China's nature reserves show strong recovery in new assessment

China's latest on-site evaluation reveals marked improvements across its national nature reserves. According to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, most reserves have seen rising wildlife populations, broader species distribution, and healthier ecosystems. The ministry launched a nationwide assessment of nature reserve protection in 2022 and released the findings at a recent press conference.

The numbers tell the story: Over 90 percent of reserves report population growth in key protected species, more than 80 percent show increased biomass and carbon storage, and most forests and wetlands have improved in coverage and natural area.

Examples include the Yangtze finless porpoise population rising from 192 to 269 in three reserves in Anhui and Hubei provinces, and the golden snub-nosed monkey population in Shennongjia Nature Reserve increasing from 1,471 to 1,618. Overall, nearly 99 percent of assessed reserves showed strong conservation performance.