Primeval Forests Shrink

According to a recent Greenpeace field survey, China has just 69,500 square kilometers of intact primeval forest left, accounting for 3.34 percent of the country’s total forest area. Over the past 13 years, the areas covered by primeval forest have been shrinking rapidly. Half of the deforestation has taken place in the southwestern province of Yunnan thanks to unregulated mineral exploitation. The Three Parallel Rivers area, a UNESCO World Heritage site that includes sections of the Mekong, Nujiang and Yangtze rivers and is also China’s most biologically diverse area, was also seriously affected by the mineral development and logging. The area, home to over 300,000 residents, is faced at times with conflicting pressures of environmental protection and poverty alleviation. The government, lawmakers and private capital need to execute quick and concrete measures together to effectively protect it from ecologically devastating exploitation.