Not long ago, the Mentougou District of Beijing launched the "Welcome Leopard Home" program with great fanfare.
How did the bustling big city of Beijing have anything to do with the leopard?
It turned out that Mentougou District, located at the intersection of Taihang Mountain and Yanshan Mountain, was the original habitat of the North China Leopard.
With the improvement of the ecological environment and the deepening of biodiversity protection, it is no longer a dream to return the "old resident" North China Leopard to its homeland.
Resurgent leopard population comes to "home"
As an ecological conservation area, Mentougou is one of the seven biodiversity centers in Beijing. It has natural or semi-natural ecosystem types such as forests, meadows, rivers, and wetlands. There are 1,936 species of animals and plants, and they breed rich biological species. Diversity.
On this year's International Biodiversity Day, the Mentougou District Ecological Civilization Construction Committee announced the establishment of a working group for biodiversity conservation and the implementation of the "Welcome Leopards Home" plan.
Why is the goal of biodiversity protection locked on the leopard?
The Taihang Mountains are an important distribution area for the North China leopard population, and the western part of Beijing is its original habitat, and it is also the center of the spread and recovery of the North China leopard population in the Taihang Mountains and Yanshan Mountains.
However, due to changes in the ecological environment, there has been no activity record of the North China leopard for decades.
With the strengthening of ecological protection in China, the leopard population is showing a recovery trend in North China.
In 2013, scientific research experts found traces of North China leopards several times in the Xiaowutai Mountain area of Hebei, which is less than 30 kilometers away from the Baihuashan National Nature Reserve in Beijing.
Seeing that the North China Leopard has come to the "home door" again, Mentougou is striving to become the first smart habitat monitoring and protection demonstration area to "welcome the leopard home".
Mentougou is a hub connecting Taihang Mountains and Yanshan Mountains, and it is also a key point for Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cooperation to carry out leopard population protection and restoration.
Located in Qingshui Town and Zhaitang Town, Beijing Baihuashan National Nature Reserve is known as the "North China Natural Zoological and Botanical Garden".
This forest ecosystem type nature reserve, with a total area of more than 21,700 hectares, is the largest nature reserve in Beijing and the habitat of many rare and endangered species.
Over the years, the Baihuashan Management Office has introduced advanced technologies and facilities, and has conducted all-round, 24-hour dynamic monitoring without dead ends, and rare animals and plants have been effectively protected.
The protected area has expanded from a single resource protection to popular science education, scientific research, and eco-tourism.
At present, Beijing Baihuashan National Nature Reserve Management Office has signed a cooperation framework agreement with the School of Life Sciences of Beijing Normal University and the School of Ecology and Nature Conservation of Beijing Forestry University.
Yang Hong, deputy director of Beijing Baihuashan National Nature Reserve Management Office, said, "We will carry out protection and restoration activities for the ecological environment in the region based on the research results of the existing wild leopard habitat and living habits in colleges and universities, and improve the wild leopard prey species. Population richness, build a complete food chain with wild leopards as the flagship species, and create habitat types suitable for wild leopards.”
Better habitat for wildlife
After years of protection and development, the ecological environment of Baihua Mountain is getting better and better.
As of 2021, the number of higher plants here has grown from 1,100 10 years ago to 1,292, accounting for 61.8% of the total plant species in Beijing. There are 10 national key protected wild plants such as Baihuashan grapes, cork, wild soybeans; terrestrial Wild vertebrates developed from 169 to 271 species.
In the past 10 years, 9 species of black eagle, vulture, falcon and yellow-breasted bunting have been added to the national first-class protected animals.
Not only Baihua Mountain, but the ecological environment of the entire Mentougou District is steadily improving.
Mentougou District used to be the main coal producing area in Beijing. Long-term mining and sand mining caused soil erosion, exposed mountains and vegetation degradation.
In the most serious cases, the area of regional ecological damage accounts for about one-fifth of the total area.
How to turn the industry from "black" to "green" and restore the true character of the ecological conservation area?
In 2004, Mentougou began to "repair and heal mountains".
Since then, the hero has broken his wrist, closed more than 500 coal and non-coal mines one after another, introduced more than 20 ecological restoration technologies, and restored river wetlands, quarry wasteland, gravel pits, road slopes, coal mine wasteland, and sub-alpine grasses. Dian...
From 2017 to 2018, Mentougou has been accurately investigated and determined that there are 342 ecological restoration plots in total, and 380 ecological restoration projects are planned, including 304 pure ecological restoration projects and 76 industrial ecological restoration projects.
