With the improvement of habitat conditions and continuous protection efforts, the population of golden snub-nosed monkeys living in the Qinling Mountains in northwest China, has increased from 3,000 to nearly 5,000 over the past almost four decades.

The Qinling Mountains, mainly in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, is home to golden snub-nosed monkeys and other wild animals such as giant pandas and crested ibises. The golden snub-nosed monkey is a typical arboreal animal living all year round in the forests at an altitude of 1,500 to 3,300 meters. The species is now under first-class state protection in China.

Li Baoguo, a professor in the Department of Biology at China's Northwest University, has been systematically studying golden snub-nosed monkeys in the wild for 38 years.

"I first saw golden snub-nosed monkeys when I just finished my master's degree and was doing field research with my tutor in mountains. At that time the habitat conditions for golden snub-nosed monkeys were less than satisfactory. Their living conditions have undergone fundamental changes in the past 38 years," Li said.

He said that the improvement of the habitats for golden snub-nosed monkeys has been largely attributable to the adoption of policies on establishing nature reserves and logging ban of natural forests in China.

"I think two projects are pivotal in improving the living conditions for wildlife in our country. One is the construction of nature reserves. In the 1980s, the Qinling Mountains had only five nature reserves, now the number has increased to 32, with 18 percent of the total mountainous area under protection. Another is the protection of natural forests since 1998, which forbids the logging of natural forests," Li said.

Li said figures can tell what a huge achievement China has made in environmental protection and biodiversity conservation.

"The population of golden snub-nosed monkeys in the Qinling Mountains has increased from 3,000 to nearly 5,000 (over the past almost 40 years). The monkeys can be found in eight counties instead of only five in the past. On a national scale, the total population of golden snub-nosed monkeys were about 16,000 in the 1990s. Now the number is about 25,000 to 27,000 nationwide," Li said.

(Cover image via CFP)

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