs to be further improved.

- Germplasm and Gene Banks

To preserve genetic material by incorporating the latest achievements in cell and molecular biology is another important supplementary measure in conservation of species and genetic diversity. This is especially necessary for some highly endangered species or important domesticated and cultivated species.

A national germplasm bank has been established to preserve crops and economic forest species in China. The preservation of germplasm and microbes under low temperature has also taken place over the past decades. In animals, 118 kinds of cells belonging to 92 species of higher or lower animals are being preserved. For instance, attempts have been made in conserving the South China Tiger, the most endangered tiger subspecies, by preserving sperms and embryos.

Baseline Data Investigation

Since the1950's, large-scaled surveys of Chinese flora and fauna were sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). The surveys covered nearly the entire country including islands and surrounding seas. About 20 million specimens of animals and plants were collected and deposited in the institutions of the CAS and others involved institutions. Presently, computer inventories of systematic collections are under processing. Many of the results were published, such as volumes of fauna and flora and taxonomic papers. A large amount of work was also carried out on the geography of Chinese vegetation and animals.

Education

Increasing attention, particularly since the 1980s, has been paid to public education on the conservation of wildlife and nature throughout China. "Bird Loving" week has lasted for about 20 years with its objective to raise the public to love birds and all kinds of wildlife. Although considerable effort has been invested in biodiversity conservation education, there is still a large gap between the current state of conservation education and what is needed. In particular, education-training materials for biodiversity conservation are inadequate. In addition, special attention should be paid in training of field biologists in the universities, as it is far from sufficient in terms of expertise in the field of bio-inventory, ecology and systematics.

Others

The large-scale survey and collection of crop idioplasms since the late 1970s' has result in the collection of 350,000 cultivated, wild and wild kindred species as well as seeds or nutriments from medicinal and special plants through approximately 30 large or medium reviews over 20 years. Meanwhile, a set of good genetic resources which have strong disease resistance, fine grade and high yield were acquired; 2 national crop idioplasm bases, 1 copy base and 33 national crop idioplasm gardens (wild rice, wild peanut, tea, ramee, etc) were established. Up to now, 8933 copies of wild rice, 1869 of wild wheat kindred, 2650 of wild and semi-wild barley, 6200 of wild soybean, 103 of wild peanut, 1210 of 15 sweet potato kindred, 460 of 41 wild cotton species and 250 of 18 redfiber and jute species have been conserved. (Hou et al., 1999)
In order to utilize the wildlife resources in a more sustainable way, China actively develops artificial domestication, reproduction, cultivation, and planting of wildlife and further launch rich and colorful activities such as wildlife tourism, exhibition and performance. At present, over 400 kinds of traditional medicines in common use have been successfully cultivated, and the yields of more than 200 among them can reach over 60% of the annual national demand. (Zhang, et al., 2000). The breeding farms for Sika, Red deer and other deer species have been succeeded for years and the products from the farms have met the demand ideally. Meanwhile, the breeding farms for lab-used monkeys, musk deer and bears have also been initiated. The latter has caused a number of concerns including declining of wild population caused by large scaled capturing for those farms. Furthermore, the treatment of bears in cages and extraction of their bile have been caused serious concern especially from the international communities. After a number of measures implemented in 1990s, the situation of bear farming has apparently been improved in most cases and, as the result of farming, the yield from those farms have already meet the TCM need and demands in China. Thus, the wild population of bear species is now facing very little pressure of hunting. Nevertheless, the issue needs further monitoring and improvement on the basis of integrating conservation and sustainable development.

Indigenous Peoples and Communities

Nationality Diversity in China
China is one of the mega-biodiversity countries with a very long history of co-evolution of people and natural ecosystems as well as of land use practices. It has been occupied by human beings of hundreds of thousands of years and well-known palaeontologically with its Peking Man from Chou-Kou-Tian, vicinity of Beijing. As far as the human cultures concerned, it goes back to over 5000 years ago and recognized worldwide as a mega-genetic diversity country in terms of cultivated plants and domesticated animals.
The total population of China, as reported recently, has been over 1.3 billion, occupying approximately one fifth of that of the world. The peoples of China are varied and there are 56 nationalities. In the report, only some with more traditions in those bio rich areas are mentioned as examples.

