Final Report - Asian Development Bank

54
TA 4721-PRC: Preparing the Shaanxi-Qinling Mountains Integrated Ecosystem Management Project
Final Report Appendix 5
ii. Niubeiliang NNR to Project Area
218. The Nature Reserves Management component of the World Bank FRDP project
recommended that Niubeiliang NNR be connected by corridor with Zhouzhi NNR:
“The project will also finance the demarcation and revegetation of a 60 km wildlife corridor
between the Zhouzi and Niubeiliang Reserves. The corridor is presently uninhabited as a
result of the harsh and hilly terrain. For most of its length, a width of 2 kilometers will be
adequate to allow animal movements and exchange between the two reserves, but the
width of the corridor will be widened at each end where it is crossed by major highways
and where habitat continuity is weakest. The exact method of establishment - whether
through natural regeneration or reforestation -- will be determined during the preparation of
nature reserve management plan.”
219. This proposal was not fully implemented, possibly due to the length of the proposed corridor.
However, the corridor proposed to connect Zhouzhi NNR to the Project Area would shorten the
proposed World Bank corridor from 60 km to around 45 km because the proposed botanical garden
Project Area lies between the two NNRs and would serve as a link connecting the two protected
areas.
220. The investment would support updating and/or completing the feasibility study and
developing a proposal for review by SFD and SFA to link the reserves.
c. Vegetation Restoration
221. In cooperation with QM nature reserves identify tracts where plantations of exotic larch (or
other exotic species) have degraded habitat quality for Giant Panda and other globally threatened
herbivores; (ii) In cooperation with SFD and QM nature reserves develop a habitat management plan
to restore such sites to native vegetation using indigenous species known to provide forage for
globally threatened herbivores including Giant Panda and Golden Takin; (iii) Among such indigenous
plant species prioritize for planting those that are threatened and/or endemic trees and shrubs ;
prioritize by species, location, and micro-habitat (e.g. slope, slope aspect, elevation); (iv) Identify and
map sites for planting of bamboo species preferred by Giant Panda; (v) Develop plant nurseries in the
Ex-situ area to supply seedlings of threatened endemic trees, shrubs, and bamboos for contract
planting and maintenance by residents in the In-Situ area; (vi) Develop funding mechanisms based on
earnings from Ex-situ tourism – see Eco-fund and other sustainable livelihood proposals below; (vii)
Design and implement a monitoring program to track plant survival, growth, and reproduction.
4. Biodiversity Survey
222. Design and implement (a) a biodiversity inventory of the Project Area and the unprotected
gap between the Project Area and Zhouzhi NNR (about 8 x 16 km = 128 km 2 = 12,800 ha) to be
carried out by local and regional specialists, mainly those from QM nature reserves; (b) Include
interviews with villagers to (i) determine their knowledge of local biota; and (ii) train them in some
survey methods such as systematic sampling for key species such as Golden Takin and other
threatened species, and Wild Boar. Surveys should include synchronized counts and camera-trapping
using digital auto-trigger traps; (c) develop proposals on how this survey method can be tailored and
extended to and applied in other parts of the QM.
5. Protected Area Management
223. Longer-term science, research and demonstration on biodiversity, land degradation and
rehabilitation, and eco-system trends (single species and communities of plants and animals), water
resource management trends and issues (management of riparian systems), recreating lost habitats
and representative QM ecosystems to support sustainable livelihoods, and related environmental and
sustainable livelihood issues important to the Design and Monitoring Framework for this PA and
Project and for subsequent QM projects – applying the Ecological Function Conservation Area (EFCA)
approach (see above Section 7.1.3).