In June 2015 a Greenpeace East Asia team conducted field research into deforested areas in the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries - a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The team discovered that nearly 3200 acres of natural forest, equivalent to 1814 football (soccer) pitches, have been illegally felled. Illegal logging in this UNESCO World Heritage site is a direct threat to endangered plant and animal species, including the Giant Panda.
The findings from this investigation are based on remote sensing, field surveys and spatial analysis carried out on the areas surrounding the Fengtongzhai National Nature Reserve in Ya’an, Sichuan, part of an important Giant Panda migratory corridor and home to many rare plant and animal species.