Biodiversity and Conservation 13: 813–826, 2004. © 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Biodiversity and biodiversity conservation in Yunnan, China YUMING YANG 1,5, KUN TIAN 2,*, JIMING HAO 1, SHENGJI PEI 3 and YONGXING YANG 4 1 Department of Environment Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, P.R. China; Department of Environment Science and Engineering, Southwest Forestry University, 650224 Kunming, P.R. China; 3Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 650204 Kunming, P.R. China; 4 College of Environment Science and Engineering, Tongji University, 200092 Shanghai, P.R. China; 5 Employee of Southwest Forestry University, Bailongsi, 650224 Kunming, P.R. China; *Author for correspondence (e-mail: tlkunp@public.km.yn.cn; tlkunp@yahoo.com.cn; fax: +86-871-3863217) 2 Received 18 February 2002; accepted in revised form 5 March 2003 Key words: Biodiversity background, Conservation, Ecological fragility, Endemism, Yunnan’s biodiversity Abstract. Yunnan, an inland province at a low latitude and high elevation, lying between 21°09⬘–29°15⬘ N and 97°32⬘–106°12⬘ E in southwestern China, has a vast territory with diversified and unique nature resources. There are more than 18 000 high plant species (51.6% of China’s total) and 1836 vertebrate species (54.8% of China’s total) living in Yunnan on a land area of 39.4 × 10 4 km 2, i.e., only 4.1% of China’s total. Among 15000 seed plants found in Yunnan there are 151 rare and endangered plant species (42.6% of China’s protected plants). Out of 335 China priority protected wild animals, Yunnan has 243 species, accounting for 72.5% of China’s total, 15% of which are species endemic to Yunnan. However, Yunnan’s biodiversity is faced with the menace of excessive exploitation of resources and changes in environmental conditions caused by the activities of an expanding human population. This paper discusses the background, the composition, and the structure of Yunnan’s biodiversity. Its biodiversity fragility and the threatened situation are also discussed. Suggestions and recommendations on the strategy and actions of Yunnan biodiversity conservation and sustainable development are proposed. Background of Yunnan’s biodiversity Geographical features of Yunnan Yunnan is situated at the meeting point of three geographic regions: the eastern Asia monsoon region, the Tibetan plateau region and the tropical monsoon region of southern Asia and Indo-China, each with significantly different natural conditions. In the east, the south and the west, and in the northwest, Yunnan adjoins the eastern Asia monsoon region, the tropical monsoon region of southern Asia, the Indo-China and the Tibetan plateau region, respectively. The province’s elevation is higher in the northwest, with its highest point at the summit of Kagebo peak (6740 m) of Meili Snow Mountain, while the land gradually lowers towards the southeast, the south and the west. The lowest point in the province is only 76.4 m above sea level, 814 i.e. the Red River at the southeast edge. Thus, the height difference is 6663 m. Because of the ‘synergistic effect’ of latitude horizon change as well as with vertical zonation change, the province, spanning only 8° in latitude, holds all climate zones and land ecosystem types that can be found in the 35° range of latitudes from Sanya in Hainan Island, the most southern part of China, to Mohe in Heilongjiang, the most northern part of China (Yang et al. 1998). In Western Yunnan, as the Hengduan Mountain Range stretches from the north to the south, the cold-enduring animal and plant species in the center of the Tibetan plateau are able to distribute to the south, forming the cold-enduring plateau biogeocoenosis in the region. This is the lowest latitude where representatives of the Palaearctic and Holarctic realms may be found in the Northern Hemisphere. Thus, the shift to the south of the north–south boundary line of wildlife makes the province a region with both Palaearctic and Oriental realms (Chen 1998). Southern Yunnan, for instance Xishuangbanna, adjoining the tropical low-height mountains of Indo-China, forms a main access way for southeastern Asia’s tropical animals and plants to China. The southwestern part, for instance Dehong (the southern sector of Gaoligong Mountain), neighboring the southern Asia subcontinent through Tanbang Mountain of Myanmar, is the piedmont low land, which is exposed to the tropical ocean flow coming from the Bay of Bengal, Indian Ocean. It is the typical region where the Indian tropical biota converges in China (Yang 1990). Situated in the second