Maolan in Guizhou lies along the 25°N, an arid belt of deserts and rocky wastelands. It hosts a lush old karst forest, known as the "emerald of the Earth's waistline." In 1996, Maolan was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, covering about 6.5 times the area of Macau.
Karst refers to exposed rocky terrain, typically dry with thin soils and sparse vegetation, often prone to rocky desertification. But Maolan has broken this ecological fate, preserving the world's most pristine, intact, and largest old-growth karst forest at this latitude.
Thanks to its unique and well-preserved environment, Maolan harbors rich biodiversity. It hosts 3,384 species of higher plants, 588 vertebrates, and 1,962 insects. It is a vital natural laboratory for global karst ecological research.
The reserve hosts diverse karst forests — primary, water, and "funnel" types. Peak clusters, depressions, caves, underground rivers, and waterfalls form a unique scene: "forests on water, caves in forests, rivers in caves."
Even in the dry, barren cracks of rocks, plants grow tenaciously, with trees clinging tightly to stones and roots wrapping around rocks. The underground waters are home to rare cavefish adapted to darkness — eyes reduced, senses heightened, and pectoral fins elongated — making them valuable subjects for cave ecology and evolutionary studies.
This rocky forest, with its resilient spirit, tells a story of nature's green miracle.
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