USCEF’s History at the Wolong Nature Reserve



October 2000
USCEF donates $5,000 for local farmers to grow bamboo in agricultural land along the Wolong valley floor, reducing the harvest of wild bamboo in other parts of the Reserve.
February 2001
The WNR Administration and USCEF signed a Memorandum of Understanding to develop an interpretive master plan for the Center).
May 2001
USCEF held the first interpretive planning workshop at the Panda Center.
October 2001
USCEF completed a five month interpretive planning process by holding a second design workshop to create an interpretive master plan for the Panda Center.
October 2001
The WNR Director and USCEF initiated discussions to establish an international conservation education and training facility (with an ecolodge) adjacent to the Center.
September 2002
USCEF completed a six-month effort to design a detailed master plan for a comprehensive international training facility that was submitted to, and received endorsement from, the State Forestry Administration (SFA) in late 2002.
Spring 2003
The Wolong Administration received a four million RMB (US $485,000) grant from SFA to renovate the Center based on a master plan the Wolong Administration and USCEF jointly developed. Wolong then contracted USCEF to prepare construction documents for the Center’s renovation.
Fall 2003
USCEF provided onsite construction oversight of the Center’s renovation.
June 2004
Renovation of the Center is completed.
November 2004
USCEF completed registration of “Sichuan Wolong Panda Eco Education Company,” a wholly foreign owned enterprise (WFOE) to hold the land use rights.
October 2004
USCEF completed a four-month project to design, produce, and install interpretive signage at the Wolong Panda Center.
January 2005
USCEF’s WFOE obtained a 50-year land use right for 10,700 square meters (2.6 acre) parcel adjacent to the Panda Center.
January 2005
USCEF completed a conceptual site plan for Giant Panda reintroduction facilities in Ying Xiong Gou (Hero’s Valley) within the Wolong Nature Reserve.
Spring 2005
USCEF initiated a program to help monitor, map, and restore Giant Panda habitat within the Wolong Nature Reserve and the surrounding Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuary.
April 2005
USCEF held a design charette in San Francisco to develop conceptual plans for the Wolong Panda and Conservation Institute and the Panda Mountain destination.
June 2005
USCEF opened a permanent office within the Wolong Nature Reserve.
July 2005
USCEF’s conceptual plans received preliminary approval from the WNR Administration.
October 2005
WNR Administration and USCEF established the Wolong Int’l Advisory Council to develop sustainable reserve management programs and community based eco-enterprises.
January 2006
USCEF reviews Wolong’s ecotourism master plan and recommends development alternatives and conservation management strategies.
March 2006
USCEF initiated design for a new captive panda facility and “wild training” areas for Wolong’s reintroduction program.

Beginning in October 2000, the U.S.-China Environmental Fund (USCEF) developed a close and trusted working relationship with the Wolong Nature Reserve (WNR) Administration by donating a range of professional planning and design services for the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (Panda Center). In January 2005, this relationship culminated in the Wolong Administration granting a 50-year land use right to USCEF for 10,750 square meters of land directly adjacent to the Panda Center.

The Wolong Administration will continue to rely upon USCEF for land use planning, conservation management, interpretive and architectural design for projects around the Panda Center and within WNR.

USCEF’s leadership to form the Wolong International Advisory Council and establish the Wolong Panda and Conservation Institute will help:

  • Ensure stable, self-sustaining wild Giant Panda population with WNR and the surrounding the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuary
  • Promote conservation education, biodiversity protection, eco-economic development, and cultural preservation projects throughout the region