of China’s three terraces, Yunnan has six major rivers, among which the Dulong River, Nujiang River, Lancang River and Jinsha River come from the first terrace, the Qinghai–Tibetan plateau in the northern part of the province. Outside the country these are called the Irawaddi, Salween, Mekong and Changhong rivers, respectively. These four rivers flow hundreds of kilometers side by side from north to south, forming vertical sided gorges and you can see Nujiang River, Lancang River and Jinsha River from west to east, flowing from north to south almost in parallel. At the narrowest, the lateral distance between Nujiang River and Jinsha River is only 72 km but the distance between their estuaries is more than 3000 km. Two other rivers, the Honghe (Red River) and the Nanpan (Pearl River) originate in the province itself. Before pouring into the Pacific and Indian Oceans, tributaries of these six major rivers fan out to the south, the east and the southwest, forming a ‘broom-like’ shape. The running direction and the location of the mouth of the rivers are beneficial to various species entering the watershed along the valley, which makes the province the most complicated watershed biogeocoenosium in China. Also characteristic of Yunnan are the plentiful plateau lakes. There are more than 37 lakes of more than 1 km 2 with a total area of 1164 km 2, a catchment area of 9000 km 2 and total storage capacity of about 29 billion m 3. Distributing at a high altitude, most of the lakes are sag pond formed by faultage sinking and have no channels connecting each other. In the alpine region, there are morainal lakes and glacial erosion lakes with clear water and abundant hydrobios. Because of their unique development and formation, and as almost all are relatively isolated, each has its own endemic species. 815 The climate of the province The province’s climate is affected by geographic location, atmospheric circulation and plateau topography geopotential. The west-wind circulation and the southwestern monsoon seasonal replacement influence the regional climatic characteristics of the province. When the westerlies move to the south in October each year, the province’s climate is controlled by a southern branch jet stream of west wind that comes from the dry tropical and subtropical regions of the northern part of India and western Asia. By moving eastward, this warm and dry continental tropical air mass controls the climate of the Yunnan plateau and forms the province’s warm and arid winter climate. Except for the high mountain areas in northwestern Yunnan, for most parts of Yunnan the warm winter provides the overwintering conditions for tropical animals and plants that originated from Indo-China. From May on, as the air mass of westerlies moves northward, the southern branch jet stream of west-wind disappears and the dry season ends. Instead, the southwestern monsoon coming from the Bay of Bengal and the southeastern monsoon coming from the South China Sea are advancing to the Yunnan plateau. Coming from the ocean at low latitude with high moisture, these two marine air masses become the source of summer rainfall and form the province’s humid and hot summer season climate. As these two monsoons extend southwestward and southeastward to the higher latitude region along the valley openings, respectively, some of the tropical animals and plants that originated from the south are able to distribute to the valleys of the central and northwestern parts of Yunnan. The southern tropical biocomposition proceeds northward along the valley and the northern highland cold wildlife extends south along the mountain ridges and forms a ‘finger-like crisscross distribution’ within the same latitudes, each ‘finger’ with different flora and fauna composition. Thus, Yunnan becomes a distribution limit region, where the lowest latitude for the northern composition extends southward and is met by the highest latitude for southern tropical composition. The main factor of forming such a varied microclimate is the vertical height range in the province. A massif with more than four climate zones within similar latitudes can be found everywhere in the province. This unique climate creates varied habitats and provides diversified bios for the province (Chen 1998). Biodiversity under the influence of minority culture The effects of indigenous knowledge and culture on biodiversity conservation have been recognized by many scientists worldwide. The congress ‘Cultures and Biodiversity’ was held in Yunnan in July 2000 and resulted in a major publication: Links Between Cultures and