In autumn, the mountains are green and colorful.
On September 30, the reporter drove to the 63rd forest class of the Huanggou Forest Farm of Wangqing Forestry Branch of Jilin Changbai Mountain Forest Industry Group, and walked up the mountain road to the top of the mountain, where a Northeast yew tree with the reputation of "King of Trees" stood proudly in this lofty mountain.
"It is more than 20 meters high, with a diameter at breast height of 168 centimeters, and the age of the tree is 3,000 years. It is the largest Northeast yew discovered by Wangqing Forestry Branch so far. Standing next to this "living fossil", Qu Li, director of the Wildlife Protection Office of Wang Qing Forestry Branch, told reporters that Northeast yew, also known as yew and red cedar pine, is a precious tree species relict in the Tertiary Period, with a history of 2.5 million years on the earth, and is recognized as an endangered natural rare plant in the world, known as a "living fossil" of plants. The requirements for the ecological environment are very harsh, and the wild stock is very small. Fortunately, the area under the jurisdiction of Wangqing Forestry Branch is a typical temperate continental monsoon climate, and the fertile brown forest soil and dense forests create a suitable habitat.
In order to protect the Northeast yew resources and the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest ecosystem on which it depends, Wangqing Forestry Branch applied for the establishment of Wangqing Provincial Nature Reserve in December 2002, and in June 2013, with the approval of the State Council, it was promoted to Jilin Wangqing National Nature Reserve, with a total area of 67,434 hectares. This is the largest national nature reserve in mainland China, with Northeast yew as the main protection object. In December 2012, the China Wild Plant Conservation Association awarded Wang Qing Forestry Branch the title of "Hometown of Yew in Northeast China". In 2018, the tree was rated as "the most beautiful Northeast yew" by the National Greening Committee and the Chinese Forestry Society.
"Ancient and famous trees are living cultural relics, witnesses of history, precious heritage left by nature and predecessors, and objectively record and vividly reflect the traces of social development and natural changes." In order to strengthen the protection and management of ancient and famous trees, over the years, Wang Qing Forestry Branch has taken active measures to carry out preliminary investigation and special research work with scientific research units and colleges and universities in the province around the Northeast yew resources in the reserve. The project of "Research on Conservation of Germplasm Resources and High-yield Cultivation Technology of Taxus chinensis in Northeast China" was identified at the provincial level and was listed as a national forestry science and technology promotion project in 2001. A database of ancient and famous tree resources has been established, and a unified archive of ancient and famous trees in the jurisdiction has been established, and tracking and monitoring has been carried out by means of fixed tree listing to achieve effective protection and management of resources. Wangqing County also implements the responsibility of management and protection, and organizes forest farms to carry out daily patrol and care of ancient and famous trees to prevent the occurrence of incidents of destroying ancient and famous tree resources.
At present, there are 316 ancient trees more than 100 years old in Wangqing Forestry Branch, mainly including 26 Northeast yew, a national first-class key protected wild plant; 105 Korean pine, 1 yellow pineapple and 119 purple linden plants; Common tree species are 55 Mongolia oaks, 4 walnut trees, and 6 spruce trees. It is mainly distributed in the Huanggou, Jingouling, Duhuangzi and other forest farms of Wangqing Forestry Branch.
"The protection of ancient and famous trees has been highly valued by the Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau and Jilin Changbai Mountain Forest Industry Group. Next, we will successively set up boundary monuments and boundary posts, set up warning and publicity signs, carry out habitat restoration and remediation actions, strengthen the monitoring of population changes, better protect ancient and famous trees and rare wild plant resources, and make new contributions to the construction of green and beautiful Jilin. Qu Li said.
Produced by Jilin Daily
Author: Jilin Daily all-media reporter Zhang Weiguo Dai Lili
Curator: Han Xuejie
Executive Editor-in-Chief: Yu Yue
Editor: Han Yuhong