Rare cliff cypress given new lease on life

Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

High in the cliffs of the Daba Mountains in Southwest China, a 200-million-year-old tree species once thought vanished from the planet is orchestrating one of the most remarkable ecological comebacks in botanical history.

Known scientifically as Thuja sutchuenensis and nicknamed the "giant panda of the plant world", the cliff cypress survived the age of the dinosaurs only to be declared extinct in the wild by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1998. Today, thanks to a major propagation breakthrough and a green industrial strategy, Chongqing's Kaizhou district is turning the rare conifer into a global model for ecological restoration.

At a breeding base at the foot of the Chongqing Xuebaoshan National Nature Reserve, plant experts meticulously inspect rows of vibrant 20-centimeter seedlings. The foliage emits a distinct aroma reminiscent of green apples.

For decades, saving the cliff cypress meant painstaking manual work, involving taking cuttings from mature cliffside trees, nurturing them in greenhouses and gradually reintroducing them over a two-to-three-year window. Now, conservationists are celebrating a game-changing transition with the introduction of mass seed propagation.