Biodiversity (Xu 2002). In the project of ‘The World Decade for Culture Development’ (UNESCO), the culture of indigenous resources utilization is the main part. In the ‘People and Biosphere’ project the importance of Holy Places and Holy Mountains in biodiversity conservation and degraded soil restoration is addressed. The ‘People and Plants’ project (WWF, UNESCO, KEW) specially emphasized the development and application of ethnobotany and had the cul- 816 ture of indigenous resources utilization as main content. While studying the province’s biodiversity we have noticed that there is a connection between biodiversity and minority cultures. Where there is high biodiversity, we find a wide variety of minority cultures. Although biodiversity represents nature, in fact, biodiversity results from the interaction of nature with social systems (Pei et al. 1997) and becomes the culture of worships. The conservation of biodiversity by minorities among the mountainous areas from worships of Holy Places, Holy Mountains and Holy Trees is popular culture. That is because the object they worship is their living material base, which provides varied environmental conditions and spaces for the development of minority peoples. In the process of using biodiversity, the locals have become dependent on it. As they acknowledged the importance of biodiversity, indigenous societies enhanced it and created an interdependence between biodiversity and their cultures. With the locals’ traditional life and farming, unique methods of recognizing, classifying, using and protecting biodiversity were formed and preserved. A case study carried out by us in Moxie village, Xishuangbanna shows that the Tai people protect their biodiversity by dividing the forest areas into Dragon Mountain (Holy Mountain), graveyard, fuelwood forest, timber forest and watershed forest from indigenous culture according to species biological specificity, forest structure and function, and their dependence on them. Tai people worship the species Antiaris toxicaria, Poutria grandflora, Semecar-pus reticulata, Dysoxylum spicatum, Dipterocarpus retusus (Yang and Lu 1998), Hopea mollissima and H. jianshu as Holy Trees and no people disturb the plants where they grow. Tai and Hani people adore the species Dendrocalamus giganteus, a large bamboo species as dragon to be a symbol of their ancestors; Wa people adore Dendrocalamus sinicus as their God; Yi people take the roots of Phillostachys nigra var. henonis as sex organ to be worshipped. Moreover, the forest for graveyard is considered to be their ancestors’ place to adore, and a fast growing species like Cassia siamea is used for firewood. Cinnamomum comphora, C. glanduliferum, Parami chelia baillonii, Gmelina arborea are species for timber that can only be harvested with consent of the village committee and with selective and limited cutting. Some species like Dysoxylum binectariferum, growing upstream of the village, are protected for water supply. During the survey in Shangri-La Gorge, northwest of Yunnan, supported by TNC, we found that the local religion is a key point for biodiversity protection. In a small village of the gorge we met a woman who was not willing to kill the mouse that had eaten one of her ears. The Tibetan thought that killing species is a very bad thing because forests, animals and even mountain peaks are creatures of nature to be loved. We found that minorities take better care of biodiversity than majorities and even lived at lower densities during our surveys in Tongbiguan, Wenshan, Ailaoshan and Nangunhe nature reserves within Yunnan; the same results were found by scientists from home and abroad as well. This is a cultural reaction of locals to their mountain environment and fragile ecosystem (Luo et al. 2000). Lan and Dunbar’s study suggested that it is because the minorities live in marginal ar- 817 Table 1. Known species numbers in Yunnan, China and the World a. Taxa No. in Yunnan No. in China Yunnan/China (%) No. in the World China/World (%) Mammals Ares Reptiles Amphibia Pisces Insects Angiospermae Gymnospermae Pteridophytes Bryophytes Fresh algae Fungi Bacteria 304 810 170 120 432 (FW) 12000 15000 100 1500 1500 800 7000 300 49.6 65.1 45.2 43.0 54.0 (FW) 23.5 50.0 37.0 57.7 68.2 8.9 87.5 60.0 4181 9040 6300 4010 21400 920000 260000 900 12000 23000 25000 69000 3000 14.7 13.8 6.0 7.1 18.1 5.5 11.5 30.0 21.7 9.6 36.0 11.6 16.7 613 1244 376 284 3862 (1000 FW) 51000 30000 270 2600 2200 9000 8000 500 a Species numbers in China and the World originated from State Environmental Protection Administration, Chinese Biodiversity