Vibrant park, better village life

Nature conservation attracts tourists and profits, fueling development of a township, Yang Feiyue reports.

What was once a wasteland has now turned into a vibrant place in the forest for humans and nature to interact.

About a 40-minute drive from downtown Haikou, capital of Hainan province, the Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park and Botanical Garden sits in the southwest part of the city and allows visitors to take a closer look at the mostly tropical variety of plants and animals in the park.

Many locals, especially those with children, have frequented the park over the years.

At the park, they can see giant pandas, Eld's deer, hippopotami, northern white-cheeked gibbons and giraffes, and learn about nature along the way.

The Hainan park has become a hot spot in recent years, attracting about 550,000 tourist visits each year.

It has fueled development of the surroundings and improved local life, especially the catering and homestay business mostly run by villagers in Dongshan township.

"There were no zoos in Hainan, so we decided to move in and open one," says Shang Xiao, one of the zoo's founders in 1995. The zoo is part of the Hainan Tropical Wildlife Park.

However, problems soon ensued after the park's opening the following year. Undesirable road conditions and an unreliable transportation system from the city kept potential visitors away.

Worse still, the park also failed to make a profit and was thrown into the deep end with defaults on farmers' compensation, land rental, employees' salaries and shareholder divestments in 2001.

Despite facing the possibility of bankruptcy, Shang persisted and took over the helm on her own.

"I couldn't let go," Shang says.

Thinking about the animals and the fact that many villagers relied on income from the zoo, Shang felt responsible for their well-being and this urged her to carry on.

To support the development of the park, Shang sold her own apartment and car, and even took out bank loans in 2003.

She used the loans to pay her employees and take care of the animals.

"Unlike other scenic spots, there are always so many mouths to feed in a zoo regardless of how many visitors it receives in a day, and these costs are fixed," Shang says.

"In addition to the usual three meals a day, many animals also need late-night snacks."

After settling the most urgent issues, Shang led her employees to improve visitor experience.

"We worked on the standards of the park based on what is required of a national 4A scenic spot," Shang says.

More animal and plant species were introduced, infrastructure was upgraded, and employees were given training to offer better services to visitors.

"Fortunately, it all came through," Shang says.

With all the thorny issues being solved one by one, park operations were eventually on the right track.

Throughout the park's ongoing operations, Shang often pondered on the meaning behind animal behavior, the connection between protecting the environment and caring for the animals, and how to live in harmony with wild animals.

The former teacher was not satisfied with the Hainan park being just a sightseeing attraction. Shang wanted this "crazy animal park" to be a school for everyone coming here.

So she began the meticulous planning herself.

A rubber production experience area and medicinal herbal exhibitions have been held at the park.

Shang has also consulted with experts from the local hospital, epidemic prevention center, forestry bureau and seismological department to jointly set up a science and technology observatory so that educational activities can be conducted in the park.

After much hard work, the Hainan park now receives about 100,000 student visits annually.

During off-peak seasons, Shang will invite professionals from the China Wildlife Conservation Association and the Northeast Forestry University to give lectures to the park employees.

The lectures cover topics such as wildlife epidemic management, animal breeding management and animal medical operations. The park also provides free natural science classes for children of the employees.

For many villagers in Dongshan, the Hainan park has become their major source of income.

Shang has insisted on recruiting people living in the neighborhood to help increase local income.

The park has hired around 200 residents in Dongshan, including 17 families.

Lin Weiqiang has worked his way up to be deputy manager of the park's animal management department. He is a resident of Dongshan and he started off as a zookeeper. He earns an annual income of 60,000 yuan ($9,288), and his brother-in-law is also working as a supplier for panda food at the park.

Each year, the park purchases more than 200,000 yuan worth of bamboo for its pandas.

Lin says the park has made life for his family pretty comfortable, especially when they had to live off the land before.

Tourism development and agricultural procurement by the park has also brought economic benefits to more than 2,000 people in the area.

Some villagers living near the park have opened homestays and restaurants, and some never have to worry about selling their homegrown vegetables, livestock and fruit, as all of it will be snapped up by homestay owners or travelers.

The park has signed an agreement with local households in two villages of Dongshan to supply the park with animal feed.

"The scenic area is home to more than 2,000 wild animals of over 100 species from home and abroad, and raising many of those animals requires tons of meat, while large herbivores need a lot of grass feed," Shang says.

To provide better nutrition for those animals, other food such as carrots, honey, bamboo and fruit are added to their diet.

About 2,500 tons of meat, vegetables and fruit are purchased from the Dongshan villagers every year, amounting to 10 million yuan.

"We are preparing to set up cooperatives with surrounding villages to strengthen cooperation," Shang says.

In the near future, Shang says the Hainan park is going to expand and more animal and plant species will be introduced into the park.

"We will create night tours and nature programs, and build hotels. We can expect to employ 3,000 to 5,000 people for these new facilities," Shang says.

In addition to the existing supply sources, the park will look to cooperate with other neighboring villages to secure new supplies.

"The expansion will require more supplies, and we hope to reach out to more villagers in need," Shang says.

With the park business gradually improving, Shang began to shift an increasing amount of her attention to corporate social responsibility. She believes that the value of life does not depend on how much wealth is created, but on how much power is contributed to others and society.

Under Shang's management, the park has organized nearly 100 nonprofit activities including popular science education, animal protection, and caring for the elderly and autistic children.

It has also donated more than 1,500 items through their nonprofit programs.

Shang is happy that some children from the neighboring villages who have spent lots of time at the park have chosen to pursue animal protection and garden landscape design courses in college.

"Perhaps the years of dealing with tropical plants and rare birds, and the love, optimism and hard work have rubbed off onto the park staff and their children, as well as children in the surrounding villages," Shang says.

Contact the writer at yangfeiyue@chinadaily.com.cn