Wild Camel Protection Foundation
Xinjiang Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve
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Wild Camel Protection Foundation Xinjiang Lop Nur Wild Camel National Nature Reserve |
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On March 18th 1999, the State Environment Protection Administration of China (SEPA) signed the document which officially established the 65,000 square kilometre Xinjiang Lop Nur Wild Camel Nature Reserve in China's north western province, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous region. The new nature reserve is located in the south-east of Xinjiang Province, east of the Tarim river basin. The dried-up lake bed of Lop Nur is in the centre of the region and it is surrounded by the Gashun Gobi desert to the north, east and west and by the Aqike valley and the Kum Tagh sand dunes to the south. The Kuruk Tagh mountains, an extension of the Tien Shan mountain range, dissect the area north of Lop Nur. The valleys of these mountains provide shelter for the wild Bactrian camel. To the east runs a corridor of sand dunes stretching 80 km from north to south. This forms a natural barrier to the east for the wild Bactrian camel. This inhospitable waterless habitat was China's former nuclear test site. The Nature reserve has been established specifically to protect the wild Bactrian camel and its fragile habitat The protection here of the Bactrian camel means it acts as an 'umbrella species' protecting many other endangered species, the wild sheep, the Tibetan ass and goitered gazelle which are found in the northern and southern fringes of the Nature Reserve. Other objectives are:
| To protect unique desert ecosystems and landforms in the Lop Nur area. |  Click to view larger version |
| To train personnel in desert biodiversity conservation management. | |
| To fully integrate local communities conservation efforts within the proposed Nature Reserve through the medium of a comprehensive educational programme. | |
| To improve water-points for threatened species. | |
| To preserve unique wind erosion land forms. | |
| To provide a model for Nature Reserve and bio-diversity conservation of other desert areas of China |
Biodiversity Description of the Nature Reserve Area
The Great Gobi Desert is the great stony desert of North Central Asia. It covers an area which runs in an East-West direction across South East Mongolia and Northern China, from the Da Hinggan (Greak Khingan) mountains to the Tian Shan. It is one of the world's largest deserts. Situated on a plateau which has an average height of between 3,000 and 5,000 feet (910 - 1,520 metres) it is made up of a series of shallow alkaline basins. The Kerulan River is the largest permanent river in the Gobi Desert, all other streams are intermittent and either flow into small salt lakes or disappear into the sand. Almost all the topsoil has been blown awat by the prevailing North West winds, with much of it deposited in North Central China as loess.
It is situated deep within the continental interior of the Asian continent and far from moisture laden winds. Precipitation may occur only once every two or three years and averages less than 100mm annually. The winters are very cold and the summers short and hot. The climate is extreme, temperatures rise to 40 degrees Celsius in the summer and fall to -40 degrees Celsius in the winter.
The Great Gobi Desert is one of the greatest deserts in the world, and with its variation of desert types it is unique in Asia. While vegetation is sparse, the desert itself varies from rocky mountain massifs to the flat pavement-like areas of the extreamely arid desert; stony "gobi" desert plains, poplar fringed oases; vast washed-out plains and high sand dunes. Ancient fossils how that the Great Gobi Desert was once part of a large inland sea basin.
It is of world wide importance as a region of unique landscapes with special fauna and flora. It is possible to find representatives of the ancient surface fauna of Central Asia, the wild Bactrian camel (Camelus bactrianus ferus), Gobi bear (Ursus arctos), wild Argali sheep (Ovis ammon), the Wild Ass (Equus hemionus) and the Black-tailed gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa). All these species are listed in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Red Book of Mongolia, 1987. It was also the last refuge in the wild of Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalski), the Asian wild horse.
The plan is to develop co-operation and a common approach between China and Mongolia to the conservation of the biodiversity of the unique Great Gobi Desert ecosystem. The Great Gobi desert and its fauna so not recognise international borders and successful biodiversity maagement will involve the management staff of the protected areas in both countries.
WCPF thinks that it is necessary to include two desert areas in China, the Great Gobi Desert in the north of Gansu Province which adjoins the Great Gobi desert in Xinjiang Province, China. In 2000 the Chinese Ministry of Environment (SEPA) as part of a UNEP/GEF funded project designated an area in the Gashun Gobi of 65,000 square kilometers to protected, the Xinjiang Lop Nur Wild Camel Nature Reserve. This particular area of the Gashun Gobi desert is extremely fragile as there has been little or no human intrusion into the area during the last fifty to sixty years and several of the animal populations are "naive" and unused to human intrusion. Many of the highly endangered flora and fauna which occur in the Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area also occur in this area of the Gashun Gobi desert.