Research Group (1998) ‘China’s Biodiversity: A Country Study’. FW means fresh water. eas in Yunnan, where biodiversity tends to be concentrated, because both are driven away from richer areas of land (Lan and Dunbar 2000). The province’s biodiversity The province’s special geographic location and complicated geographic environment form the diverse ecosystems and habitats that are responsible for the abundant biotic resources (Table 1). There are more than 18000 high plant species (51.6% of China’s total), 1836 vertebrate species (54.8% of China’s total) and 15000 seed plant species (50% of China’s total) in Yunnan, where the land area is 39.4 × 10 4 km 2, which is only 4.1% of China’s total. On the list of China’s rare and endangered plant species, of all the 352 species, 151 species (42.6% of China’s protected plants) are found in the province. Among 335 Chinese priority protected wild animals, Yunnan has 243 species (72.5% of China’s total). Of all 335 species, about 15% are species endemic to Yunnan or cannot be found outside of Yunnan (Guo and Long 1998). The province’s richness value in biodiversity (Rv), the endemic value (Ev) and the endemic rate (Er) all occupy the first place in China (WWF 1996). The values for animals (Rv = 300, Ev = 741 and Er = 2.61), as well as birds (Rv = 810, Ev = 2581, Er = 3.19) occupy the first place in China too (WWF 1996). Therefore, Yunnan is famous throughout the world as a ‘Wildlife Kingdom’. 818 The faunal diversity Among 15 nationally protected primates, 10 species are found in Yunnan and all are of the First Grade (the First Category of State Key Protected Wildlife, China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals; Wang 1998). The Yunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti), like the Giant panda, is one of the most endangered animal species endemic to China, which can only be found in the virgin fir (Picea sp. and Abies sp.) forest at elevations above 3500 m in the Baima Snow Mountain of northwestern Yunnan. There are 10 gibbon species in the world, of which Yunnan has four species (Hylobates concolor, H. hoolock, H. leucogenys and H. lar). They all occur in the southeastern, southern to southwestern tropical forest region and can only be found in Yunnan except Hylobates concolor, which occurs in Hainan as well (Yang et al. 1999). There are 26 First Grade Nationally Protected Animals occurring only in Yunnan, such as Macaca nemestrina, Nycticebus intermedius, Tragulus javanicus, Bos gaurus, Arctictis binturong, Helarctos malayanus, Panthera tigris corbeti, P.t. tigris, Elephas maximus, etc. Of all 1836 vertebrate species, 66 mammalian species, 112 ares species, 8 reptile species, 40 amphibia species and 290 pisces (FW) are endemic species to Yunnan or cannot be found outside of Yunnan (Li 2001). There are also 112 bird species occurring only in Yunnan among 1244 nationally recorded birds, and Pavo muticus, Polyplectron bicalcaratum, Crus antigone, Lophophorus sclateri, Syrmaticus humiae, etc. are First Grade Nationally Protected Bird Species. There are 20 rare and endemic amphibian species, such as Ichthyophis bannanica, Tylototriton verrucosus, Rana verrucospinosa, Cuora yunnanensis, Manouria impressa, etc. occurring in Yunnan (Yang et al. 1992). Four hundred and thirty-two fish species have been recorded in the province, which account for 54% of China’s fresh water fishes. Among them, 290 species are endemic to Yunnan (67.1% of Yunnan’s total) and can be found almost everywhere in the province’s lakes and rivers. Such a high rate of endemic species is seldom seen outside of the province. A fish species on the protected list and endemic to Erhai Lake is Schizothorax tailiensis, endemic to Dianchi Lake is Sinocylocheilus grahami grahami, endemic to Fuxian Lake are Anabarilius grahami and Xenocypris yunnanensis. The species of Anguilla nebulos is the biggest freshwater fisheel species in the world, occurring only in southwestern Yunnan (Yang et al. 1998). The flora diversity In Yunnan, 18000 high plant species have been found. Of these, 1500 species are bryophyte and another 1500 are fern, which account for 68.2 and 57.7% of China’s total bryophytes (2200 species) and ferns (2600 species), respectively. There are 20 fern species (Isoetes japonica, Ophioglossum thermale, Alsophila costularis, A. latebrosa, A. spinulosa, Archangiopteris henryi, A. bipinnata, Angiopteris sparsison, Branea insignis, Ceratopteris thalictroides, Christensenia assamica, Cyrtomium 819 hemionitis, Sinopteris grevilleoides, Gymnosphaera gigantean, G. podophylla, G. andersonii, Sorolepidium