Panda Breeding Base to Be Rebuilt by End of 2012

  The rebuilding of China's Wolong Nature Reserve, a giant panda breeding base ravaged by the massive earthquake in May 2008, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2012. It is designed to greatly improve the living quality and environment for both captive and wild pandas.

  The new reserve will include 65 facilities, including centers for panda protection and research, disease control, preservation of natural vegetation, and mobile monitoring stations. The planned power grid is a key component, providing electricity to local residents and therefore preserving the wild forests that once provided inhabitants with fuel. According to the plan, 737 households will be moved to new homes built in low-lying areas or river valleys as, like the pandas, their original communities were also damaged in the quake.

  The arrangement would prevent pandas living in highlands (an elevation of about 2,000 meters) from being disturbed by human activity. The rebuilding process will involve more than RMB 2.1 billion (US $270 million) and is being funded by the State Forestry Administration and the governments of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region as well as Sichuan and Guangdong provinces.