NANCHANG, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Doctor Liu Zhilong led a group of students through the misty woods to get a closer look at a flock of rare birds. Walking on tiptoes, they came within 10 meters of the blue-crowned laughingthrushes, a species under top-level protection in China.

Liu from Taiwan University is the head of Linnaeus Laboratory, an organization engaged in popular science education located in Wuyuan County, east China's Jiangxi Province. He has been busy receiving study groups keen to tour the county and observe birds of various kinds.

"We have doubled the planned number of public educational activities to 100 this year," said Liu, adding that some 8,000 visitors are expected to attend the activities this year.

Known to many as "China's most beautiful countryside," Wuyuan is home to 95 rare animals under national-level protection. With its well-preserved ecology and biodiversity, the county has attracted an increasing number of visitors seeking knowledge of nature. They bring revenue to the area and help with rural revitalization.

BETTER ECOLOGY

One of the most endangered birds with only some 200 left in the world, the blue-crowned laughingthrush is only seen in Wuyuan and the surrounding area.

"The rare birds are picky on their living environment. They like to build nests in ancient trees and forests with favorable wind and water conditions around the villages. They also keep themselves clean, taking baths twice a day," said Hong Yuanhua, an official with the county's forestry bureau, adding that the species is living testimony to the county's sound ecological environment.

The county has 10 major rivers, providing ideal sites for the birds' bathing activities, while the forests, with a coverage rate of 83.67 percent, supply plenty of area for nesting and foraging, according to Yan Jiajun, deputy director of the bureau.

Since 2009, Wuyuan County has banned the logging of natural broad-leaved evergreen forests and established 193 small nature reserves of various types, with the protection area covering 43,600 hectares.

The local government has organized a blue-crowned laughingthrush protection team, and installed real-time monitoring equipment in the birds' habitats.

Every morning, Li Gensheng, a 69-year-old local bird protector, starts patrolling the blue-crowned laughingthrush breeding grounds along the river on a bamboo raft. He spends two to three hours on each trip and works until darkness falls.

"Gone are the days when villagers would put up nets to catch birds. People know it's their responsibility to take care of the birds," Li said, adding that villagers even call for help if they come across injured birds.

MORE INCOME

With the educational trips to the county increasingly popular, business is booming for villagers running homestays and rural eateries.

Liu Fang, president of Wuyuan's homestay association and also head of a compound offering services including homestays, said many tourists from big cities want to get close to nature, providing a source of customers for the homestay business.

"During the National Day holiday, our homestay alone received more than 100 tourists who participated in the educational tours," she said.

This year, Linnaeus Laboratory started to cooperate with a village, which accommodated the visitors brought in by the laboratory.

"The laboratory brings more than 400 yuan (about 55.7 U.S. dollars) of additional revenue for my eatery every day," said Wang Xiying, a local villager.

The county has established a series of bird-watching sites, set up three classic tour routes for bird-watching and organized a team of professional bird-watching guides.

For Liu, guarding the ecological asset of Wuyuan County is vital to the survival and development of the laboratory.

"I hope Wuyuan County will cherish this ecological asset as a perfect source of income so that more people can get close to nature," he said. Enditem

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