Stand-up paddling enthusiast Chen Jiajia (3rd R), who was also appointed a civil river conservator, patrols the Chuanfang River with teammates in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Aug. 13, 2019. Though Yunnan accounts for only 4.1 percent of China's land area, the province is yet deemed "Kingdom of Animals and Plants" and "Gene Bank of Species" because it harbors more than 50 percent of the country's biological species. In recent years, China has made significant achievements in ecological conservation with the enforcement of laws, policies and other measures, such as the construction of national parks and a ban on forest logging. Yunnan has established 166 nature reserves at different levels, protecting about 90 percent of the typical ecosystem and 85 percent of important species, including Asian elephants and Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys. (Xinhua/Jiang Wenyao)