The Hans

Making up the majority of the population of China, the Han Chinese dominates the eastern and lower-lying provinces. Their mainstay crop is rice paddy, which is augmented by dry-land farming on hill soils. Almost all-natural forests have been cleared except for some small scenic or sacred areas where the forest remains mainly as secondary vegetation. Wild game is a resource for protein especially in the remote areas. In the south, many of the wildlife species are consumed regardless the high cost. In addition, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used for thousands of years and is based on wild plants and animals. Cultivation of rare medicinal plants has been actively developed in many parts of China rather than relying on the dwindling supply from the wild. Captive breeding of wild animals in China has been quite successful at least in some species. For example, deer species are farmed for their young antlers, while musk deer are farmed for their musk extract. In the past ten years, a new initiative is to rear the bear species for taking gall extract for TCM usage, but it remains to be further invested and monitored based on conservation and sustainable development properly.

Mongolians

Along the northern steppes and deserts in China, the Mongolians are the dominant people in the vast area of Inner Mongolia. They are nomadic, moving their herds from one place to another usually over hundreds of kilometers within a year. They herd cattle, horses, sheep, and camels. In the northwest part of China, known as the natural habitat of the Bacterian Camel, domestic camels have been known to escape and mix with the wild population. Overstocking of domestic animals around water sources has led to serious overgrazing and has impacted soils, resulting in deteriorated pasture. Species density and mean grass height have decreased, while the proportion of poisonous and inedible plants has increased. Mass poisoning of rodents to increase the stocking ratio of sheep has resulted in the rapid decline of wildlife even with the grass composition changing. Meanwhile, the major development croplands in the southern part of the region have changed grasslands as well.

Uigurs, Kazakhs and others in Xinjiang

The minorities in the extreme northwest of China are known as Uigurs, Kazakhs, and others. Apart from those settled in towns and villages, many of them live in the vast area of the Xinjiang province, retaining their nomadic pastoral lifestyle. They embraced Islam, rear goats and sheep on the hills and farm the poor mountain soils of this very arid region. In the desert areas, they have domesticated camels and in most areas use ponies and donkeys as the main draught animals.

Tibetans

Tibetans live in the harsh conditions of the high plateau - Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. In the east the plateau fans out in a series of mountain chains that curve down into the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. Here, the Tibetan tribes have adapted to upland farming and are spatially stabilized but in the west of the plateau, the people have no arable land and live in nomadic groups. But east or west, one thing remains central to the lifestyle of all Tibetan groups - the yak. Wild yaks still live in remote areas of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The domestic yak is widespread and is the dominant domestic animal from the west of the plateau, northern Nepal, Bhutan and east into Qinghai, Gansu and west Sichuan. Tibetans use yak wool to make their mobile houses, yak milk to make yoghurt, cheese and butter, yak meat for food and dried yak dung as fuel. Yaks are the main draught animals carrying supplies from one campsite to another. Other livestock includes a few horses and some sheep and goats.
Tibetans are keen hunters, tracking down the Blue Sheep, Gazelles and other game with dogs and primitive muskets. Recently, with the development of transportation and the local economy, the plateau is being more seriously opened up and its wildlife is being threatened as never before. For instance, the Tibetan Antelopes are threatened due to pouching for their valuable underwool, which is smuggled abroad while their horns are traded illegally for medicinal use. It should also be noted that Traditional Tibetan Medicine has wide spread use and results in the same sorts of threats to biodiversity associated with the traditional Chinese medicine of the Han people.

