Current view: Text account
Site description (2009 baseline):
Site location and context
Located on the western edge of the Sichuan Basin, 134 km from Chengdu. The IBA extends 52 km from east to west and 63 km from north to south. The vegetation shows prominent vertical zonation, with broadleaf evergreen forest from 1,000-1,600 m, broadleaf evergreen forest at 1,600 m, broadleaf evergreen and deciduous mixed from 1,600-2,000 m, coniferous-broadleaf mixed forest from 2,000-2,600 m, coniferous forest from 2,600-3,600 m, alpine scrub and grassland from 3,600-4,800 m, and alpine vegetation from 4,500-5,000 m.
Non-bird biodiversity: Nationally protected plants include Davidia involucrate and Cercidiphyllum japonicum. Animals include Ailurpoda melanolenca, Pygathrix roxellanae, Panthera pardus, Neofelis nebulosa, Felis lynx, Ailurus fulgens, Cervus albirostris, Pseudois nayaur and Cervus unicolor.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
Established as a nature reserve in 1963, and upgraded to Wolong National Nature Reserve (200,000 ha) in 1975. Wolong was designated in 1979 as a ‘Biosphere Reserve’ under UNESCO’s Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme, and it was designated in 2006 under the World Heritage Convention as part of the ‘Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries World Heritage Site’.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Wolong Nature Reserve (China (mainland)). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/wolong-nature-reserve-iba-china-(mainland) on 23/12/2024.
