Yunnan Travel – Yunnan Designation

Yunnan is located in Southwest China, bordering the Southeast Asian Peninsula, with a national border of 4,060 kilometers and a total area of 394,000 square kilometers. The name “Yunnan” is derived from ancient geographical features. According to records in Dian Lue, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty saw colorful clouds in the southern regions and sent envoys to chase them to today’s Xiangyun County (祥云县), hence the name. The abbreviation “Dian” (滇) originates from Dian Lake (滇池), an important lake in Yunnan that symbolizes the region’s history and culture.

Yunnan’s Ecological Designations

Yunnan is renowned as the “Kingdom of Plants,” “Kingdom of Animals,” “World Garden,” and a “Gene Bank of Species” due to its unique geographical environment and diverse climate conditions. It spans seven climate types, including the northern tropics, southern and central subtropics, northern subtropics, southern and central temperate zones, and plateau climates, encompassing almost all ecosystem types on Earth except for oceans, polar regions, and deserts.

Diverse Ecosystems

Yunnan’s ecological diversity is extremely rich, with ecosystems such as tropical rainforests, evergreen broad-leaved forests, dry-hot valley vegetation, and plateau wetlands. For example:
  • Tropical Rainforests: Yunnan hosts some of the best-preserved tropical rainforests at high latitudes in China.
  • Plateau Wetlands: Yunnan is home to several internationally important wetlands, including Dashanbao (大山包), Bitahai (碧塔海), and Napahai (纳帕海).
  • Dry-hot Valley Vegetation: The vegetation in the Yuanjiang National Nature Reserve (元江国家级自然保护区) resembles the African tropical savannas and is known as “China’s Savanna.”

International Recognition

Due to its rich biodiversity, Yunnan has been designated by several international organizations:
  • Designated as a “Center of Plant Diversity” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
  • Included in the WWF’s “Global 200 Ecoregions” list.
  • Recognized as an “Endemic Bird Area” by BirdLife International.

Ecological Conservation and Designations

In recent years, Yunnan has achieved significant progress in ecological civilization construction, with several regions being designated as national ecological civilization construction demonstration zones. For example:
  • Lancang County in Pu’er City (普洱市澜沧县) has been named a “Practice Innovation Base for ‘Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains are Invaluable Assets’.”
  • Dayao County in Chuxiong Prefecture (楚雄州大姚县) has been designated as a “National Ecological Civilization Construction Demonstration Zone.” Yunnan has also actively promoted biodiversity conservation, publishing the first national biodiversity white paper and establishing the world’s second-largest germplasm resource bank.

Ecological Corridors and Conservation Areas

Yunnan has planned and constructed multiple biodiversity conservation corridors, such as the Nujiang Biodiversity Conservation Corridor (怒江生物多样性保护廊道) and the Diqing-Lijiang Biodiversity Conservation Corridor (迪庆—丽江生物多样性保护廊道), aiming to connect different ecosystems and protect biodiversity.

Summary

The geographic and ecological designations of Yunnan reflect its unique natural environment and rich biodiversity. As the most biodiverse province in China, Yunnan is renowned worldwide for its ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity.