Guided by the "two mountains" concept, China has steadily advanced the development of its national park and nature reserve systems over the past two decades.

By focusing on ecological restoration and protection of flagship species and their habitats, wild populations of these species have gradually increased.

China boasts extraordinary wildlife diversity, with about 3,100 species of terrestrial vertebrates and 130,000 identified insect species. It is also home to more than 38,000 species of higher plants, including over 4,000 rare and endangered wild plant species.

The population of the critically endangered Hainan gibbon has risen from just two groups totaling fewer than 10 individuals in the 1980s, to seven groups with 42 individuals, making it the only one among the world's 20 gibbon species that continues to grow.

The crested ibis population has surged from just seven birds recorded in 1981 to more than 7,000 in China, with the global total exceeding 10,000.

China has established 11 nature reserves in the main distribution areas of Asian elephants. The country's wild elephant population has now grown to over 300.

Once declared extinct in the wild in the 1970s, the Przewalski's horse population has rebounded to more than 900 in China, accounting for one-third of the global total, and is recognized internationally as a model of species reintroduction.

The critically endangered blue-crowned laughingthrush has seen its global wild population rise from about 200 in 2006 to around 600.

Numbers for Siberian tigers stand at 70 from 27 in 2017, and Amur leopards have increased from 42 in the same year to around 80.

The wild giant panda population has increased from about 1,100 in the 1980s to nearly 1,900 in China.

Once recorded with only six individuals in Yunnan, the critically endangered Magnolia sinica numbers about 15,000 in the country.

The Putuo hornbeam, once represented by a single known tree, now has tens of thousands of cultivated seedlings, with more than 4,000 reintroduced into the wild. The Baishanzu fir, which numbered just three known specimens when discovered, has also seen over 4,000 individuals returned to the wild.

Countless images of rare flora and fauna in their natural habitats illustrate the remarkable achievements of the "two mountains" concept in restoring biodiversity, calling on the public to safeguard these treasures, so that more species may thrive anew in China's lucid waters and lush mountains.

(All photos, including cover, via VCG)

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(Cover: Golden takins in Shaanxi Province, northwest China, June 27, 2014. )