Female tourist reported for picking flowers and taking photos at Balang Mountain! Official response to the Western Sichuan Plateau | Netizens | Balang Mountain

Artemisia annua is known as the "closest flower to the sky" and is also praised by many netizens as the "goddess" on the western Sichuan Plateau.

Summer flower sea, winter snow mountain. The Balang Mountain in summer is very beautiful, with a hundred acre high mountain flower sea here, attracting many tourists. Many people come here for the "goddess" green velvet artemisia on the western Sichuan Plateau. On the evening of June 24th, a netizen named "Mint Durian" posted a set of check-in photos taken at the peak of the Panda Kingdom on the short video platform. In the photo, the woman is holding a picked green Artemisia annua, which has sparked numerous reports from netizens. On the noon of June 25th, "Mint Durian" deleted the video it posted, and its short video account has also been blocked.

↑ Women holding green wormwood to take photos and check in

It is understood that the genus Artemisia is a perennial herbaceous plant. According to the records of Flora of China, it is mainly produced in the northwest of Sichuan, northeast of Xizang, southeast of Qinghai and southwest of Gansu, and is mostly found in hillside grassland at an altitude of 2800 meters to 4300 meters. In 1999, the red and green Artemisia annua was included in the National Key Protected Wild Plant List, with a protection level of level two. On September 7, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration released the "List of National Key Protected Wild Plants", which includes Red Flower Green Artemisia, Jiuzhi Green Artemisia, and Haiban Green Artemisia, with a protection level of Level 2.

Red Star News contacted the Wolong National Nature Reserve Management Bureau based on a publicly available reporting hotline. The staff stated that Balang Mountain is a prohibited area for outdoor activities and has received a report from netizens regarding this matter. The next step will be to investigate and handle it.

↑ Women holding green wormwood to take photos and check in

Female tourist taking photos of picking green Artemisia annua in Balang Mountain

Netizens reported: "Such violent picking is heartbreaking."

The Balang Mountain in summer is very beautiful, with a hundred acre high mountain flower sea here, attracting many tourists.

In the summer, there may be five or six types of green Artemisia on the Balang Mountain, including full leaved green Artemisia, safflower green Artemisia, long leaved green Artemisia, Balang Mountain green Artemisia, and Jiajin Mountain green Artemisia. This is extremely rare for a mountain. It takes over three hours by car from Chengdu to catch a glimpse of their vibrant and brilliant scenery.

On the evening of June 24th, a netizen named "Mint Durian" posted a set of check-in photos taken at the peak of the Panda Kingdom on the short video platform. In the video album, a woman holds a picked green Artemisia and takes a photo. The behavior of a woman picking flowers has caused dissatisfaction among netizens. "How can I pick flowers?" "Balang Mountain is not a closed letter, and you don't care about such people." Some have reported to short video platforms, while others have reported to the Wolong Nature Reserve Management Bureau, forestry department, and police.

Sharp eyed netizens recognized the plant in the picture as the whole leaf green Artemisia annua.

On the noon of June 25th, "Mint Durian" deleted the video it posted and its short video account has been blocked.

Weibo netizen "Qiu Han" also revealed that a woman was picking green Artemisia annua on Mount Balang and posting it to her account on a short video platform. "Posting Weibo to expose, I hope everyone can learn from it, travel in a civilized manner, and protect every blade of nature."

According to the netizen, although currently only the red flowered green velvet artemisia, the long lasting green velvet artemisia, and the hairy petal green velvet artemisia are listed as second level protected plants in the country, the whole leaf green velvet artemisia in the picture can only grow in high-altitude areas with very difficult conditions, and the number is not large, and it cannot withstand such waste.

For such behavior, some netizens expressed heartache, "Photographers squatting in various positions are reluctant to take photos, and being violently taken off like this is as heartbreaking as a cherished treasure being arched by a pig."

The Red Star News reporter interviewed Sun Hai, a well-known plant science popularization writer in Chengdu, who also paid attention to the video. He introduced that the green Artemisia annua in the video is "whole leaf green Artemisia annua", not the second level protected plant as some netizens claimed.

"Artemisia annua is a perennial one-time flowering plant that only blooms once in its lifetime. If its seeds have not yet matured and are interrupted by human factors, it cannot produce fertile seeds, which can cause significant damage to the ecosystem." Sun Hai explained that the ecosystem in high-altitude environments is very fragile, especially for high-altitude plants, and this special habit is the result of long-term evolution to adapt to extreme natural environments in high mountains. From a seed germination to maturity, Artemisia annua undergoes six to seven years of gestation and growth. During the brief growing season in high mountains each year, it endures life, absorbs light and heat, tenaciously absorbs water and minerals, and accumulates energy through hard work, waiting. Years later, Artemisia annua finally had a rare opportunity to bloom, dedicating all its resources to blooming without reservation, then pollinating and bearing fruit, spreading seeds and completely dying, completing the cycle of life.

