If you ever scroll through Instagram or TikTok, chances are you’ve come across a video of a big, fluffy panda munching on bamboo or rolling around. After all, the big, black-and-white animal can be very cute to look at. But despite the fact that there are many videos of them, there are not very many pandas in the world. According to the organization behind the international red list of threatened species, IUCN, there are only between 500 and 1,000 adult individuals in the world – but in return the population is growing. In China, for a number of years, a major effort has been made to increase the number of pandas, and it has worked. The population is almost double what it was in the 80s, when there were approximately 1,100 pandas in China. The latest count from 25 January shows that the number has risen to 1,900. – We think in every way that the world would be poorer without the panda, and therefore it is worth being happy. It also shows that even though we humans can be very destructive, we can also be constructive, says Mette Boye, who is environmental director at the WWF World Wide Fund for Nature. The giant panda is still “vulnerable” on the international red list of endangered species – but since 2016 it is no longer defined as “critically endangered” on the list. So things are going in the right direction for the pandas. All species are important In the past, criticism has been raised against that form of nature conservation, which focuses exclusively on saving the big, cute fur-clad animals, rather than, for example, the thousands of insects that are also at risk of extinction. – It is always good news when very endangered animal species make progress in nature, says Mette Boye. Because up to a million species are at risk of extinction, and we have had a decline of 69 per cent since 1970 in both animals and plants. All species are important regardless of whether it is a cute animal or not, so we are happy that there is progress, she continues. – But the fact that the panda is making progress does not necessarily mean that things are going well for all the species with which it should live together, for the ecosystem or biological diversity in general. You cannot use the progress of a single species to say that things are generally going well, she adds. But she that it can be useful for communicating how important it is to protect nature that the panda is moving forward, precisely because of its eye-catching appearance. – There is poor quality in a nature conservation project when you only focus on one species. But having said that, it is quite obvious that it is easier to raise money for a conservation project if you use iconic species that are known to more people. It is easier for us to understand. Many of us live far from nature, and without the connection needed to understand how big a problem the crisis in biological diversity is, she says. The panda’s forest has been threatened The panda’s habitat in the Chinese mountains has been under pressure. Mette Boye says that the panda only lives in China, and here its protected area has been expanded from 1.39 million hectares to 2.58 million hectares. In addition, an extensive breeding program has been created. – They have created a number of corridors in China where the pandas live, where they have helped to ensure the standard of living for the panda, she says. Of course, it also benefits other animals, plants and biodiversity in general – and WWF has also helped to get the local population on board. It is important that local people have alternatives to deforestation, otherwise the panda will have nowhere to live. There must be alternative energy sources for heating, she says. In the corridors where the pandas now live, there is, according to Mette Boye, a forest that thrives and grows. Moreover, research shows, according to WWF, that many other animals are also protected when the panda’s habitat is protected. Namely, 565 birds, 81 reptiles, 179 mammals, 132 fish and 92 toads live in the panda’s forests, where some of those animals are also threatened. Boye also says that it is also a climate benefit that the panda’s habitat is better protected. – Climate and biodiversity are linked. A stable ecosystem is better equipped to absorb and store CO2, and animals can better adapt to climate change.
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