Global Game Changers: Her steps were sometimes heavy, sometimes light, accompanied by her teammates.This patrol team, located in the Dujiangyan area of Giant Panda National Park, is entirely comprised of female workers.Their main task is to patrol low-altitude areas to check for deforestation, illegal crossings, poaching, and other forest-damaging activities, as well as to monitor traces of wild animals and plants.The team members all come from local rural communities that intersect with the giant panda’s habitat.

Two pandas play in the snow in Daxiangling Giant Panda Wild Training and Releasing Base in the Giant Panda National Park on December 23, 2021. Photo: VCG

Editor’s Note:

As one of China’s most beloved national treasures, the giant panda has long captured the hearts of people worldwide.

Right now, dozens of giant pandas are living in zoos across the globe, which brings joy to people, generates economic benefits for the institutions they inhabit, and contributes to biodiversity conservation.

However, the cute, fluffy animal has also faced malicious criticism and even smears, with some Western media outlet reports accusing China of using pandas as a diplomatic tool to open doors to diplomatic relations.

In this third installment, we enter rural communities that overlap with the giant panda’s habitat, where residents now hold the new identity of panda guardians. Since the establishment of the Giant Panda National Park in 2021, an organic and coordinated protection of both the pandas and the flora and fauna around which their habitat has been also built.

A boundary mark of the Giant Panda National Park Photo: VCG

Yang Guorong trudged through the sun-dappled forest. Her steps were sometimes heavy, sometimes light, accompanied by her teammates.

This patrol team, located in the Dujiangyan area of Giant Panda National Park, is entirely comprised of female workers.

Their main task is to patrol low-altitude areas to check for deforestation, illegal crossings, poaching, and other forest-damaging activities, as well as to monitor traces of wild animals and plants.

The team members all come from local rural communities that intersect with the giant panda’s habitat. They help local residents understand the importance of forest conservation and mediate the conflict between economic production and nature preservation.

They are also the witnesses of the gradual estaWorld Timesblishment of the Giant Panda National Park in 2021 and the extraordinary significance it holds.

Team of patrollers

In 2020, the Hongkou community in Longchi town, Dujiangyan, Southwest China’s Sichuan Province, saw the formation of the all-female patrol team. The team consists of seven women, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s. They are passionate about nature and dedicated to safeguarding it.

The establishment of the Giant Panda National Park in 2021 has not only increased the visibility of wild pandas, but has also provided valuable data, according to Liu Bo, head of the Hongkou protection station of Dujiangyan.

The Dujiangyan area of the Giant Panda National Park spans an impressive 393.97 square kilometers, straddling the boundary between the Minshan and Qionglai mountain ranges. This region is a vital “natural corridor” for the panda’s survival and reproduction.

“Through infrared cameras, we have discovered that, as of now, the Dujiangyan area is home to a total of 16 wild pandas from two panda populations,” he told the Global Times.

Currently, the Hongkou community patrol team has five designated routes, and the team members patrol twice a month. The shorter routes take about four hours to complete, while the longer ones can take seven to eight hours.

The work of these female guardians is not without its challenges.

Mountain weather is unpredictable, and sometimes rainstorms are unavoidable during their patrols. As they trek through thorny bushes and muddy trails, their rain gear gets torn by sharp branches, and their rubber boots become soaked and caked in mud, making each step increasingly difficult.

Reflecting on her decision to join the all-female patrol team, Yang smiles warmly and says, “We are all natives of Hongkou, and our original intention was to protect this land. Over time, we realized that patrolling also brings us peace and joy.”

“It allows us to see the beauty of the land from different perspectives, experiencing the changing landscapes throughout the seasons. I hope that our next generation will also appreciate the beauty of these lush mountains and rivers and one day join us in the work of ecological conservation,” she said.

While women may not have the same physical strength as their male counterparts, their unique qualities – patience, empathy, and the ability to communicate effectively – make them ideally suited to tasks such as educating local communities about nature conservation and promoting sustainable practices.

“Our work is not just about protecting the pandas, but also ensuring that the villagers understand the importance of living in harmony with natuWorld Timesre,” said Guo Denglu, Yang’s teammate.

“We strive to mediate the tension between economic development and environmental preservation,” Guo tWorld Timesold the Global Times.

