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Science 16 November 2001:
Vol. 294. no. 5546, p. 1465
DOI: 10.1126/science.1064710
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Policy Forum

ECOLOGY:
Giant Pandas in a Changing Landscape

Colby J. Loucks,1dag Zhi Lü,2,3* Eric Dinerstein,1 Hao Wang,3David M. Olson,1 Chunquan Zhu,2 Dajun Wang3

The giant panda has been restricted to several disjunct montane forest populations, and habitat loss and fragmentation are the primary threats to its survival. For pandas to survive, conservation efforts must focus on larger landscapes rather than individual nature reserves. China recently initiated several policies, including the Natural Forest Conservation Program and Grain-to-Green Policy, which provide a historic opportunity to integrate panda conservation into national policies. Simultaneously, China is promoting the Western China Development Program, which calls for substantial infrastructure and hydropower development and economic investments. Integrating panda conservation into these development policies will be a critical challenge.

1World Wildlife Fund-United States, Washington, DC 20037, USA. 2World Wide Fund for Nature, China, Beijing, 100020, China. 3Giant Panda Conservation and Research Center, Peking University, Beijing, 100871, China.

*Present address: Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, New Haven, CT 06511, USA. dagE-mail: colby.loucks{at}wwfus.org

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Ecosystem Services Special Feature: Ecological and socioeconomic effects of China's policies for ecosystem services.
J. Liu, S. Li, Z. Ouyang, C. Tam, and X. Chen (2008)
PNAS 105, 9477-9482
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The first skull of the earliest giant panda.
C. Jin, R. L. Ciochon, W. Dong, R. M. Hunt Jr, J. Liu, M. Jaeger, and Q. Zhu (2007)
PNAS 104, 10932-10937
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)