When Jack Liu travels to China, he is fighting to save the country's depleting forests and wildlife.
As an associate professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Liu has conducted more than two years of research on the problems plaguing the nature reserves in China. Liu and his co-authors' findings were published in the May 23 edition of Science magazine.
"Biodiversity in China is under tremendous human impact, destroying much of its plant and animal species," Liu said. "Protecting biodiversity is important because it can provide a lot of benefits to human society."
Liu's last trip to China was in June 2002. He conducted the majority of his research at the Wolong Nature Reserve in Sichuan province, in southwestern China. He has traveled to China about 10 times since 1996 to do research. The preservation group, The World Conservation Union, listed China among the countries with the most threatened birds and mammals in 2002. About 25 percent of its species are threatened.
Chinese officials plan on increasing the number of reserves to 1,800 by 2010 and 2,500 by 2050. The Chinese government established 1,757 national and local nature reserves and are protected by the government, Liu said. The reserves cover about 13 percent of China, but about a third of the reserves have no management teams and no staff.
"It's a nice practice in theory, but in reality some reserves receive extra protection while some don't," Liu said.
According to the article co-authored by Liu in Science magazine, China contains 10 percent of the world's population of large trees, mammals and birds.
But Liu said many of these reserves are big tourists attractions and this creates the construction of new roads, hotels and restaurants, some which are built directly inside the reserve areas.
But tourists aren't the only people destroying the country's resources.
Residents living in and near the areas are cutting down trees and destroying the resources that sustain the ecosystems. Liu and his co-authors proposed fixing this problem by encouraging the government to invest in education, so local people will leave for urban areas to seek higher levels of education and jobs.
"I think we're all very hopeful that some of these changes may happen soon, but some may take a long time," Liu said.
Stuart Pimm, Liu's co-author and Doris Duke Chair of Conservation Ecology at Duke University, said a prime example of locals affecting the ecosystem is the killing of giant pandas by destroying the bamboo habitat. The bamboo tree is the main source of nourishment for pandas.
"The panda habitat is being destroyed even within the reserves," Pimm said. "A lot of that is because there are still people living within the reserves."
Liu estimates millions of people live in and around the nature reserves.
Even though there are government restrictions on poaching pandas and destroying their habitats, there are only about 1,000 pandas left in the wild, Liu said.
Pandas are mostly found in the Sichuan province.
Since 1996, Liu's research has focused primarily on panda habitat in relation to human population and activity. His work has shown panda habitat has decreased in area since the habitats were converted into nature reserves.
Liu said another way of improving management of the reserves entails investing more money into the areas.
The Chinese State Forestry Administration increased funding from $2.4 million in 2000 to $29 million in 2002.
Liu attributes most of the increased funding to China's thriving economy.
Bill Taylor, chairman for the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife said Liu's work speaks highly of MSU.
"MSU is a real global university," Taylor said. "Jack's research allows our students and faculty to understand the importance of global environment and how it transcends boundaries."
Antonio Planas can be reached at planasan@msu.edu.
