China

Baishuijiang Biosphere Reserve is located in the Wenxian County of Gansu Province. One of the primary aims of this biosphere reserve is the conservation of the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), and Baishuijiang is one of the regions with the highest Panda populations in China. The area is also important from a biodiversity perspective since it offers a large variance of elevations including evergreen broad-leaved forests and alpine meadows.

There are 15 villages and small towns with some 100,000 people in the transition area (1999). The majority of the people are of Han nationality. However, Tibetans and Hui also live in the biosphere reserve. The main economic activity is agriculture and the average income is very low. This gives rise to a conflict between the use of the natural resources and conservation. One of the goals within the biosphere reserve is therefore to help local communities expand the local economy, to develop eco-forestry and agro-forestry as alternative ways of subsistence, and also to develop the infrastructure in the region.