PANDA habitat in China鈥檚 Wolong Nature Reserve is disappearing at the same
rate or faster than habitat outside the reserve鈥檚 gates. Ecological degradation
is four times worse now than before the creation of the reserve 26 years ago,
and the panda population is believed to have halved, according to a report
appearing in Science(vol 292, p 98).
鈥淭ourists don鈥檛 see themselves as a destructive force, but they are. Even
eco-tourists,鈥� says Jianguo Liu of Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Liu analysed satellite images of the reserve and says that locals have plundered
natural resources like timber to meet tourists鈥� demands for heat, shelter and
presents to take home.