Across China: Rangers guard primeval forest for 60 years

Source: Xinhua| 2020-09-09 20:11:03|Editor: huaxia

HARBIN, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Looking at a primeval pine forest from a watchtower in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, it appears as a sea of green shrouded in mist.

Song Guohua, a 59-year-old forest ranger, has devoted most of his life to one thing -- keeping the primeval forest the way it has been since it appeared about 65 million years ago.

Located in Yichun City, the Heilongjiang Fenglin National Nature Reserve is a core area of Northeast Asia's primeval Korean pine forest. Established in 1958, the reserve has been guarded for more than 60 years by forest rangers like Song.

"It's difficult for a new worker to differentiate between clouds, water vapor and wildfire smoke. This takes years of experience," Song said.

The biggest concern for Song is fire hazards. Sometimes even a bird can cause a fire. "A bird hit a high-voltage line and ignited trees several years ago. Fortunately, the fire was found and put out in time," Song said.

"Sometimes we need to live in the mountains for up to a month at a time, and walk more than 30 km on patrol. If the patrol can't be finished in a day, we have to sleep in a tent at night," Song added.

Wildlife such as black bears poses a serious danger to forest rangers. Veteran workers taught Song to frequently shout to frighten away the bears when walking along mountain roads.

But it does not always work. Song remembered running into a black bear that was not frightened away by his shouting. "I turned and ran, and luckily the bear didn't chase after me," he said.

In recent years, Song's working conditions have improved greatly with equipment such as infrared cameras and other advanced instruments. In the past, he studied wildlife in the forest only by observing footprints on the ground.

The reserve was included in the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 1997. It has become an important research and science popularization base for Korean pine forests.

The forest rangers' efforts have paid off. The reserve now has rich biodiversity covering rodents, birds and other wildlife. Chinese mergansers, an endangered bird species under class-one state protection, were also spotted in the reserve in 2015.

China is building more nature reserves to protect the ecological environment. In Yichun City alone, there are now 23 nature reserves, including 11 at the national level. Enditem

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