Panda dens

Dujiangyan Panda Migration Station project area in Sichuan Province covers 400 km2 and lies between two major panda populations. This makes its forests important for ecological connectivity. Today, the mist shrouds this ‘city of rain’ - a forest of trees, bamboo over 400 native rhododendrons.

Following the nationwide ban on commercial logging in natural forests, forest farms (areas previously logged) needed support to manage large areas for conservation. With support from WWF, including the construction of a ranger monitoring station and capacity building; forest farm staff have become conservation rangers. In 2018, habitat restoration began with planting of bamboo and other native plants in efforts to enhance the habitat for wildlife. Today, WWF continues to support with wildlife monitoring and ranger training, providing equipment such as camera traps. 

Based on the early signs of interest from the giant pandas, in 2025 the project grew. WWF supported community volunteer training on wildlife monitoring and further artificial den construction in Dujiangyan. And the expansion of the pilot project to the Daxiangling area of the GPNP. This is an area that similarly serves as a critical corridor for panda movement but also lacks ancient trees and natural hollows. Extending and replicating the experience from Dujiangyan, a team of collaborators here conducted field surveys and constructed 10 new artificial dens, and participated in the surveys, site selection and construction work. 

In late 2024, the Dujiangyan camera traps saw giant pandas showing an interest in the dens. Other wildlife also continues to check them out and use them to shelter from the elements, including black bears, golden monkeys and leopard cats.