HAIKOU, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Before the morning mist fully lifts, the clear calls of Hainan gibbons already echo through the valleys of Bawangling, part of the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park in south China's Hainan Province.
The tropical rainforest in central Hainan is China's most concentrated, best-preserved, and largest contiguous continental-island-type tropical rainforest, and it forms an important part of the world's tropical rainforest system. Established in 2021, the national park covers about 4,269 square kilometers.
According to the park administration, 91 new wildlife and plant species have been discovered in the past five years, and more than 95 percent of Hainan's primary forest and over 55 percent of its natural forest have been effectively protected.
As the world's most endangered gibbon, the Hainan gibbons have long been the rainforest's "top star," with their swinging figures through the canopy the most direct proof of improving ecology in Hainan and also China at large.
Listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the Hainan gibbon once teetered on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 10 individuals remaining in just two groups. The Bawangling area is the species' only known habitat.
The gibbons are back in the spotlight as Saturday marks International Gibbon Day.
Data from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration showed that the population of Hainan's resident gibbons has increased to 44 in seven groups, making it the only gibbon species in the world with a continuously growing population.
Hainan gibbons have long arms and oval faces. The apes are gentle by nature and have unique calls. They feed mainly on ripe berries, tender leaves and twigs, and flower buds, and sometimes also eat honey, insects and bird eggs. Adult males have black fur, while females have golden fur. Females give birth to only one baby gibbon every two to three years.
In recent years, Hainan has stepped up efforts to improve and expand the gibbons' habitat. Measures include relocating residents from core protected areas, restoring degraded ecosystems and building ecological corridors.
Local authorities have also set up professional monitoring teams to conduct on-site monitoring and track the population through surveys. In addition, Hainan's forestry authorities have also established a global think tank for the national park, forming a joint global research mechanism.
Chen Qing, a forest worker involved in gibbon monitoring, has spent years observing the primates through binoculars, photographing them and recording their movements and behavior in a notebook.
Chen has also joined forest protection efforts organized by the Hainan forestry authorities and civil society organizations, planting fruit trees and building rope bridges for the gibbons.
"When we were short-handed, I brought my family members to the front line," Chen said. "We have restored and improved a large area of their habitat."
The gibbons' growing population reflects China's broader efforts to protect its natural environment, authorities said.
Fu Mingkai, a local guide, said the rainforest is a globally important gene pool of germplasm resources and home to many plants and animals unique to Hainan.
"For example, the Hainan gibbon and the Hainan peacock pheasant, both of which have very high requirements for their habitat, have been found here," he said.
Their presence and population recovery show that the rainforest is healthy and full of vitality, he added.
"Thanks to strict protection in recent years, the vegetation has recovered and biodiversity in the rainforest is improving," Fu said.
"The rainforest is the Hainan gibbon's home, and it is my home too," Chen said. "I am sure that one day there will be more gibbons singing songs in the morning to awaken the primeval tropical rainforest." ■
