Huangshan Global Geopark conducts a special inspection on illegal wildlife trade

At the end of March, the Huangshan Geopark Administrative Committee's Gardening Bureau, in conjunction with the Public Security Bureau, the Market Supervision and Administration Bureau, and the Transportation Bureau, formed a joint inspection team to conduct a special inspection and publicity campaign within the geopark. The main focus was on cracking down on illegal wildlife trade, aiming to strengthen the biological and ecological security of the geopark.

The inspection team focused on key areas and industries for law enforcement:

1. Transportation control at the entry checkpoint of the South Gate, conducting surprise inspections of vehicles transporting food items entering the mountain.

2. Detailed inspections of the kitchens and refrigeration areas of hotels, restaurants, and employee canteens within the jurisdiction, carefully verifying purchase records to ensure strict control over the procurement process.

3. Checked the menus, display screens, and sales information of catering establishments to prevent the serving of wild game. Special emphasis was placed on urging business operators to strictly fulfill their market primary responsibilities, completely eliminating illegal operations and consumption of wildlife, and guiding residents to refuse to buy and consume wild animals and plants, thereby severing the chain of market transportation, trading, and consumption.

After meticulous inspections, no illegal activities involving the hunting (collection), sale, purchase, use, transportation, carrying, mailing, or import/export of wild animals and plants or their products were found.

The inspection operation emphasized the simultaneous promotion of legal awareness. Over a hundred brochures on wildlife protection were distributed to geopark staff and visitors. The focus was on promoting laws and regulations such as the "Wildlife Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Regulations on the Protection of Wild Plants of the People's Republic of China." This initiative aimed to enhance the public's awareness of wildlife protection and legal compliance, and to guide and encourage public participation in supervision. The public was encouraged to report any illegal activities involving the hunting (collection), operation, and utilization of wild animals and plants and their products. The goal was to jointly resist illegal activities and create a favorable situation of coordinated efforts and collective prevention and control throughout the mountain, ensuring the effective protection of wildlife resources. 

This operation established a "law enforcement + supervision + education" integrated mechanism, forming a protective synergy through departmental coordination, source control, and social governance. In the next steps, there will be a continuous effort to improve the regular supervision system to ensure the effective operation of the long-term mechanism for the protection of wild animals and plants.