glaviale, Sphaeropteris brunoniana, Neocheropteris palmatopedata and Piatycerium wallichii) on the list of nationally rare and endangered species. Of these 20 fern species, Christensenia assamica and Piatycerium wallichii occur only in Yunnan and Archangiopteris henryi, A. bipinata, Angiopteris sparsison, Cyrtomium hemionitis, A. latebrosa, Sorolepidium glaviale, G. andersonii, G. gigantean, G. podophylla and Sphaeropteris brunoniana are 10 species endemic to Yunnan (Guo and Long 1998). The ferns in Yunnan belong to 198 genera and 59 families, which account for 86 and 94% of China’s total (230 genera and 63 families), respectively (Lu 1998). The gymnosperm diversity China holds the largest number of gymnosperm species in the world. In China 270 gymnosperm species belonging to 35 genera and 11 families have been found, which account for 30.0, 49.3 and 91.7% of the world’s total, genus and family, respectively (Zuo and Fu 1995). Yunnan holds about 100 gymnosperm species belonging to 32 genera and 10 families, which account for 36.8, 94.1 and 100% of China’s total, genus and family, respectively. Among these 100 gymnosperm species, 36 are on the list of nationally protected ancient, rare and endangered species, accounting for 36.0% of Yunnan’s total, and 21 species (Cycas pectinata, C. parvulus, C. hongheensis, C. longipetiolula, C. multiovula, C. multifrondis, C. diannanensis, C. siamensis, Keteleeria xerophila, K. evelyniana, Pseudotsuga forrestii, Tsuga forrestii, Pinus wangii, P. squamata, Podocarpus flearyi, Cephalotaxus oliveri, C. lanceolata, Taxus yunnanensis, Amentotaxus yunnanensis and Torreya yunnanensis) are endemic to Yunnan (58.3% of the protected species). In China, 22 Cycas species have been found; Yunnan holds 15 species, which account for 68.2% of the total. Among these, eight species (53.3%) are endemic to Yunnan (Wang 1996). It is thus obvious that Yunnan is not only rich in species diversity but also has a high ratio of endemic, rare and endangered species. The angiosperm diversity Yunnan has 15 000 angiosperm species belonging to 1953 genera and 230 families, accounting for 50, 64.9 and 79.1% of China’s total species (30 000), genera (3010) and families (291), respectively. The province’s seed plant abundance is 3.81, which is second only to Malaysia’s (4.55) in the Northern Hemisphere. The abundance of Yunnan is 7.9 times that of India (0.48) and 11.9 times the average abundance (0.28) of all China (see Table 2). Another characteristic of the province’s angiosperm diversity is the significant endemism. Yunnan is a high-frequency region for the distribution of angiosperm endemic genera and contains two of China’s three endemism centers, one in the northwest and another in the southeast of Yunnan (Chen 1993). Among China’s 243 seed plant endemic genera, 180 endemic genera are found in Yunnan, accounting for 74.1% of China’s total. Of these 180 endemic genera, 820 Table 2. The seed plant degree of richness in Yunnan and in China, southeastern Asia and southern Asia a. Country or region Total area (km 2) Seed plant species number Abundance b India Myanmar Thailand Vietnam Philippines Malaysia Indonesia China Yunnan, China 2974700 676581 513115 329556 229700 329733 1904443 9600000 394000 14500 7000 11500 11500 8000 15000 20000 30250 15000 0.48 1.03 2.24 3.49 2.67 4.55 1.05 0.32 3.81 a Species numbers from State Environmental Protection Administration, Chinese Biodiversity Research Group (1998) ‘China’s Biodiversity: A Country Study’. bAbundance = species number/km 2 × 100% (from Gdoff C-WWF 1996). about 30 occur only in Yunnan, such as Manglietiastrum, Cyphotheca, Chaerophyllopsis, Siliquamomum, Musella, Etlingera, Bulleyia, Hancocki, Pyrgophylum, Paramomum, Holocheila, Sinodielsia, Eremotropa, Trailliaedoxa, Haplanthoides, Boeicipsis, Hemiboeopsis, Tumidinodus, Dasydesmus, Skapanthus, Smithorchis, Tsaiorchis, Leptocanna, Ferrocolamus, Gaoligongshania, etc. (Guo and Long 1998). In the prefecture of Xishuangbanna, 153 endemic species have been found, such as the representatives of tropical rare species Vatica xishuangbannaensis, Shorea chinensis, Garcinia xishuangbannanenis, Myristica yunnanensis, Knema furfuracea, Beilschmiedia brachythyrsa, Polyanthia cheliensis, Cinnamomum austroyunnanense, Horsfiedia tetrapetala, H. kingii, H. pandurifolia, Actinodaphne henryi, etc. In the northwestern part, there are many Hengduan Mountainous endemic species, such as Abies delavayi, A. forrestii, A. ferreana, Picea likiangensis, A. nukiangensis, Larix speciosa, Tsuga forrestii, Cephalotaxus lanceolata, etc., which are typical representatives