People and pandas - often conflicting needs
A long history
When logging in the panda's habitat was banned in 1998, new threats emerged, such as:
- hydropower development and
- irresponsible tourism have increased
Although there are a number of established reserves in the panda’s habitat range, in the past there had been little in the way of effective management and enforcement. As such, the ecological integrity of these areas has continued to decline as a result of illegal logging and poaching.
In the Minshan Mountains, there are over 5,000 plant species and 75% are used in Chinese traditional medicine. The mountains are also home to over 300,000 people, many of whom live in poverty, and they rely on the harvesting of traditional medicines as an important source of income. However, harvesting has disturbed the panda habitat and has led to the extinction of local plant species.
Some poaching of pandas still occurs, and even low levels of poaching can have grave consequences for such an endangered species. Poaching incurs a 10 year jail sentence and although it is rare for poachers to intentionally kill a panda, some are injured or killed in traps and snares set for other animals, such as musk deer and black bears.