• Children collect tea leaves from a plantation nestled in the remote mountain valleys of northern Sichuan. Tea plantations are some of the projects being targeted by the EU-China Biodiversity Program to promote sustainable harvesting in the region. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
  • A woman holds tea leaves collected from a plantation nestled in the remote mountain valleys of northern Sichuan. Tea plantations are some of the projects being targeted by the EU-China Biodiversity Program to promote sustainable harvesting in the region. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
  • A woman holds tea leaves collected from a plantation nestled in the remote mountain valleys of northern Sichuan. Tea plantations are some of the projects being targeted by the EU-China Biodiversity Program to promote sustainable harvesting in the region. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
  • A local farmer brings tree bark, used for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), into the EU-China Biodiversity Program-sponsored center that aims to control and monitor the amount of TCM harvested from the local forests. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
  • A wild strawberry. One of the many plant species found within the park. The southwest of China is a biodiversity hotspot and the Zharu valley of Jiuzhaigou contains 40 percent of China's total plant species.
  • Sichuan is one of the most densely populated regions in the country. The rapid growth in demand for bamboo resources over the last two decades has caused excessive exploitation of forest resources in the province. This has resulted in serious disturbance and destruction of the biodiversity in natural bamboo forests.
  • Biology students from the Chengdu South-West University of Minorities collecting samples of mosses for study from the upper reaches of the Hailuogou glacier. Monitoring alpine species like this has been key in understanding the effects on biodiversity of warming temperatures and climate change. As a result of rising temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau, the Hailuogou glacier has retreated over 2 km during the 20th century alone. Since the Little Ice Age, studies have revealed that the total monsoonal glacier coverage in the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau has decreased by as much as 30 percent, causing alarm in scientific circles.
  • A biology student from Chengdu South-West University of Minorities collecting samples of mosses for study from the upper reaches of the Hailuogou glacier. Monitoring alpine species like this has been key in understanding the effects on biodiversity of warming temperatures and climate change. As a result of rising temperatures on the Tibetan Plateau, the Hailuogou glacier has retreated over 2 km during the 20th century alone. Since the Little Ice Age, studies have revealed that the total monsoonal glacier coverage in the southeast of the Tibetan Plateau has decreased by as much as 30 percent, causing alarm in scientific circles.
  • The southwest forests of China are classified as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. The relationship is fragile between people who call this land home and the local flora and fauna. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
View: 24 | All