of alpine conifer forest species. There are also other Hengduan Mountainous endemic compositions, such as orchid (Plenteous alpine, Paphiopedilum concolor, P. micranthum) and alpine azaleas and alpine bamboos. Yunnan is one of the regions of phylogenetic origin of bamboo and a present distribution center. There are 70 bamboo genera and 1000 species in the world. Of these, China has 40 genera and 500 species; moreover, 30 genera and 250 species have been found in Yunnan, which account for 42.9% of the world’s genera, 25% of the world’s species, and 75% of China’s genera and 50% of China’s species. There are 150 bamboo species that cannot be found outside of Yunnan and the endemic ratio is higher than 60% (Yang et al. 1999). The province holds a large range, from tropical large sympodial bamboos to temperate medium monopodial bamboos or mixed bamboos to cool temperate mini-medium alpine bamboos. For instance, the province has the world’s biggest bamboo species: Dendocalamus sinicus and D. giganteus; and the smallest bamboo species: Yushania nana; the hardest bamboo species: Ferrocalamus strictus; and the softest vine bamboo species: Cepha- 821 lostachyum scandens; the thinnest sheath bamboo species: Leptocanna chinensis, and the thickest sheath (almost solid) bamboo species: Fargesia yunnanensis. There are the highest elevation distribution species, Fargesia sylvestris, and the species Schizostachyum pingbianensis with bamboo shoots growing all year round; the epiphytic bamboo species Gaoligongshania megathyrsa with largest leaves; the species Melocalamus arrectus with the biggest fruit. There is also the poisonous species, Cephalostachyum virulentum (Yang et al. 1999). Genetic diversity Yunnan is rich in genetic diversity, which is a gene resource with important economical value and exploitation potential. Many cultivated plants and domestic animals with economical value can find their agriotypes or kindred species in Yunnan. For example, China has three wild rice species (Oryza sativa f spontanea, O. Meyeriana and O. offıcinalis), which all can be found in the tropical area of southern to southwestern Yunnan. The important agriotypes or kindred species of cultivated plants like Litchi chinensis, Actinidia chinensis, Camellia sinensis var. Macrophilla, Artocarpus lakoocha, Mangifera sylvatica and wild cucumber occur mainly in Yunnan (Wu and Pei 1980). Well known agriotypes or kindred species of domestic animals like Bos gaurus, B. javanicus, B. frontalis, Gullus gallus and Tadorna ferruginea occur only in Yunnan. The domesticated animals like Wenshan ox, Zhaotong ox, Dehong water buffalo, Yanjin water buffalo, Dali horse, Lijiang horse, Baoshan swine, Zhaotong goat, Yunling goat and Longling goat, are all local species endemic to Yunnan. The ecosystem diversity Yunnan’s rich ecosystems include, from the lower tropical valleys and basin in the southern part to the barren high peaks and deep valleys in the northwestern part, over 30 ecosystem types according to the Chinese classification (Guo and Long 1998). Examples include tropical rain forest ecosystems, monsoon rain forest ecosystems, evergreen broadleaved forest ecosystems, deciduous broadleaved forest ecosystems, conifer forest ecosystems, bamboo forest ecosystems, bush ecosystems, alpine grassy marshland ecosystems, alpine wetland ecosystems, farming, forestry and animal husbandry ecosystems, etc. Threats to the province’s biodiversity The diverse characters with fully developed ecosystems, rich diversified compositions and a high degree of endemism make Yunnan’s biodiversity conservation very important. However, Yunnan is a developing area where much of the population lives under poor conditions. Lured by profits and lacking understanding of their environment, people are destroying their biodiversity. The ecological environment 822 is deteriorating, the wetland area is shrinking, the river water is being polluted, the ecosystem is being destroyed, the biodiversity is declining and species are disappearing. Yunnan’s biodiversity is faced with the menace of the following factors: 1. The pressure of excessive utilization by the expanding population of the resources and environment. For instance, the species of epiphytic orchid (Dendrobium candidum), Second Grade Nationally Protected Plant with high medical value, has become extinct within 10 years. The plant was collected by cutting down the host trees because the dry product of this orchid fetches a high selling price ($1250 USD/kg). 