In the wildlife conservation community of Jiangxi Province, China, Huang Xiaofeng has a reputation of a “living dictionary”. As the director of the Institute of Wildlife Conservation of the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Forestry, Huang has been dedicating herself to Jiangxi’s wildlife for 22 years. What’s more, she has also been applying her research results into agriculture to help local farmers overcome poverty.
“Jiangxi is a province with a huge forest coverage rate. It is rich in wildlife resources, but it falls behind the frontier research of wildlife conservation and nature reserves. I wanted to change this situation.” In 1997, Huang graduated from the Northeast Forestry University. Yearning the mountain range and the lush nature she revered since childhood, she gave up the opportunity to work for the National Department of Forestry and returned to her hometown, Jiangxi.
Working in the field of wildlife research, scientists often have to go deep into the mountains and befriend snakes, birds, and all other kinds of animals. Danger is always a part of the job. To obtain research data, Huang once traveled within the mountains for several months. To find animals, one must take the path that the animals have taken. Most of the time, she walks in the depths of the mountains where no trails can traverse.
Huang admitted that her line of work was not without challenges. However, once a new species or a rare species was discovered, the sense of accomplishment would instantly make one forget the pains. She never gave up. In 2005, Huang pioneered the province’s only scientific research institute specializing in wildlife conservation.
At the end of 2007, after learning that the Chinese merganser was spotted in Longhushan, she instantly jumped on the train, took the camera, the telescope, dry food, and the kettle and headed to the forest area. The Chinese merganser is very vigilant and difficult to observe at a close range. To record its activities in detail, Huang had to take cover on the riverbank in advance and watch the bird with a telescope for several hours at a time.
Huang also traveled all over the country to provide farmers with technical support. She participated in the development of various innovative animal and agroforestry production systems with applications of online platforms. The results of her research have been widely used in various regions, including Jiangxi, Hunan, and Hubei, helping numerous farmers in poverty gain economic growth.
All information comes from http://jiangxi.jxnews.com.cn/
Translated by Dule
Edited by Andrea Jia and Riley Peng @ Animal Dialogue