In 12 May 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck China’s south-western region. It was the most
severe natural disaster suffered in China since the founding of the People’s Republic, not only causing
heavy human casualties and property loss, but also causing severe damage to the ecological environment.
On 13 June 2008, the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China (MEP) and
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed the “Wenchuan earthquake restoration and
reconstruction in emergency measures to protect biodiversity” project to support biodiversity protection
during post-disaster reconstruction. According to project documents, the earthquake-affected zone refers