Illustration: Liu Xiangya/Global Times

China's first "giant panda college" was inaugurated in Nanchong, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, on Monday, aiming to cultivate specialized professionals for the conservation of giant pandas and other rare animals and plants.

The giant panda, a unique and rare wildlife species, holds a distinguished status as a "flagship species" in global biodiversity conservation efforts. It stands as a "living fossil" within the animal kingdom, enjoying adoration from people around the world.

With more than a dozen of panda experts' engagement, the new college is set to specialize in multiple areas including talent development, scientific research, cultural preservation and international exchange. It will further promote the development of giant panda conservation toward a disciplinary, professional, and systematic direction, meanwhile aiming to become a significant institution for biodiversity conservation worldwide.

The Giant Panda College is a secondary college based on the School of Life Science of China West Normal University (CWNU).

The CWNU Party head Wang Yuanjun told the Global Times that the new college will not only make fresh and substantial contributions to ecological civilization development and global ecological environmental conservation and governance, but also serve as a crucial platform for enhancing the image of Sichuan.

Beyond the biological significance, the giant pandas are also a cultural emblem of Sichuan, a province which is home to the majority of the world's wild pandas. 

The animals' population in Sichuan is up to 1,387, and the giant panda habitat has expanded to over 20,000 square kilometers, accounting for 74.4 percent and 78.7 percent of the national total respectively. 

The population of giant pandas in captivity in Sichuan exceeds 600, making up 86.1 percent of the national total.

Director of the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Forestry and Grassland Li Tianman emphasized that Sichuan serves as both the historical habitat and contemporary focal point for giant pandas and so bears the duty of safeguarding these iconic creatures. 

However, the survival and reproduction of giant pandas faces numerous risks and challenges. And there is an urgent need to leverage technological innovation to address these issues and promote conservation.

The establishment of the giant panda college marks the commencement of a fresh chapter in Sichuan's commitment to teaching, research, and talent development in the field of giant panda conservation.

Meanwhile, this college will also serve as a base to attract giant panda enthusiasts both at home and abroad and those who want to devote themselves to protecting and researching the species, according to Zhao Songsheng, manager of YueWeiLai, a Chengdu-based NGO dedicated to protecting giant pandas. And the college can be a platform to disseminate giant panda culture, such as academic research and popularization of science on giant pandas. 

The CWNU was selected to house the giant panda college due to its early and enduring involvement in ecological research concerning giant pandas. 

China's first field survey and investigation on giant pandas, the world's first wild giant panda field ecological observation station, China's first international cooperation in wildlife conservation, and the world's first comprehensive academic monograph on giant pandas were all completed by experts from CWNU.

The institution strives to play a pivotal role in ecological conservation, habitat restoration and management, the establishment and governance of the Giant Panda National Park, population rejuvenation and reintroduction of giant pandas into the wild, as well as research and dissemination of giant panda culture, according to Wang.

The Sichuan education authority expressed the hope that the college will continue to cultivate versatile talents to contribute to policy research, planning and construction, ecological protection, scientific research monitoring, community co-development and international cooperation and exchange within giant panda national parks.

In addition to relying on the faculty of the College of Life Science, the giant panda college has hired 22 experts who will serve as members of the expert committee of the college.

Jointly established by the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Forestry and Grassland and CWNU, the college is committed to cultivating undergraduate and graduate talents for panda research. 

It will first offer a major in National Park Construction and Management and plans to commence undergraduate admissions in 2024, with the aim of achieving provincial recognition as a top-tier program within three years.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. life@globaltimes.com.cn