In the forests of northeast China, the Siberian tiger is coming back, from 27 in 2017 to 72 today, while Amur leopards number 115 from 42. 

Other wildlife populations are also making a comeback – Asian elephants, snow leopards and Yangtze finless porpoises –  in 87.1% of the country's nature reserves. 

The numbers come as China marks its fourth National Ecology Day on August 15, when the country's first Ecological and Environmental Code takes effect. 

The new code provides a legal framework for protecting habitats and rare species.

Nature reserves are becoming safer for wildlife. Of 452 national-level nature reserves assessed during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025), 236 were rated "excellent" and 211 "good."

Habitat restoration means improving forest health and opening wildlife corridors, with an integrated monitoring system using cameras and sensors tracking wildlife.

Plants tell a similar story. The critically endangered Baishanzu fir, once represented by just three trees in the wild, now numbers more than 4,000.

Spicer's slipper orchid numbers over 200 plants, while more than 300 endangered species, including cycads and orchids, have been returned to the wild.

A nationwide survey in January recorded 6.324 million wintering waterbirds of 167 species – the highest total since monitoring began. More than 81% were found in protected areas.

Baer's pochard has doubled from 1,000 in 2012 to 2,555, while green peafowl have surpassed 1,000.

China is reviving habitats and bringing species back from the brink with five national parks at the heart of a network of more than 120 protected areas. 

The new Ecological and Environmental Code consolidates these efforts and gives them legal weight.

For more:

A greener path: How technology is reshaping China's path toward greener development