A male VIOLET CUCKOO at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG)

Xishuangbanna Prefecture boasts rich biodiversity.  In addition to an abundance of plants, “Banna” as it is known, is home to the last few Asian Elephants in China.  And the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) alone have recorded more than 300 species of bird.  The area, home to the Dai minority, suffers from relentless hunting pressure and deforestation which has seen much of the original forest replaced by rubber plantations.  The remaining forest, home to such stunning species as Long-tailed Broadbill, Blue-naped Pitta, Crimson Sunbird, not to mention the range-restricted Limestone Wren-babbler, has thus become a conservation priority.