Zhuang, Miao, Yi, Dai and other minorities

Many of the minorities are found in the large mountainous area in the south and southwest, and, some of them such as the Zhuang people from Guangxi have been living sympatrically with the Hans for thousands of years. However, some minorities in more remote areas are still living a largely distinct lifestyle apart from mainstream Chinese society. For instance, in Yunnan province there are more than 30 different tribes. Many of them are quite small, numbering sometimes no more than a few thousand people. It is these minority tribes that live right on the interface between forest and civilization and it is exactly here that people should seek land-use stability.
The Yi is one of Yunnan's largest minorities, and they live from south Sichuan through north and central Yunnan. Their villages are set on sheltered slopes where their cereal fields form an irregular patchwork of rounded shapes wherever the gradients and soil allow. The Yi are unusual in being a matriarchal society, with land being passed down the female line of inheritance. They still maintain their traditional colorful costume with broad dark blue cloaks, a rich collection of dances and festivals, and their own distinct language.
Further south in Yunnan, the dominant minority is the Dai, who have practiced Buddhism for several centuries in the autonomous prefecture of Xishuangbanna. The Dai of Xishuangbanna live in tidy villages, each with its own monastery. Each village has a longshan, a 'holy hill', or at least shares a larger one with a neighboring village.
The Aini, Bulang, Yao, Kucong, Kongka, Jinuo and many other groups populate the hills and slowly transform the landscape. All of them are have distinct cultures, practice shifting cultivation, and know little of irrigation or the use of green fertilizer. Their traditional refuge was the forest and many of the people are big game hunters.

As minorities mostly live in remote areas with extremely abundant bio-resources but relatively tough living circumstance, their cultures are often characterized with nature worship and faith, and they also pay more attention to the protection of biodiversity. Minority lifestyles in China heighten awareness of the interdependent and harmonious relation between human beings and nature.
Conservation of certain ecosystems due to traditional belief
Most Chinese minorities have the conception of so-called 'fengshuilin' (geomantic omen forest). Dai, Miao, Buyi nationalities and some other nationalities esteem some mountain forests as 'shenshan' (divine hill), longshan (dragon hill) and shengshan (sacred hill) where gods reside. Wildlife in these forests is also regarded as the companions of gods and felling, hunting, browsing and reclamation is prohibited except for the rearing of medicinal plants and other minor products. Some 'fengshuilin' traditions date back more than 1000 years.
At present there are about 400 longshan (holly hills) in Xishuangbanna, covering a total area of 3000-50,000ha. Thus, longshana have functioned as micro nature reserves. As 'fengshuilin' is also the habitat of many birds and natural-enemy insects, these forests also assist in restraining farmland pests.
The Dong nationality living in the remote mountainous areas of the Hunan, Guangxi, and Guizhou provinces is also accustomed to planting 'fengshuilin'. These 'fengshuilin' vary in size, and the biggest of them may cover 7-8ha. They not only reflect worship of local people toward nature, but also exert many ecological functions such as water conservation, soil erosion prevention, climatic adjustment and improvement, protection of rare and endemic species, and countryside beautification.
To protect the indispensable vine resource, Hali villages have similar vine forest reserves. With a history of more than 100 years, these forests contain abundant biological species that compare favorably with those of local virgin forests.
In addition, the Yao nationality and other minorities in the Dayaoshan Mountain also have the tradition of making agreements by engraving stones. This is called the 'stele law', which includes regulations on protecting the forests.

Conservation of certain taxa or key species due to the practice of animatism

Many minorities' original religions engage in animatism. It is common to worship mountains, rivers, forests, animals or totems. For example, the Tibetans deem that trees hanging religious flags and the surrounding forests can not be destroyed; the Khalkhas worship Snow Leopards and cattle; totem worship prevails among the Gaoshan people and they highly praise trees, bamboo, calabash, stone, soil, snakes, dogs, birds, insects, eggs and the Sun among others. Many plants are related with Buddhist doctrines, and among them the most important is the 'bodhi tree'. Due to the difference of natural conditions and religious succession, the 'bodhi trees' are different in different nationalities and regions, but they mostly are local rare species such as gingko, bass (including 'Nanjing Bass' and 'Manchurian Linden'), jasmine, honeysuckle, megranate, clove, soapberry, palm, peony, and chrysanthemum. (Jiao and Zhang, 2000)

