Related News
Rangers guard Heilongjiang鈥檚 primeval pine forest
Print Edition
Looking at a primeval pine forest from a watchtower in northeast China鈥檚 Heilongjiang Province, it appears as a sea of green shrouded in mist.
Song Guohua, a 59-year-old forest ranger, has devoted most of his life to one thing 鈥 keeping the primeval forest the way it has been since it appeared about 65 million years ago.
Located in Yichun City, the Heilongjiang Fenglin National Nature Reserve is a core area of Northeast Asia鈥檚 primeval Korean pine forest. Established in 1958, the reserve has been guarded for more than 60 years by forest rangers like Song.
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult for a new worker to differentiate between clouds, water vapor and wildfire smoke. This takes years of experience,鈥 Song said.
Fire hazards are a worry. And even a bird can cause a fire. 鈥淎 bird hit a high-voltage line and ignited trees some years ago. Fortunately, the fire was discovered and put out in time.鈥
鈥淪ometimes we need to live in the mountains for up to a month at a time, and walk more than 30 kilometers on patrol. If the patrol can鈥檛 be finished in a day, we have to sleep in a tent at night,鈥 he added.
Wildlife such as black bears pose a serious danger to forest rangers. Veteran workers taught Song to frequently shout to frighten away bears when walking along mountain roads.
But it does not always work. Song remembered running into a black bear that was not frightened away by his shouting. 鈥淚 turned and ran, and luckily the bear didn鈥檛 chase after me.鈥
In recent years, Song鈥檚 working conditions have improved greatly with equipment such as infrared cameras and other advanced instruments. In the past, he studied wildlife in the forest only by observing footprints on the ground.
The reserve was included in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 1997. It has become a key research and science popularization base for Korean pine forests.
The forest rangers鈥 efforts have paid off. The reserve now has rich biodiversity covering rodents, birds and other wildlife. Chinese mergansers, an endangered bird species under class-one state protection, were also spotted here in 2015.
China is building more nature reserves to protect the ecological environment.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
