Experiences and prospects for national survey of terrestrial wildlife resources in China

Wildlife resources are strategic resources of a country, and the investigation of which is a key task for effective management in protection and utilization. Since the 1990s, two national surveys of terrestrial wildlife resources have been carried out in China, and the situation of wildlife resources has been known to a certain extent. Due to the complexity and difficulty of national wildlife survey, we are still not able to grasp the background and dynamics of wildlife resources as a whole promptly and effectively. The results and effectiveness of wildlife resources investigation will directly affect the decision-making related in wildlife protection. According to Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Wildlife and Regulations of the People's Republic of China for the Implementation of the Protection of Terrestrial Wildlife, it is imperative to carry out the third national survey of terrestrial wildlife resources, and to be integrated with the national strategy of ecological civilization construction. The aims of this review were to summarize the earlier experiences in time, to further improve the investigation scheme and technical methods, to serve the third national survey of terrestrial wildlife resources, in addition to obtain more comprehensive and reliable data of wildlife resources, grasp the development trend of domestic wildlife resources, and provide more effective supports for the wildlife conservation in China.