Wengyuan Qingyun Mountain Nature Reserve

Wengyuan Qingyun Mountain Nature Reserve

Wengyuan Qingyun Mountain Nature Reserve is a provincial-level nature reserve.

Guangdong’s Wengyuan Qingyun Mountain Provincial Nature Reserve is situated in the southeastern part of Wengyuan County in the mountainous region of northern Guangdong. It lies within the Qing Shan and Qing Yun villages of Longxian Town, bordering Lianping County of Heyuan City to the east and neighboring Xinfeng County to the south. It is a forest ecosystem-type nature reserve. The total area is 7,359 hectares, including a core functional zone of 2,590.4 hectares, a buffer zone of 1,641 hectares, and an experimental zone of 3,127.6 hectares. The forest land within the reserve has clear ownership and includes eight natural villages: Kuzhu'ao, Luoganping, Shijieling, Xiexie, Yuandong, Chayuanping, Zhujia坑, and Tankeng. The registered resident population is 780 people.

The reserve was initially established in 2002 at the county level, upgraded to a municipal-level reserve in March 2007, and further elevated to a provincial-level reserve in March 2009 by approval of the People's Government of Guangdong Province. It was officially named “Guangdong Wengyuan Qingyun Mountain Provincial Nature Reserve,” and the establishment of a provincial nature reserve management office was approved. With strong support and high attention from provincial, municipal, and local county governments, a special fund was allocated to construct a management office building with a total area of 2,600 square meters, which was completed and put into use in December 2012. The complex consists of three buildings and accommodates comprehensive management, scientific research and experimentation, education and exhibition, and ecological training functions.

The reserve area features mid-to-low mountain terrain and lies within the mid-subtropical monsoon climate zone, with an average annual temperature of 20.3°C. The main parent rocks in the area include sandstone, conglomerate, and sandy shale. The primary soil types are red soil, mountain yellow-red soil, mountain yellow soil, and mountain shrub-meadow soil. The vertical zonation of the ecosystem is distinct, and the zonal vegetation is evergreen subtropical broadleaf forest. Scientific surveys and calculations indicate that the total forest area is 7,096.6 hectares, of which ecological forest accounts for 6,484.6 hectares, or 88.1% of the total reserve area, and the forest coverage rate reaches 96.4%. There are 1,091 species of wild vascular plants belonging to 586 genera and 184 families, including 9 nationally protected plant species, 6 rare and endangered wild plant species, and 15 orchid species listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). For vertebrates, there are 258 species belonging to 183 genera, 81 families, and 29 orders, including 15 nationally protected animal species, 10 IUCN threatened species, and 31 CITES-listed species. Key representatives include the national first-class protected plant Cycas fairylakea, the relatively large-sized national second-class protected plant Semiliquidambar cathayensis found in southern China, as well as rare animals such as sambar deer, serows, and silver pheasants. The forests and forest soils in the area have extremely strong water retention capacity, with an instantaneous water storage capacity of 20.37 million cubic meters, making it an important water conservation forest area in the Wengjiang River basin.

The pleasant climate and superior habitat have created a typical and well-preserved subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest ecosystem in the Qingyun Mountain Nature Reserve. The diverse and vibrant wildlife resources—especially the wide variety of wild plants—create a landscape of blooming flowers and abundant fruits throughout the seasons, making it a radiant “ecological jewel” in the land of northern Guangdong.