I have a wildlife zoo

Uncle laughed and said, "Peafowl Flying Southeast, for every five li, there is a pause! Director Fang must be looking to buy green peafowl from other zoos."

Fang Ye felt a bit embarrassed to speak and muttered to himself, "What buying green peafowl, there are no purebred green peafowl in domestic zoos, only mixed with blue peafowl..."

He explained, "Ah, I came here this time to investigate the habitat of the green peafowl. I heard from a fan that they're planning to build the Gaba River hydropower station there. That might be the last fairly intact habitat of the green peafowl. If it gets built, the green peafowl might go extinct."

"Ah!" Uncle was immediately shocked upon hearing this, "Why would they go extinct? Can't we relocate the green peafowl to another place?"

Fang Ye then shared with Uncle the knowledge he had acquired from Gu Shi!

Uncle slapped his thigh repeatedly, showing a look of deep regret and hatred, "Director Fang, you must stop that hydropower station from being built. As a Yunnan native, I don't want to tell my grandson in the future that the green peafowl has gone extinct!"

Fang Ye curiously asked, "But doesn't the construction of a hydropower station also bring development opportunities? One such project can mean an investment of a few hundred million or even billions. Do you think, in comparison, the green peafowl are more important?"

He fully understood the importance of environmental protection, but as an ordinary person, could he really be so enlightened?

Uncle said, "Director Fang, you don't know, but I work in construction and I have been involved in the building of hydropower stations. Now, many hydropower stations are idle, producing too much electricity that can't be used. In our industry, we have a term for it called 'abandoned water.'

It turned out that Uncle was an expert!

Fang Ye immediately perked up and asked, "Can you tell me about this?"

Uncle spoke as an expert on the matter, "Yunnan abandoned 30 billion kilowatt-hours of hydropower last year. What's the concept? The entire province generated 260 billion throughout the year, while the provincial electricity demand was only a little over 160 billion, and 90 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity was sent out.

It's been specifically named (this situation was during the peak of 'abandoned water' at the time of the green peafowl case).

Let me find it for you. Look at what the 'Thirteenth Five-Year Plan' states: Persisting with ecological priority... perfect the market consumption mechanisms, basically resolve the consumption issues in Sichuan and Yunnan. Strengthen policy measures, new projects should secure market space in advance to prevent the occurrence of new 'abandoned water' cases."

Fang Ye wondered aloud, "Then how was this approved?"

"Such project approvals might have been given ten years ago, or even earlier. It's just that they've only started building in the last few years. That's when the policy was introduced.

So, given the current wasteful situation with hydropower, if an ongoing project will cause serious ecological damage, then of course it should be stopped."

Uncle sneered, "Heh," and said, "Why the rush to build so many hydropower stations? Simply put, isn't it because there's profit for the capital behind it? Back in the 2000s, those people went from speculation in housing to coal, and after coal, they speculated in hydropower. Now they've become big capital.

With such environmental impact assessments, there's a lot of shady business going on behind the scenes."

Fang Ye remembered Gu Shi's words, shook his head and sighed, "All for a bit of petty profit, completely disregarding ecology!"

"This is not a bit of petty profit!" Uncle slapped his thigh and said indignantly, "But once the environment is destroyed, isn't it forever? If the green peafowl become extinct, can they ever return?"

Fang Ye nodded in agreement, "You're absolutely right!"

After venting his emotions, Uncle said helplessly, "I'm just a small-time engineering technician. All I can do is my job well. What I say doesn't really matter. The real issues regarding ecology still depend on experts like you."

Fang Ye praised, "Your awareness is much higher than that of the average person!

In fact, everything has its pros and cons, and we have to find a balance. We can't just sacrifice the environment for development. The green mountains and clear waters are our gold and silver mountains.

We can't stop developing just for the environment either, as some problems do indeed require development for resolution. But as you said, we should be more cautious regarding the ecological environment. Some damages are permanent losses, irreparable for the future, and we have already destroyed too much.

What we should pursue is a harmonious coexistence between people and the environment!"

"Do you know about the crested ibis?"

"I do, it's that red bird, right?"

The conservation efforts for the crested ibis are considered a model within the country. Fang Ye and the uncle were discussing it: "Actually, the crested ibis was once on the brink of extinction too!

Since the mid-20th century, due to environmental destruction and the lack of nesting trees, the number of crested ibises plummeted rapidly, eventually becoming extinct in Russia and the Korean Peninsula. After capturing the last crested ibis in Gansu in '64, China had no news of them for 20 years."

It was in '81 when a survey team discovered them again in Yang County, with a pair of adults perched on a tree, long beaks and red heads, feathers touched with a faint red hue, and in their nest, three chicks cried out to be fed, and nearby another pair of adults wandered.

These were the last surviving seven!

In 40 years, the population increased from seven to over 5000."

"Damn!"

The uncle's eyes widened, thinking it was an incredibly thrilling story!

Fang Ye said, "The conservation process wasn't all smooth sailing. In order to protect the crested ibis, Yang County restricted farmers from using pesticides, which many of them were initially resistant to. Without pesticides, how would they kill the insects?"

Unexpectedly, this turned into an opportunity. Without using pesticides, the farmers switched to using insect-attracting lamps to eliminate pests. As a result, the farmers in Yang County were the first to embark on the path of producing organic agricultural products, creating a brand of crested ibis organic products.

Not only did the environment improve, but the farmers also became wealthier, and now the locals all take pride in the crested ibis!"

The uncle listened, his heart surging with excitement: "Ah, that's fantastic! If only the green peafowl could experience such a miracle."

"A miracle..."

Fang Ye and the uncle chatted the entire way!

When disembarking from the plane, Fang Ye exchanged WeChat contacts with the uncle, who expressed that he would definitely visit Fang Ye's zoo if he had the chance!

As he exited through the corridor, Fang Ye saw patterns of peafowl imprinted on the clear glass windows, and tourists paused happily to take pictures there.

But the patterns were of the blue peafowl.

Fang Ye glanced at it, shook his head, and sighed to himself, "Nowadays, I fear there aren't many who even recognise the green peafowl!"

He felt the weight of responsibility for his journey even more profoundly.

After leaving the airport, he made a phone call to Gu Shi: "Professor Gu, I've left the airport, where are you? Oh, okay! I'll head over there now!"

A little later, Fang Ye met Gu Shi outside a KFC, a man wearing glasses with a reserved appearance!

Fang Ye promptly grasped Gu Shi's hand and shook it vigorously: "Professor Gu!"

Gu Shi seemed a bit embarrassed: "Zoo Director Fang, I've told you, no need to call me professor, just call me by my name!"

"Alright, let's find a table to sit down first. We can eat and talk."