2. The destruction of biodiversity caused by the fragmentation and loss of habitat due to logging. In the province, the actual cutting volume including timber forest and fuel wood is over 40 million m 3, in spite of the reduction in the state’s cutting limit to 3 million m 3 in 1998 and to 0.83 million m 3 in 2000. 3. The destruction of the tropical rain forest due to the planting of economic plants like rubber, sugar cane and tropic fruits, which caused the extinction of rare species (State Environmental Protection Administration, Chinese Biodiversity Research Group 1998). 4. Pollution of soil and water, causing the extermination of sensitive species (Primack and Ji 2000). Of these species, Cynops wolterstorffı (amphibia), Sinocylocheilus grahami grahami and Cyprinus yilongensis (fish) and Ottelia acuminata (water plant) are endemic to alpine lakes. Many amphibians have become extinct too, due to excessive application of fertilizers and chemicals. Yunnan’s biodiversity fragility 1. Yunnan is rich in species diversity but poor in the communities of animal and plant populations. This is because the relatively uniform habitats are usually small in area and the difference between adjacent habitats within the same region is significant. This is beneficial to speciation, but not to population growth. 2. The biotic community is narrowly distributed. The natural conditions change quickly both horizontally and vertically, setting limits to biotic community distribution, and accentuating selectivity during evolution (Redford and Padoch 1992). 3. Also, Yunnan is rich in ecosystems but the space eco-variable of ecosystems is small. These diverse and unique conditions favor high specialization of ecosystems but small variation among adjacent systems. 4. The rate of energy flow and material cycling in the province’s ecosystems is high because two thirds of the ecosystems in Yunnan are situated in the tropical and southern subtropical regions. However, the province’s ecosystems are sensitive to environmental change, so that the ecosystems in Yunnan are less stable than those in a temperate zone. 823 5. Even though the edge zone possesses an ‘edge effect’ by its rich biodiversity and complicated flora and fauna composition, this is not the most suitable distribution region compared with the center area for biotic species. Thus, the adaptation of edge species to their environment is obviously weak (Yang et al. 1998). Suggestions and recommendations on strategy and actions of biodiversity conservation in Yunnan In view of sustainable management of biological resources and conservation of biodiversity by retaining species and gene diversity without destruction of important ecosystems and habitats in Yunnan, effective measures must be taken to preserve various ecosystems and their biodiversity. In this paper, priority issues for formulating the conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity in the region are suggested and recommended for discussion as below: 1. Strengthen policy implementation for biodiversity conservation. Both central and local governments have launched policies on biodiversity conservation, such as laws on natural forest protection, natural reserve, wild plants and animals protection, return cultivated step-mountain land to forest, a rural energy program, an eco-tourism plan, water resources protection and aid for relocation of the poor. Policy actions for biodiversity management and conservation include resource tenures, trading of natural plants and wildlife, conservation of rare and endangered species, implementation of concerned conventions and treaties. However, the implementation of those policies needs to be strengthened. The trading of wildlife is not completely stopped in some places. In this respect actions on trading of wildlife and wild plant species should be seriously considered, especially in remote areas. 2. Establish a database of biodiversity conservation in Yunnan, in order to better understand and monitor the biodiversity dynamic changes of the region, which include global significant species and endemic species, rare and endangered species, for conservation targets in different parts of the province. 3. Promotion of sustainable utilization of biological resources in the province. More and more people recognize that the economic issue is an important part of biodiversity conservation. To local people, especially in poor areas, biological resource is their only source of living. Due to population pressure, land use change and market driving forces break down traditional patterns of subsistence in most places of the province. The challenge here is to support the poor, to identify resources for sustainable use, to provide more effective incentives for planting, breeding and reproduction, to develop multiple energy sources like water hydrology power, biogas, and fuel wood plantation in rural areas, which is a long term base for biodiversity conservation. 