The park in Chongzuo County of Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which opened to the public on August 11, is one of the world's last natural refuges of the endangered primates.

A brainchild of one of the country's leading zoologists, it is a rare combination of a field research base and an ecotourism destination.

In spite of the many challenges it faces, the park has great potential to become a model of both conservation and development under the care of a group of devout researchers.

Initial Work

Living on sheer cliff faces and overhanging rocks of limestone hills, the white-headed langur (Trachypithecus francoisi leucocephalus) can only be found in this part of China.

Their coats are glossy black, apart from their heads and the tips of their tails, which are white. Fewer than 800 of these monkeys still inhabit the hillsides - a smaller number than the giant panda which number around 1,000 in China.

Also known as white-headed leaf monkey, the langur is one of the most endangered primates in the world.

Troops of the precious wild langur living on forested limestone pinnacles close to a deserted barracks first caught the attention of Professor Pan Wenshi and his graduate student Yin Lijie when they moved to the compound - located between Luobai and Banli townships of Chongzuo County - in December 1996.

Then leading a group of students from Peking University to base in the compound, the professor followed the visit by beginning his ground-breaking research on the langur.

Director of the Giant Panda and Wildlife Conservation Research Center at Peking University, the 65-year-old zoologist has won fame for his cumulative achievements in panda research and conservation in a career spanning more than 20 years.

Fascinated by animal behavior for years, the professor expected his new research could help mankind gain an understanding of the leaf monkey's current status, population dynamics, social behavior, mating system, and their relationship with the environment.

White-headed langurs are threatened on two fronts. Poachers actively seek to catch the primates while farmers are encroaching on their natural habitat.

The professor hopes his efforts can help save the creature from extinction. "The fate of the subject of our study is much more important than any research results," he said.

Research lasting six years has yielded new information on the monkey for Pan and his team.

More importantly, their efforts have also influenced the decisions of the local government and changed attitudes of the local people.

Local officials are actively working to protect the habitat of the monkey and are looking at ways to develop ecotourism on the basis of Pan's work.

"Until Professor Pan came here, we knew almost nothing about environmental protection and ecotourism," said Wei Junlin, then head of the county.

"He opened a window for all of us."

The local government closed two limestone pits near the barracks between 1997 and 1998.

In March 2001, it invested more than 2 million yuan (US$242,000) to upgrade part of the barracks into the Biodiversity Research Base of Peking University in Chong-zuo. There Pan and his students have set up office rooms and a dormitory.

Pan's renown has secured funds to improve the quality of drinking water, upgrade a local primary school, and promote the use of methane-gas in the villages neighboring the base.

Poaching by villagers ended in 1998.

As a result, the professor and his students have found the local population of the monkey is rising.

Between December 1996 and March 1998, they chronicled the monkeys in an area of about 8 square kilometers (3 square milles) around the barracks and recorded 16 bands and troops of 147 langurs.

"And now there are 25 troops of more than 250 monkeys," Pan said. "This is the most important achievement of our initial efforts."

Goals of the Park

In the first half of last year, the local government began to build the Chongzuo Ecology Park designed by Pan and his team.

The park, with a total area of 24 square kilometers (9.3 square miles), covers the field research area and the base of the team, placing the 25 troops of more than 250 white-headed langurs under protection.

So far more than 5 million yuan (US$604,000) has been invested to build up a reception center, a projection room, a biodiversity exhibition hall, a restaurant and a guesthouse in the barracks.

Visitors can walk along a well-paved circuit lane into a flat valley surrounded by the rugged and bumpy Karst rock hills. Every morning and evening they can watch troops of the cliff-hangers playing close to their cave dwellings on the hills.

However, the ecology park has not been built to satisfy people's curiosity of the monkey, said the professor in the meeting room of his base, now part of the park.

"We have reached consensus with officials at all levels in this region on four development goals for the park," he said. "Above all, it has been built to protect the white-headed langurs and their living environment."

According to Pan, the white-headed langur is the "flagship" species of biodiversity in the area. "By protecting the monkey, we can protect the whole tropical monsoon ecosystem they rely on," he said.

The area is also the natural sanctuary of more than 40 species of mammals, 150 species of birds, 30 species of amphibians and reptiles, and more than 100 kinds of herbs.

The second goal of the park is to become a base for education in environmental protection.

"We expect that people can learn the importance of environmental protection by a visit to the park and realize that every form of life has its right to exist," Pan said.

Visitors should tour the park in the company of a well-trained member of staff, according to the master plan of the park. At present, these staff members are Pan's graduate students and even doctoral students.

"My students are just temporary members of the staff and all of them have research work of their own," the professor said. "So we expect visitors coming in organized groups."

The third goal is that the income of the park will be used to support research of the white-headed langur.

Dr Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International, a private environmental group based in Washington D. C. of the United States, told the opening ceremony on August 11 that the base was "undoubtedly the best" he had visited.

"With advanced research facilities and future support for the park, we are confident of securing accurate research results," Pan said.

Income of the park will also be used to develop the neighboring communities and economy of the county, which is also a development goal of the park.

Immediate Challenges

However, some challenges are immediate.

No entrance fees were charged to tourists visiting during its opening week and people from neighboring areas poured into the park.

Students found that rubbish increased greatly, littering the natural environment.

Researchers also found they were disturbed by tourists while making routine observations of the monkeys during the mornings and evenings.

The quiet world where the langurs live was disturbed, as tourists shouted and cried high-spiritedly when finding monkeys.

Ulrike Streicher, a visiting German biologist, warned that tourists might disturb the monkeys and affect their natural behaviors in the long run.

A local official even put forward the suggestion of building a karaoke bar and a bigger car park to the professor.

"No, this park is not a common park or a recreational center," Pan explained. "As an ecology park, it must be as environmentally friendly as possible."

Realizing there was still a vacuum in the management of the park, the professor has begun meeting the local officials and calling for the establishment of a management committee as soon as possible.

Comprising representatives from the local government and the base, the committee will control tourist numbers.

"We will conduct research to decide the capacity of the park," he said.

The scholar also plans to hold a training course in environmental protection and ecotourism for local officials in October.

"Most of them lack basic knowledge about environmental protection or ecotourism," he said. "Training them is even more urgent than training a group of tour guides. After all, they will be the future managers of the park and we will become supervisors sooner or later."

In spite of all these difficulties, the biologist is still optimistic about the future of the park.

"Really there is no unconquerable difficulty," he said. "What we need are time and patience."

(China Daily August 26, 2002)