Giant Pandas May Be Threatened by Forest Reform

by LiveScience Staff

Date: 08 February 2013 Time: 06:28 PM ET

There are thought to be fewer than 1,600 giant pandas in the wild today and the beloved bears' home in the mountains of China is increasingly threatened by climate change and human activity.

While China has made achievements in saving the pandas in recent years, a group of conservations says the government's plans to free up forests for commercial use could be a blow to the endangered species.

"This change puts these vital habitats potentially under threat from commercial logging, increased collection of firewood and non-timber forest products by outside enterprises, and other commercial development activities," Russell Mittermeier, president of environmental organization Conservation International, said in a statement.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/26990-giant-pandas-china-forest-reform.html