"Picking green Artemisia annua is an uncivilized behavior, and she should accept criticism from social morality." Sun Hai introduced that people should at least have a sense of awe towards nature. "Picking or discarding it arbitrarily is just a momentary beauty, but in fact, it destroys a flowering period. These will affect the normal growth and development process of wild plants in the natural system."

"This phenomenon is also quite common, but some people take photos or are caught, and those who are not caught should also be condemned." Sun Hai admitted that modern society should promote the concept of civilized nature, which is civilized flower watching.

He felt that the woman's behavior should be condemned, "But netizens can't all go and catch one person, go online bullying."

↑ Women holding green wormwood to take photos and check in

"The flower closest to the sky"

Red and green Artemisia annua are listed as national second level key protected wild plants

What is Artemisia annua? In 1903, the famous British plant hunter Henry Wilson, after enduring hardships, arrived at the Yajia Ridge connecting the Moxi Plateau and Kangding. In the mountains above 4000 meters above sea level, he saw the dreamy vast sea of all leaf green Artemisia flowers. At that time, he wrote excitedly in his notes, "Above an altitude of 11500 feet, the magnificent all leaf green mugwort blooms with huge, spherical, inwardly curved yellow flowers on the hillside, stretching for several miles. Millions of unparalleled beautiful green mugworts stand on top of other herbs, presenting a grand landscape. I believe there will never be such an exaggerated and luxurious place again."

The perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Artemisia. According to the records of Flora of China, it is mainly produced in the northwest of Sichuan, northeast of Xizang, southeast of Qinghai and southwest of Gansu, and is mostly found in hillside grassland at an altitude of 2800 meters to 4300 meters.

In the past century, with the intensification of human activities and complex climate change, the space left for the survival of narrow distribution species such as the red flowered green armywort has become increasingly limited. In 1999, the red and green Artemisia annua was included in the National Key Protected Wild Plant List, with a protection level of level two.

On September 7, 2021, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration released the "List of National Key Protected Wild Plants", which includes Red Flower Green Artemisia, Jiuzhi Green Artemisia, and Haiban Green Artemisia, with a protection level of Level 2.

Wolong Nature Reserve:

Balang Mountain is an area where outdoor activities are prohibited without approval

On April 27th, the Wolong National Nature Reserve Management Bureau and the Wenchuan Wolong Special Administrative Region jointly issued a notice stating that outdoor activities in the Wolong Nature Reserve require procedures to be completed, and those who violate regulations will be held accountable.

The notice states that outdoor activities carried out within the Wolong Nature Reserve must submit an application and activity plan to the reserve management agency in advance. After obtaining the outdoor activity permit certificate with approval, relevant procedures must be handled at the local management department of the outdoor activity route, and outdoor activities must be carried out according to the outdoor activity route set by the Wolong Nature Reserve. Without permission, it is strictly prohibited for any unit or individual to engage in activities such as sightseeing, mountain climbing, exploration, outdoor hiking, etc. within the nature reserve. Those who enter or solicit or organize others to enter the buffer zone and core area of the Wolong Nature Reserve without permission will be punished in accordance with the law and regulations. If their behavior constitutes a crime, they will be transferred to judicial organs and held criminally responsible in accordance with the law.

Personnel who have been approved to enter the core area of the protected area must strictly abide by relevant laws and regulations as well as various management systems of the Wolong Nature Reserve, and consciously accept the management of the protected area management organization.

In addition, the Wolong Nature Reserve has also announced the management of outdoor activity routes. 1、 The approved routes for outdoor activities are: the Lama Temple in Zumushan Village, Wolong Town area; Niuping in Gengda Town and Laoyashan in Gengda Village. 2、 The routes that prohibit outdoor activities without approval are Ganhaizi and Yunzhong Pasture in Zhuanjinglou Village, Wolong Town; Baoshan Pasture in Zumushan Village, Wolong Town; Chuanbaiying Lantern Lawn Ranch, Zhuoxi Ranch, Shanshenggou, Balangshan, and Wolongguan Gully in Wolongguan Village, Wolong Town.

According to the public reporting hotline, Red Star News contacted the Wolong Nature Reserve Management Bureau, and staff stated that Balang Mountain is a prohibited area for outdoor activities. At present, the Wolong Nature Reserve Management Bureau has received a report from netizens, and the next step will be to investigate and handle it. The staff of the protected area stated that if violations of outdoor activities are found, the protected area generally stops, dissuades, and criticizes education. If consequences are caused, the protected area will impose penalties. At present, there have been multiple incidents of similar penalties for illegal crossing in the protected area.

Regarding this matter, Wolong Nature Reserve replied that it has verified with the National Key Protected Wild Plant List that the plants in the photos do not belong to the second level protected plants. But in response to the issue of indiscriminate picking and picking, the protected area will strengthen daily patrol management and publicity, and promptly stop any problems found. On the other hand, recent plans have been made to carry out special actions such as deforestation and grass destruction, and banning the excavation of medicinal materials.

Chengdu Business Daily - Red Star News reporter Wang Mingping