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Many regions across the globe located along the Tropic of Cancer are arid deserts, yet Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve in Zhaoqing, Guangdong province, stands as an ecological outlier with a 98 percent forest coverage rate.

As China's first national nature reserve, this primeval forest — referred to as the "Green Pearl on the Tropic of Cancer Desert Belt" — harbors 2,291 species of higher plants and 277 species of birds, and the groundbreaking scientific achievements made in the reserve have revolutionized global understanding of forest carbon sequestration.

Species gene bank

In the 1920s, a group of botanists, including Chen Huanyong, the first director of the South China Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered the rich biodiversity of Dinghu Mountain during field research.

They recognized it as a natural species gene bank vital for scientific study, and thus advocated for the preservation of its natural vegetation.

"At that time, scientists represented by Chen realized that the development of the new China must prioritize natural conservation. They were pioneers in establishing nature reserves," said Xia Hanping, director of the Dinghu Mountain reserve's administration bureau.

Thanks to their advocacy, the Dinghu Mountain National Nature Reserve was established in 1956.

From its inception, scientists and forest rangers have worked generation after generation, dedicating themselves to scientific conservation methods to protect and preserve Dinghu Mountain.

"Initially, 82 percent of Dinghu Mountain consisted of non-native forests and even barren hills. Through measures like closing off the mountain for reforestation and precise cultivation, the forest coverage is above 98 percent, and biodiversity has been protected," said Xia, who has worked at Dinghu Mountain for over three years.

"Discovering 17.8 new species per square kilometer is rare among natural reserves nationwide," Xia said. The Dinghu Mountain model has yielded 202 species, with 44 directly named after Dinghu, like the Didymocarpus dinghushanensis and Lysimachia dinghushanensis.

In 2018, the first footage of a Chinese pangolin was captured in Dinghu Mountain, a species missing for over 30 years, using infrared cameras, further underscoring its unique value as a species gene bank.