Only the vegetation of abandoned mines has been restored to green, and nearly 13 square kilometers of land have been restored to green.
The improvement of the ecological environment has provided a better habitat for many wild animals and plants.
The relevant person in charge of the Mentougou District Water Affairs Bureau said, "With the improvement of the natural environment in the region, the water quality of the Yongding River has been greatly improved. There are many black storks, brown horse chickens, wild macaques, black swans, Dauri jackdaws, Siberian roe deer, etc. The 'rare guests' patronize and even stay there."
To do a good job in biodiversity protection, it is a prerequisite to know the bottom line.
Mentougou District is striving to build a systematic and complete all-element monitoring system, carry out biodiversity surveys and assessments in the region, and master the resources of vascular plants, terrestrial vertebrates, insects, macrofungi, aquatic organisms and other taxa species in the region.
Taking Baihua Mountain as an example, a total of 43 traditional infrared cameras and 27 wireless infrared cameras have been deployed in the reserve, which are mainly placed in water sources, creeks, animal tracks and other locations where wild animals often haunt for monitoring.
Yang Hong said, "At present, there are 7 monitoring transects, which are mainly based on comprehensive ecological and environmental factors such as forest canopy closure and wildlife infestation."
Doing a good job in biodiversity protection requires a bit of thunder.
Not long ago, the Forest Public Security Brigade of Mentougou Branch cracked an illegal hunting case. Two suspects used hunting sets to hunt wild boars and hares. Criminal enforcement measures have been taken by the public security organs in accordance with the law.
By establishing a prevention and control system covering the investigation, monitoring, early warning, and control of alien species, Mentougou has improved the joint law enforcement mechanism and formed a high-pressure situation of severe crackdowns, strict prevention and strict management.
Promoting the mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation
"In recent years, Mentougou District has fully implemented the ecological conservation function positioning given by the new version of Beijing's urban master plan, actively integrated into the construction of green Beijing, made every effort to build an ecological barrier in the western part of the capital, and built a good forest ecosystem to provide wild North China leopards. necessary space for survival and reproduction," said Yu Huafeng, head of Mentougou District.
As Mentougou District has included biodiversity conservation goals and measures as important content in the 14th Five-Year Plan and the 2035 Vision Outline, the path for Mentougou to comprehensively promote the mainstreaming of biodiversity conservation has become clearer.
According to the "Action Plan for Biodiversity Conservation in Mentougou District of Beijing (2022-2035)", Mentougou District will strictly implement the new version of the urban master plan, continue to focus on ecology, agriculture, urban space and ecological protection red lines, permanent basic farmland, and urban development Refinement of boundaries is implemented; further expand green ecological space, and build ecological corridors to promote species migration and gene exchange according to local conditions.
While promoting the construction of ecological corridors in the Yongding River Basin, formulating and implementing a three-year action plan for wetland protection and restoration, and steadily advancing the ecological restoration and management of abandoned mines, we will strictly benchmark the action plan, focusing on Baihuashan, Lingshan, Huangcaoliang and Yongding River basins , refine management and control measures, steadily improve the quality and stability of ecosystems, and ensure that key wild animal and plant species, endangered wild animals and plants and their habitats are fully protected.
Taking the opportunity of "Welcome Leopards Home", Mentougou District, focusing on Baihua Mountain, Lingshan Mountain and its surrounding areas, continues to promote key ecological construction projects, restore forest vegetation, and improve the quality and stability of the ecosystem.
Deepen the joint prevention, control and collaborative governance with Huailai County, Zhuolu County, Hebei Province and other areas around Beijing, connect fragmented habitats, realize the interconnection of ecological environment, and explore the construction of a large-scale biodiversity conservation spatial pattern.
At the same time, "Welcome Leopards Home" also plans to establish a monitoring and management system of "integration of sky, earth and air"; carry out forest restoration and corridor construction to further improve habitat quality; improve the quality of eco-tourism and enrich popular science education programs to form a green ecological economy ; Build a scientific research cooperation platform to achieve resource sharing and complementary advantages; strengthen the active monitoring and early warning of epidemic diseases, build a wild animal epidemic disease monitoring system and other five measures, build a complete food chain with the North China Leopard as the flagship species, and comprehensively improve the ecology of Mentougou District. System quality and stability, and build a beautiful home where everything is harmonious.
With adequate preparation, welcoming the leopard home is no longer a dream.
Our reporter Yang Xuecong