The devastation of China’s 2008 earthquake was substantially lessened by environmental conservation programs for some of the country’s most fragile habitats, according to research published in a journal of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science this week.
Analysis of satellite imagery and field data by scientists at Michigan State University and in China show the quake – and the resulting landslides – affected 10 percent of the forests covering the mountains that are home to endangered species, including giant pandas. But it could have been worse.