STORY: Green energy helps protect golden monkeys in China's Shennongjia
SHOOTING TIME: Recent footage
DATELINE: Sept. 18, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:45
LOCATION: SHENNONGJIA, China
CATEGORY: ENVIRONMENT

SHOTLIST:
1. various of golden monkeys
2. various of rangers at Dalongtan Golden Monkey Research Center
3. various of solar panels
4. SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): PENG HONGYUAN, Deputy director of Marketing Department of State Grid Shennongjia Power Supply Company
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): FANG JIXI, Ranger at Dalongtan Golden Monkey Research Center
6. SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): PENG HONGYUAN, Deputy director of Marketing Department of State Grid Shennongjia Power Supply Company

STORYLINE:

Shennongjia Forestry District, with an average altitude of around 1,700 meters in central China's Hubei Province, is one of the habitats of golden monkeys.
   
The Shennongjia golden monkey, which has been living in the Yangtze River basin since ancient times, is a sub-species of the Chuan golden monkey.

A group of rangers living at the Dalongtan Golden Monkey Research Center have dedicated decades to caring for the rare animals.

However, life deep in the high-altitude forest used to be difficult due to the lack of electricity.

During cold seasons in the past, rangers had to burn firewood and coal for heating, which posed a potential threat to the environment as well as the well-being of golden monkeys.

Since 2018, the center has undergone a series of transformations to become all-electric, using renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Chinese): PENG HONGYUAN, Deputy director of Marketing Department of State Grid Shennongjia Power Supply Company
"In 2018, we renovated this kitchen to make it all-electric. We've been using this kitchen to this day, and it works well. In 2022, we further upgraded it with photovoltaic solar panels and added an energy storage system."

SOUNDBITE 2 (Chinese): FANG JIXI, Ranger at Dalongtan Golden Monkey Research Center
"This renovation allows us to control the indoor temperature, which has significantly improved the experience in terms of heating. In addition, the ecological environment has improved to some degree, because we no longer need to burn firewood, which could cause a lot of smoke."

SOUNDBITE 3 (Chinese): PENG HONGYUAN, Deputy Director of Marketing Department of State Grid Shennongjia Power Supply Company
"(Green energy) helps reduce harm to the golden monkey, because further carbon dioxide emissions will definitely have negative impact on biodiversity. Only by transitioning to the green energy alternative, can we build a bridge for biodiversity protection."

The area is now home to 1,618 golden monkeys, 147 more than the previous survey five years ago, according to the results of the fourth survey conducted by the district administration.
   
As the easternmost habitat of golden monkeys, Shennongjia saw only 501 golden monkeys with a habitat of 164 square km in 1990. The figures improved over the years, with 1,282 monkeys living an area of 189 square km in 2005, and 1,471 residing in an area of 354 square km in 2019.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Shennongjia, China.
(XHTV)