Danxiashan advances conservation

Scientific surveys and new initiatives support plans to establish a national nature park in Shaoguan.

A long-term forest monitoring project in the Danxiashan National Park candidate area was recently launched and has completed its first field survey.

As part of efforts to accelerate the establishment of the national park in Shaoguan, Guangdong province, the project is being jointly implemented by the Danxiashan National Nature Reserve Administration and Sun Yat-sen University. It will fill a gap in the long-term monitoring of Danxia landscapes and provide scientific data for ecosystem assessment and conservation management.

Establishing a unified and standardized system is a key step toward the science-based management of the national nature park, local officials said. Once operational, the project will systematically collect data on vegetation dynamics to support biodiversity conservation, ecological assessment and scientific decision-making.

As the type locality, reference site and global comparative research base for Danxia landscapes, Mt. Danxiashan was designated as one of the world's first global geoparks in 2004 and recognized as a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2015.

In April 2025, UNESCO awarded the geopark a green card certification for the 2025-28 period, commending its conservation achievements and sound scientific management. Over the past two decades, the geopark has passed four consecutive evaluations and retained its green-card status.

The green card certification is not only a recognition of Mt. Danxiashan's past efforts, but also an encouragement for its future development, local officials said.

In recent years, Mt. Danxiashan has made significant strides in conservation. Ecological and geological protection efforts have delivered tangible results, while infrastructure and visitor facilities have been upgraded.

Enhanced museums and interpretive systems now help visitors better appreciate the scientific value of the Danxia landscapes. The park has also made remarkable progress in scientific research and sustainable tourism, as well as in incorporating intangible cultural heritage into geological interpretation, thereby supporting sustainable local economic growth.

In December 2025, the Mt. Danxiashan administrative committee and the Guangdong Academy of Sciences proposed establishing an alliance during a symposium, with the aim of building an open, collaborative platform for Danxia landscape research and conservation worldwide.

Participants reached a consensus on protecting Danxia landscapes and ensuring their sustainable development. They highlighted the landscapes' global heritage value and the urgent need for cooperation in addressing threats posed by climate change and human activity. To put the consensus into practice, the alliance will build a global research network, conduct joint ecological and geological surveys, facilitate data sharing and promote sustainable education, tourism and community growth under the principle of "prioritize conservation, develop rationally".

In recent years, Mt. Danxiashan has attracted not only sustained attention from geologists and geographers studying Danxia landscapes but also growing interest from ecologists and biologists. Since a systematic biodiversity survey was launched at Mt. Danxiashan in 2021, new species have been discovered at an average rate of nearly one per month.

The recent publication of two new species — the plant Aspidistra danxiashanensis and the fungus Leucoinocybe danxiashanensis — has brought the number of new species discovered at Mt. Danxiashan to 59.

Aspidistra danxiashanensis, the 58th new species recorded at Mt. Danxiashan, was formally described in an international peer-reviewed journal in May by a team from the School of Life Sciences at Sun Yatsen University.

According to the researchers, the species is known only from a single population of about 150 individuals on weathered red sandstone. Under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List criteria, it has been assessed as critically endangered and faces a high risk of extinction.

Leucoinocybe danxiashanensis, described by a team led by researcher Deng Wangqiu at the Institute of Microbiology at Guangdong Academy of Sciences, is the ninth new macrofungal species and the 59th new species overall discovered at Mt. Danxiashan.

While the new plant species garnered the most attention, the fungal survey at Mt. Danxiashan delivered another major breakthrough.

The small fungus has a brownish-orange cap dusted with white powder. It belongs to a genus with relatively few known species worldwide, primarily distributed in tropical and subtropical China. According to the researchers, its discovery provides valuable new data on the genus' geographical distribution.