In addition to the new Nature Reserve there are other protected areas which have borders contiguous with the new Nature Reserve. They are the Arjin Shan Reserve (15,000 square kilometers) the Annanba Protected Area (3,960 square kilometers) and the Wanyaodong (333 square kilometers).
There are legal government mining operations in the northern edge of the Xinjiang Lop Nur Wild Camel Nature Reserve and with easy access roads it is easy for off-road vehicles to enter these once remote desert areas. Illegal miners and hunters can now easily approach wild life which was once inaccessible. In the Gashun Gobi desert it is common for illegal miners to lay mines at water holes to blow up wild Bactrian camels for food. Fresh water is available in the very southern edge of the gashun Gobi desert, south of the Kum Tagh sand mountains, where it meets the Arjin Shan mountains. Here snow melts provide fresh water for wildlife during certain seasons. Skeletons of young wild Bactrian camels found in the Gashun Gobi desert during recent scientific expeditions suggest that many of these young camels under two years of age are unsuccessful at adapting to drinking salt water which is an essential requirement for survival in the harsh ecosystem of the Gashun Gobi desert.
The area in Gansu contigous with the Mongolian border should also be designated and ratified as a Nature Reserve, to ensure all the cross border migrating routes of the wild Bactrian camel are identified and included where possible witin its boundaries. The border desert area between Mongolia and China where human interference has been minimal is considered to be in a pristine or near pristine condition.
An urgent reason for seeking to establish this Nature Reserve in China is that several species from the Great Gobi Strictly Prohibited Area move freely across the border from Mongolia into China and so not due to threats on the Chinese side return. In China, illegal miners hunt many of these wild animals, in particular the wild Bactrian camel. Also when mining for gold the miners use potassium cyanide which seeps into the soil and contaminates plant life.
Designating areas in both China and Mongolia either as Nature Reserves or Strictly Protected Areas will enable access to be controlled. The co-operation and exchange of scientific information between the two countries would contribute to greater knowledge in the following areas: changing climate conditions in arid and semi arid deserts; DNA and genetic research work on the rare and endangered species, the Gobi bear, the wild Argali sheep and the wild Bactrian camel; desert vegetation; water and mineral resources; ability or adaptability of the wild Bactrian camel to drinking salt water; migrationg patterns of the endangered species; and the opportunity to study the unique flora and fauna of the desert ecosystems.
Threats and Barriers to Effective Biodiversity Conservation in the Great Gobi Desert
The main problem is the loss of biodiversity in the Great Gobi Desert ecosystem protected within the boundaries of the Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area.
The degradation of the habitat and mis-management of resources in the Buffer Zone area adjoining the Strictly Protected Area has impacted directly on its biodiversity.
In Mongolia
The major threats are:
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Human activities:
- over grazing in the Buffer Zone
- depletion of plants, saxaul and desert poplar for fuel.
- border patrol staff keep domestic camels, which stray and hybridise with wild
Bactrian camels.
• Habitat degradation
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Water Resources
- due to prolonged drought, water resources have dried up; 20 watering holes
reduced to 13 in Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area.
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Wolf Predation
- fresh water oases and springs, sites where young wild animals are killed.
• Failure to develop economic alternatives for local communities
• Ineffective management of the Specially Protected Area and implementation of enforcement regulations.
In China
Gansu Great Gobi Desert Area
The major threats are:
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Human activities
- illegal mining and inadequate controls
- potassium cyanide used in gold mining, poisons flora and fauna
- activities of border patrols
- hunting
Gashun Gobi Desert Area
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Human activities
- economic development
- illegal mining
- construction of roads allowing vehicles across
- hunting for sport
• Wolves - Only in the southern edge where the Gashun Gobi Desert meets the northern escarpment of the Arjin Shan, for here there is fresh water. In the heart of the Gashun Gobi unlike the Great Gobi Desert in Mongolia the only available water is salt water which wolves cannot drink.
Threats to the Biodiversity of the Area
The Great Gobi is a vulnerable and extremely fragile ecosystem. Vegetation is sparse and most species which live within the ecosystem are already at the extreme range of their habitat and are often endangered themselves. Human pressure on a delicately balanced ecosystem such as the Great Gobi or the Buffer Zone (the area which adjoins the borders of the Strictly Protected Area and is protected and regulated by the protected area staff) does not have to be significant to have a catastrophic effect on the entire biodiversity.
Unless management programmes for the Great Gobi Desert ecosystem in both China and Mongolia are managed using an ecosystem approach further degradation of the biodiversity of the desert ecosystem is inevitable. The principles of an ecosystem approach have been clearly enunciated in the World Resources Report 2000 - 2001.