The rape of Wolong (1 Viewer)

[china guy]

For any birders planning a trip to Wolong and then driving up to and over the Balangshan pass - beware - because the Chinese authorities have started to enlarge the road through the Wolong reserve into near motorway size - the result being.... well just look at the picture that was taken just a few days ago!!!! This bomb site was originally a prime-habitat of mature woodland scrub with small grass pastures that bordered a pristine stream - but now, for mile after mile the trees have been grubbed up and the riverbed dug up for gravel and other hardcore that can been used in the road construction. This mayhem goes right over the Balang mountain and makes any bird watching from the car near impossible. It also makes driving very difficult and uncomfortable and there is talk of them closing the road at some stage – and of course we mustn’t forget the large areas of irreplaceable habitat that have been destroyed!!!!
What is most incredible is that this work is going on in a nature reserve that has a status of UNESCO world-heritage site - but then again so much for conservation when there is that important money making business of getting those tourists groups as quickly as possible from one site to another!!!!

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Thats awful. Sorry to hear that CG.

 

[James Eaton]

Great.....didn't realise it was quite that bad, I am currently at Maerkang, just 4 hours drive to Balangshan, I will be going through that habitat tomorrow, not looking forward to it.

I guess all this disturbance could have a signficiant effect on finding Chinese Monal and Wood Snipe. This site being one of the few known (and certainly the easiest) sites for both of them.

I will let you know how the birding goes CG.

 

[china guy]

Prepare yourself for a shock - its like a scene from all quite on the western front- with hordes of workers looking like exhausted frontline troops!!!
And even though its too late now - make sure you make a bit of a fuss to anyone who will listen at Wolong/Wuyipeng!!!!

 

[Jodd]

And they call this progress. Very sad!

 

[china guy]

To the locals this indeed seems to be progress - they think bigger roads will attract more traffic - which to them means more people stopping in the area - but then again it could also means that traffic will now be zooming onwards at 70MPH instead of 40. They also can't understand why we make such a fuss about all that wild habitat that has been destroyed - after all now they can plant grass and garden-flowers to establish a park type environment at the bottom of the valley!!!
But then again it's not their fault since they have not been educated about the social/cultural/ecological/importance of preserving wildlife habitats - a problem that affects all of Chinese society. Therefore if there is a message from the environmental disaster that is going on in Wolong and other Chinese projects that threaten wildlife areas - then its how can we get that concept across to the people that matter - that wildlife, and the environment you find it in, is also an important matter when planning for a healthy future.
One why of doing this is by dropping a line or two to UNESCO -
[email protected]
- since wolong is part of a UNESCO site - so this organistion surely must have some influence in this matter?

 

[James Eaton]

Well....I've just been up and over the pass and through Wolong. It is amazing the work they are putting into widening the road, wish they had thought of this when they first built the road!

It does look appalling what they are doing, attempting to rebuild 140km of road in one go on that slope is one big feat. However, I am surprised by the amount of vegetation still present within 10m of the road, obviously they have taken back 2-3 metres, but I thought they were doing a fairly good job of keeping the forest intact, who knows what they are attempting in the valley bottom however, the river is a building site. I think in 5-10 years time things might not be as bad as they look now.

I'm confused - Why are they rebuilding the road over a length of 50km over the apss when they are also building a tunnel to bypass the pass?!

Didn't have time for birding as I'll be back there in 2 weeks, hopefully the Wood Snipes will remain....

 

[china guy]

Yes it that river valley that got my blood to boil!!!! A stretch of that from the foot of balangshan to the first lumber checkpoint was so picturesque - and also a great birdwatching habitat!!!!