Two Asian elephants walk in a jungle near the Asian Elephant Breeding and Rescue Center in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, southwest China's Yunnan Province, August 15, 2019. /Xinhua
Editor's note: Wu Changhua is the executive director of the Professional Association for China's Environment. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
China's famous herd of wandering elephants has returned to its natural habitat after their northward trek of some 500 kilometers in southwest China's Yunnan Province, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
Asian elephants inhabit dry to wet grasslands and forests. The largest land mammals on the Asian continent spend about 19 hours a day feeding on grass, tree bark, roots, leaves and small stems, and sometimes cultivated crops such as bananas, rice and sugarcane. The Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture in Yunnan has housed them for centuries, providing them with shelter and sustenance.
Elephants don't usually go so far away from home unless they feel threatened, need to seek food, nutrients and water or their social and reproductive needs cannot be met locally. Through such a lens, we have observed two prominent changes in variables that might shed some light on the root cause of the elephants' previous migration.
The first is the widening gap between the elephant population and its habitats. The last four decades have witnessed continued human development and encroachment on their habitats that changed the land cover and directly affected biodiversity. For example, the expansion of rubber and tea plantations has had a particular impact.
As a consequence, their habitats have declined by 75 percent, from about 2,000 square kilometers down to 500 square kilometers, and at a time when the elephant population has nearly doubled. Even though lots of efforts have been made in recent years to halt the decline, the already "islanded" habitats cannot magically return to the level suitable for the elephants.
The second is climate change. Large-scale vegetation distribution patterns are mainly controlled by the climate. Recent decades' scientific modeling results show a continued upward trend of average temperature in China, particularly in the Himalayas region and the nearby Xishuangbanna.
Warming and changing climatic conditions across the Xishuangbanna are expected to profoundly affect terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity and ecosystem services. The average temperature is expected to rise between 1.6 and 2.4 degrees Celsius by 2050, compared to the 30-year average of 1961-1990.
It becomes disheartening and also very symbolic. Humans wage wars against nature but cannot possibly win in the end. As one species of biodiversity in the ecosystems, human lives and livelihoods rely on the life-supporting ecosystems of the planet.
Aerial view of the Asian Elephant Breeding and Rescue Center in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, Yunnan Province, southwest China, August 15, 2019. /Xinhua
Ecosystems provide goods and services to meet human essential services and needs. The ecosystems are composed of a web of lives that depend on, interact with and reinforce one another. Habitats offer the space and structural system to maintain the dynamics and functions required to support human lives.
The World Environment Day is themed "Ecosystems Restoration" this year when the United Nations launched the Decade Action to restore nature and deliver the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Also, the upcoming 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Kunming is expected to forge ahead in the global endeavor to convert at least 30 percent of land into nature reserves by 2030.
The milestone commitment to restore nature, although laudable, won't be sizable enough to accommodate the real-life challenge as the migrating herds of Asian elephants have told us. At least, it won't be fast enough.
We definitely need more data and evidence to further demystify the root causes of the elephants' migration. The story shall be kept alive for the sake of awakening decision-makers from both public and private sectors for more ambitious and immediate actions of conservation.
China shall thread the case and story with a broader debate around the community of life of men and nature and a concerted human and global partnership to invest in restoring ecosystems and nature-based solutions.
On the table are some scientific questions that demand answers around a healthy population of species and corresponding habits to support and maintain their sustainability. There are also economic and financial questions that have to be addressed in order to set new targets, reform policy incentives and mobilize resources to deliver those targets against the backdrop of balancing the planetary boundary and people's health, livelihoods and well-being.
We are already living in the age of the sixth mass extinction, and the loss of suitable habitats and climate change pose an existential threat to Asian elephants. The Kunming COP15 is for sure a crucial milestone of an arduous Long March of humanity in bringing back the harmony between men and nature.
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