Sustainable use of bio-resources

It should also be mentioned that the Dai people have for centuries planted fuel wood plots of Siamese Senna around their villages instead of cutting more and more trees in the natural forest. Large clumps of bamboo are also planted around villages to provide shelter, wood, stems that are used to make hundreds of articles, and to harvest the edible shoots.
The Jinuo nationality living in the hilly country of Southern Yunnan divide their woodland into 13 pieces on the basis of the fallow and renewing law of soil fertility and cultivate each in turn, thus ensuring a 13-year fallow cycle. Under the predominant local tropical conditions, biodiversity has not declined from this soil usage, and to a certain extent some species that are suited to the agricultural system have increased. The Jinuo people also plant big-leaf tea trees under the natural forests, so as to make use of the umbrage to improve the tea output and quality. This gives good protection for trees in the tea plantation, especially those with economic and cultural values. Furthermore, planting villous amomum and tsao-ko amomum under the natural forests is also common with nationalities living in the tropical area of Yunnan.
A few woodlands have been partially opened in Dong nationality regions to prevent cattle herds from entering the forests. They are used as 'cowherd slopes' to reduce the forest destroyed by grazing cattle.
The Mongolia and Kazakstan nationalities living in the north droughty and semiarid regions as well as nomadic Tibetan tribes all have the custom of 'Daochang' browsing (browsing in shifts), which helps to lighten the burden on meadows resulting in the sustainable use of pastures. In recent years pointing grazing has often been carried out, and a new method of closing 'glass Kulun' (meadow) has been developed by the pasturing people. By this means meadows can renew more quickly, and the carrying capacity is increasing.

Negative factors

Nevertheless, minority cultures have some negative impacts on biodiversity, such as hunting which is popular with minorities living in mountains. For example, the Green Peacock, a first grade national protected animal, was once widely distributed in the Zixishan Mountains of Yunnan province. Owing to heavy loss of forest area and the Yi people's over hunting, its wild population has been reducing dramatically while other animals' survival is also threatened. (Long et al., 1999).
Along with economic development and more openness to the outside world, biodiversity losses become quite serious in minority areas. For example, the primary dominant vegetation in Xishuangbanna - dry rain forests - has already been largely destroyed. The 'fengshuilin' of the Dong nationality have also been destroyed to some extent. Some national traditions that support biodiversity conversation, such as the Dai nationality's protection of holy hills and the Hali nationality's forest protection, are vanishing as mainstream cultures exert their influence. Likewise traditional knowledge and experience in managing natural resources sustainably is being lost. (Long et al., 1999).

Community approach to Sustainable Development and Biodiversity Conservation

Minorities and indigenous peoples often dominate regions rich in biodiversity in China, and as further economic development occurs in these groups there will be increasing pressure on the biodiversity. Therefore, it is imperative to solve the problem of how to protect biodiversity when promoting the development of local economies and communities so as to achieve sustainable development in these communities.
As mentioned above, Chinese minorities and indigenous peoples all have special experiences, knowledge, cultures, and living and production methods aimed at sustainable management of biodiversity. These are precious historical bequests for our present biodiversity conservation, community construction and sustainable development. More effort should be made to legitimize and incorporate this valuable traditional knowledge into development plans.
In the past, biodiversity conservation conflicts were mainly resolved through administrative commands or laws and regulations, while local communities' subsistence requirements, development of community rights, and their enthusiasm for participating in the biodiversity protection were ignored. This has to be changed. Moreover, local communities and residents should be mobilized to actively join the conservation campaign in education, management and the designing of development projects for the establishment of monitoring and controlling systems. Most importantly, the benefits from biodiversity conservation must be shared with local communities by establishing effective compensation mechanisms.
Extensive education programs ought to be developed to improve local communities and residents' environmental awareness and to show that biodiversity conversation will effectively promote the development of communities and improve their living standards. As communities experience the enormous social and economic benefits of biodiversity, they will hold firm faith towards biodiversity conservation.
The establishment of a monitoring and controlling system should be especially emphasized because it is the necessary prerequisite of sustainable use of community (village) resources. Therefore, a multilevel monitoring and protection system is to be set up. (Zhang J. et al., 2000)

REFERENCE

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