4. Community participation of biodiversity conservation and resources manage- 824 ment in this respect, local peoples’ participation in conservation schemes and buffer-zone development of protected areas, community forestry and pasture management must be highlighted in participatory conservation approaches in the region by the government. Biodiversity conservation needs peoples’ participation, which cannot only be the government level. 5. Culture-based conservation has been a long tradition of the local community practice; plants and animals are closely associated with many social customs and religious rituals of mountain people in the region. The sacred plants, sacred animals, sacred forests and holy mountains are common phenomena in the mountain areas of the region, which have played an important role and can be effectively incorporated into modern conservation. 6. Integration of indigenous knowledge with modern science and technology in the process of planning and implementation of conservation for biodiversity management. Local knowledge provides not only the biodiversities of species that are used within the community, but also valuable information on maintaining and conservation of landraces, genetic materials, species and ecosystems. Local practices and technologies are well adapted to the local environment and draw on local resources rather than imports. 7. Research and monitoring of dynamic changes of biodiversity in different ecosystems, endemism of flora and fauna, rapid inventory of biota in key areas for conservation, search for substitute species and additional resources for high value species which have a rare and endangered status for medicine and industry. Socio-economics of biodiversity and impact of consuming patterns on biological resources should also be studied and assessed. 8. Reduce over-harvesting of wild plants and animals; some new ideas should be considered. For example, establish co-management and agreement regulations to control the wild resources between government authorities and individuals, also establish a green label and organic label registration system for products, through which local authorities can better monitor resources utilization. Also, the products could get a better price with a quality guaranty, which would greatly reduce illegal trading and over-harvesting. 9. Improving transboundary management between Yunnan province and adjacent countries, in which many protected areas and biodiversity regions are located. Development interventions should provide more effective incentives for better management of commercialized plant and wildlife species for production. Special attention should be given to rare, endangered and high value species such as those used in traditional medicine and the cosmetic industry, and rare flowers. 10. Regional and international collaborations, including field survey, case studies, trail and demonstration on important species for reproduction and conservation, information exchange, sharing of knowledge and training of manpower as well as collaboration on transboundary conservation, etc. In this respect, developed countries and bio-resources based manufacturing companies are expected to play a more important role in terms of technology transfer and financial support for biodiversity conservation and rural community development. 825 11. Conservation in situ and ex situ, including an increasing number of protected areas (Yunnan has the richest biodiversity in China, but only 8–9% of the protected area of China’s total), improving management practices and supporting community-based conservation, development of technologies for propagation, cultivation and breeding of rare and endangered species for conservation in situ and ex situ, conservation awareness education and training of reserves’ staff, government officer, local people for conservation capacity build-up, and support to various public facilities for conservation such as botanic gardens, zoo museums and visitor centers of tourism sites. Acknowledgements This paper has been financed by grants from the Yunnan Natural Science Fund for key project (92C03Z) and a scholarship for young scientists (2000YP01). We would like to thank Dr George Somjen for his critical reading of the original manuscript. References Chen L.-Z. 1993. 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