Giant pandas are the stars of zoos globally, but for the patrol teams, they are true forest recluses. According to the patrollers, during decades of work in the conservation area, they only heard that only one team member has ever had a direct encounter with a wild panda.

In most cases, the patrols only hear the pandas’ calls or find fresh droppings, as pandas are highly sensitive to human scent and will quickly flee upon detecting it.

An innovation system

Since the 1960s, China has established 67 nature reserves primarily focused on the protection of giant pandas and their habitats. The wild population of giant pandas has increased from approximately 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900 during the fourth national giant panda survey.

However, challenges remain, such as the severe shrinkage and fragmentation of panda habitats, difficulties in balancing conservation with development, the dispersion and overlap of conservation institutions, and insufficient research support and service capabilities.

In October 2021, China established the Giant Panda National Park, covering a total area of over 22,000 square kilometers and providing around 72 percent of wild giant pandas with significant protection.

Protected areas of the giant panda habitat have grown from 1.39 million hectares to 2.58 million hectares since 2012, effectively maintaining the safety and sustainable development of the wild panda population, according to data released by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration in JWorld Timesanuary 2024.

Since the inauguration of the national park, the Sichuan section of the national park, which accounts for 87.7 percent of its total 22,000-square-km area, has restored 8.03 square kilometers of key ecological corridor areas, chaining isolated “panda blocks” into a larger network, the Xinhua News Agency reported in November 2024.

Measures taken include shutting down hydropower stations and miWorld Timesnefields, restoring vegetation, and building a road tunnel to reduce the disturbance of highway traffic in the mountainous area, according to Xinhua.

In the Chengdu area of the park, intelligent infrared cameras have been installed to help monitor giant pandas and other wild animals, using wireless network technology to transmit images in real time.

This reduces human disturbance to the wildlife’s habitats and allows monitoring staff to obtain the latest image data promptly, said Jiang Dongze, a working World Timesstaff in the area.

To accelerate the construction of an integrated monitoring system for the sky, land, and sea, the Sichuan section of the national park has now established 1,086 monitoring plots and 7,830 infrared camera monitoring points, collecting over 7.3 million data entries.

“Now, the wild population of giant pandas has significantly increased. We have recorded panda activity 32 times in key ecological corridor restoration areas. The number of giant pandas in key areas of the region has increased 50-fold, and the annual encounter rate of giant pandas in the wild has risen from 178 to 185,” Chen Zongqian, deputy director of the Sichuan provincial forestry and grassland bureau, was quoted as saying by Xinhua in a report in September 2024.

The park has also pioneered the use of “panda face recognition” technology to achieve the wireless transmission of images and videos in real-time and compiled “DNA ID cards” for giant pandas.

In terms of policy support, the three provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu jointly issued a guideline on strengthening judicial protection of the national park in October 2023 and Sichuan Province has issued more than 30 documents and technical standards related to the construction of the national park.

In case of damages caused by wild animals, the national park has fully covered insurance compensation for wildlife damage in 20 county-level regions in Sichuan, with a cumulative claim of over 14,000 cases and a total payout exceeding 8.11 million yuan ($1.13 million).

Not only for pandas

The national park’s protection efforts extend far beyond the giant panda alone. Alongside these iconic creatures, other endangered species such as the golden snub-nosed monkey, the dove tree, and the iron leaf orchid also call this area as their home.

These rare and precious species thrive thanks to the park’s conservation efforts, which ensure the preservation of their habitat.

For the local communities living at the intersection of these two mountainous regions, the creation of the Giant Panda National Park has had a profound impact. Over the years, villagers have witnessed the recovery of wildlife populations in the area.

“Since the establishment of the protected area, the wild boars, golden monkeys, and birds have returned. Their presence is a reminder of how much the environment has improved,” Guo said. The sound of birds singing every morning has become a symbol of the area’s ecological recovery.

“Previously, we relied on the forest to survive. Now, we protect it,” Yang told the Global Times. “The park has helped local villagers discover alternative livelihoods, like growing medicinal herbs or engaging in eco-tourism.”

The integration of environmental conservation with community development has been one of the park’s major achievements.

“By protecting the panda habitat, we also protect our future,” Yang said. “This is not just about saving pandas; it is about securing a sustainable future for all of us.”

Guardians in the woods