A BEAUTIFUL HOME FOR ALL

Earlier this year, a herd of wild Asian elephants wandering in southwest China’s Yunnan Province captured the attention of the entire world. Departing their home range in Xishuangbanna on the very southern border of Yunnan as early as March 2020, the herd traveled more than 500 km north before reaching the provincial capital, Kunming, in June, and finally returned home in August after a 500-day round trip.

While the elephants’ adventure led them into close proximity of towns, villages, croplands and other human settlements, effective management by local governments prevented clashes with local people. Key in moderating the human-elephant interaction was the oft-cited fact that while crops will grow back next year, endangered elephants are a precious and irreplaceable treasure. The epic journey of this troop of 14 elephants, which was live-streamed on the Internet, drew the attention of people around the world, not only to biodiversity conservation in Yunnan, but also to the importance of cultivating a harmonious relationship between humans and nature.

On October 12, at the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), President Xi Jinping