The resulting maps show, over time, prime panda real estate being nudged out by areas of human habitation. Liu explains that the towns and settlements have thrived in the Wolong Reserve. The local resident population there has increased 70 percent. But it also is because of shifts in economic opportunity. Establishing it as panda heaven also has drawn people to the spot.
Tourists stay in hotels, eat local products and buy local souvenirs.
We don't see ourselves as a destructive force, but we are. They also more closely examined human population dynamics for further clues into why the rate of habitat destruction increased dramatically inside the reserve after the reserve was established. Over time, the percentage of young people living in Wolong has increased. What they don't realize is that even high-profile protected areas like Wolong Nature Reserve may not be really protected. Both Liu and Linderman point to the need for integrating ecology with human demography and behavior as well as socioeconomics to understand the role of protected areas in fostering biodiversity around the globe.