On May 25, Funiushan UGGp Administration distributed new technical equipment to the city’s regulatory agencies involving the National Nature Reserve of Nanyang Dinosaur-egg Fossil Group in Xixia, Xichuan, Neixiang and Zhenping counties. The batch of new technical equipment includes patrol drones, video recorders, cameras, hand-held Beidou intelligent inspection systems, and high-power telescopes and binoculars. At the distributing ceremony, the relevant director of the Geopark Administration emphasized that it is necessary to establish and practice the development concept that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets, and use the guidance from General Secretary Xi Jinping in his inspection and investigation of Nanyang as well as the provincial and municipal forestry work arrangements to instruct the management within the reserve, and thus present a gift to the Party’s centennial birthday with excellent results.

In recent years, the Geopark Administration has issued patrol and inspection systems,  requiring counties to set up full-time patrol teams for daily patrols, and cooperate with the public security organs to crack down on theft, hoarding, and resale of dinosaur eggs. Through the combination of prevention and crackdown, fossil resources in the Dinosaur-egg Reserve have been protected effectively. However, many places in the vast reserve are mountainous and hilly areas with steep terrain, resulting in inconvenience to carry out daily patrol inspections. New technical equipment such as drones has the advantages of flexibility, precision and accuracy, low operating costs, and large inspection scope. Using drones for inspections has obvious advantages in high-resolution image acquisition. With the help of video recorders, cameras, hand-held Beidou intelligent inspection systems, high-power telescopes and binoculars, more accurate and objective information and data could be provided for reserve management departments in a timely manner. Those new technical equipment effectively make up for many blind spots in rugged areas where close-range inspections cannot be performed. 

The introduction of this batch of new technical equipment into the National Nature Reserve of Nanyang Dinosaur-egg Fossil Group will further improve the quality of field patrols as well as the management and protection capabilities, improve the management level of the reserve, and effectively protect the dinosaur-egg fossils and other geological relics as well as the natural ecological environment. (Qin Dapeng, Sui Xiantao)