Guizhou's biodiversity ranks among top in China

Southwest China's Guizhou province is currently home to 24,547 biological species, with its biodiversity richness, uniqueness and variety ranking among the top in China, according to a news release held on May 21.

In addition, Guizhou's number of wildlife species and its density of vertebrates ranked third in China.

Guizhou has so far identified 1,085 varieties of vertebrates, 181 varieties of wildlife under national key protection, and 10,400 varieties of invertebrates.

It also has 10,255 varieties of higher plants, 9,654 of which are distributed in the wild, 79 varieties of wild plants under national protection, and 362 varieties of plants endemic to Guizhou.

By the end of 2020, Guizhou was home to 318 natural reserves under the management of forestry departments with a total area of 2.29 million hectares and accounting for 13.01 percent of the province's total area.

In recent years, Guizhou has been committed to the concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" and has achieved significant progress in biodiversity protection.

Around areas rich in biodiversity, Guizhou has constructed various natural reserves such as scenic areas, forest parks, wetland parks, geological parks and aquatic germplasm resource protection areas.

By improving laws and regulations around natural reserve protection, Guizhou's construction and management of its natural reserves have become regulated and well-organized.

Guizhou has also carried out biodiversity investigation and monitoring and encouraged all cities and counties to develop bio-tourism. So far, more than 70,000 people have earned income from bio-tourism development.