Hainan pushes ecological protection and green development forward

After searching for gibbons for four days without any progress, on the fifth day, staff members finally spotted a black gibbon in a mountain forest under the jurisdiction of the Hainan tropical rainforest national park in south China’s Hainan province.

The Hainan gibbon is a representative species in the tropical rainforest of Hainan. According to statistics provided by the Hainan provincial forestry bureau, Hainan gibbons are increasing in number thanks to an improved environment. In 2020, there were 33 gibbons living in five families, compared with only 13 gibbons living in two families in 2003.

Located in the central mountainous terrain of Hainan, the tropical rainforest national park covers an area of more than 4,400 square kilometers and involves 19 nature reserves, natural forests and public welfare forests.

The Hainan national park research institute is an important initiative of Hainan in promoting the construction of a national ecological civilization pilot zone.

“The research institute is a non-profit organization which serves as a platform where authoritative organizations and experts contribute their wisdom to the conservation of Hainan gibbons,” explained Huang Jincheng, head of the Hainan provincial forestry bureau. Over the past years, Hainan has established a gibbon protection and research base, a gibbon monitoring team, and a database on gibbon monitoring and protection.

The sound protection of Hainan gibbons epitomizes Hainan’s efforts in pushing forward the construction of an ecological civilization.

Among all pilot national parks, the Hainan tropical rainforest park project was the last one to kick off construction, but it has taken a big stride forward in only less than three years in terms of legislation, planning, management and operations, Huang suggested.

Hainan has clearly defined a “red line” for ecological protection. For instance, more than 11,535 square kilometers of land, accounting for 33.5 percent of the province’s total land area, and another 35.1 percent of offshore water areas, which represents 8,316.6 square kilometers, have been hewn within the control lines to ensure ecological protection in the area. The province has also placed 320,000 hectares of wetlands within its control lines.

To balance environmental protection and development, the local government has stopped assessing the economic performance of 12 cities and counties in terms of GDP, while some counties have embarked on distinctive paths towards green development based on their own conditions.

Hainan also vigorously boosted clean energy consumption. In 2020, Hainan’s installed clean energy power generation capacity accounted for 67 percent of the provincial’s total installed power generation capacity, up 23 percentage points from 2015.