Qilian Mountains: A Decade of Ecological Recovery on China’s Western Frontier
Ten years after being identified as one of China’s most severe ecological crisis zones, the northern slopes of the Qilian Mountains in Gansu Province are showing dramatic signs of recovery. According to a comprehensive Xinhua News feature published this week, the region’s ecological protection status index has risen from 58.7 in 2017 to 62.75 in 2025, with vegetation significantly improved across 41.05% of the protected area.
The transformation marks a remarkable reversal for a mountain range that serves as a critical ecological security barrier for western China. Stretching approximately 800 kilometers, the Qilian Mountains are the source of three major inland rivers—the Heihe, Shiyanghe, and Shulehe—and act as a natural shield against the Tengger, Badain Jaran, and Kumtag deserts.
From Crisis to Recovery
The story of the Qilian Mountains’ recovery begins with crisis. In July 2017, the Central Committee of the CPC and State Council issued a formal notification documenting severe ecological damage in the Qilian Mountain National Nature Reserve. The government report identified 144 mining rights (14 illegally approved after boundary designation), more than 150 hydropower stations (42 within the reserve), and widespread illegal pollution discharges. Provincial regulations had been weakened to allow activities prohibited by national law, and disciplinary action followed against the Gansu Vice Governor and multiple other officials.
The response was unprecedented in scale. Gansu launched its largest ecological governance campaign in the reserve’s history, withdrawing all 144 mining rights, restoring 322 mining site geological environments, and classifying 42 hydropower stations for remediation. According to People’s Daily, 5,120 square kilometers of ecological restoration have been completed, along with 410 square kilometers of soil erosion control.
Wildlife Returns to the Mountains
Perhaps the most visible sign of recovery is the return of wildlife. Wang Xiaoning, deputy director of the Gansu Qilian Mountain National Park Administration, confirmed that the snow leopard population in the reserve is now stable at 350-500 individuals, with overall wildlife numbers increasing 15-20% compared to 2014 levels.
Lang Wenrui, chairman of the Sunan Yugur Autonomous County Federation of Literary and Art Circles, has witnessed this transformation firsthand. “In the past, I never photographed a single snow leopard,” he said. “But in the past three-plus years, I’ve photographed 12 in the Qilian Mountains.”
Ma Duifang, head of the wildlife and plant management section at the Gansu Qilian Mountain National Nature Reserve Management Center, explained the significance: “Snow leopards are apex predators in the food chain. The increase in snow leopard numbers reflects a more complete food chain.”
In 2025, researchers also made a first discovery of the Taibaishan bird’s nest orchid, a critically endangered species, in the Qilian Mountains. Jing Wenmao, station chief at the Xishui Forest Ecological Positioning Research Station, noted that the species “highly depends on high-altitude shady and humid environments, and has extremely demanding requirements for its growth environment.”
Institutional Reform and Technology-Enabled Protection
The recovery has been underpinned by significant institutional reform. In April 2026, the Qilian Mountain National Nature Reserve Ecological Protection Mechanism was formally issued, comprising six major sections and 20 hard measures. Cross-provincial cooperation has been strengthened, with Gansu and Qinghai signing joint law enforcement agreements.
Gansu has also built a comprehensive sky-ground integrated monitoring system for the Qilian Mountains, as reported by China News Service. The system includes 89 fire prevention video monitoring towers, 304 infrared cameras in wildlife habitats, 34 drones, and an AI-powered satellite monitoring platform. Since 2025, no new human-caused damage has been detected in the reserve.
The Worker’s Daily reported that the Qilian Mountain National Park candidate area, covering 50,200 square kilometers across Gansu and Qinghai, has already met the conditions for formal establishment as a national park.
Green Development and Economic Transformation
The ecological restoration has been accompanied by a significant economic transformation. Traditional resource-dependent industries have been replaced or supplemented by green industries. At the Shandan Horse Farm, eco-tourism has flourished, with 57,000 riding visitors in 2025 and total visitors exceeding 100,000. Qian Shuhua, general manager of Zhongnongfa Shandan Horse Farm, said: “Ecological protection is the top priority. Since 2019, we have invested a total of 236 million yuan in grassland ecological protection.”
Zhangye City has become the first in Gansu to develop both forestry and grassland carbon sink projects, successfully trading 351,000 mu of forest and 4 million mu of grassland carbon sinks. Jiuquan City has built China’s largest onshore wind power equipment manufacturing base, while Jinchang City’s new energy installed capacity now reaches 5.495 million kW, representing 75.3% of its total power capacity.
According to Gansu Daily, the region’s 5 cities and 11 counties have been rated excellent for three consecutive years in ecological protection assessments. The province has invested 4.869 billion yuan across 46 projects in Qilian Mountain ecological protection since 2025.
Innovative Grazing Models
One of the most innovative approaches has been the “borrowed grazing” (jie mu) model pioneered in Sunan County. Under this system, herders move their livestock to agricultural areas during the winter-spring season, allowing natural grasslands to recover. According to People’s Daily, 580,700 sheep units were grazed through this system during the past winter-spring season, covering more than 500,000 mu of borrowed grazing area. The Guangming Daily reported that by 2023, 830 herder households in Sunan County—nearly 20% of livestock-raising households—had adopted the model, with 236,500 head of livestock and 426,400 mu of borrowed grazing area.
Herdsman Wu Ming from Sunan County described the benefits: “In winter, the sheep have abundant food in agricultural areas, and the twin lamb rate has significantly increased. Now not only can I increase my annual income by over 40,000 yuan, but I don’t have to follow the sheep all over the mountains anymore.”
The model has been selected as a national agricultural green development typical case, with herdsman income increasing 45% compared to 2017 levels.
A Model for Ecological Restoration
The Qilian Mountains’ transformation represents one of China’s most prominent large-scale ecological restoration projects. As President Xi Jinping noted during his 2019 visit to Gansu: “In recent years, Qilian Mountain ecological protection has gone from chaos to governance, with great results.”
The story demonstrates that reversing severe environmental degradation is possible through sustained government commitment, institutional reform, and technological innovation. However, challenges remain. Water resource scarcity, acknowledged in official reports as a persistent challenge, will require continued attention as climate change affects glacial melt and precipitation patterns.
Pei Wen, party secretary and director of the Gansu Qilian Mountain National Nature Reserve Management Center, emphasized the ongoing commitment: “Through implementing ecological environment problem remediation, ecological restoration projects, core area relocation, grazing bans in key areas, implementing management responsibilities, and strengthening patrol supervision, we have increased protection of the Qilian Mountain reserve’s ecological environment.”
As the Qilian Mountain National Park moves toward formal establishment, the region’s decade-long journey from ecological crisis to recovery offers a compelling case study in what sustained environmental governance can achieve—and a reminder of the vigilance required to maintain those gains.