THIRTEEN hikers who needed rescuing after violating a government ban and entering the Shimentai Nature Reserve in Yingde, Guangdong Province, will be fined, according to the Yingde Public Security Bureau on Monday. They had been trapped by heavy rain when hiking in the area. The Yingde police received a report Saturday that five hikers had gone missing in the Shimentai National Nature Reserve. The police immediately organized a search and rescue operation. Due to the heavy rain, complex terrain, and interrupted cellphone signals, the rescue operation was difficult. However, by Sunday, all five missing hikers were found and successfully rescued. On the same day, the Yingde police received another report that eight hikers were unable to descend the slippery mountain in the nature reserve. The rescue team rushed to the scene of the second incident without rest. Due to the slippery terrain, the rescue vehicles could only get to about five kilometers away from the trapped hikers. Rescuers then proceeded on foot with equipment for nearly two hours before reaching them. All eight were brought safely down the mountain. The 13 hikers will face fines for violating the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Nature Reserves. The regulations state that anyone is prohibited from entering the core area of a nature reserve without permission. In recent years, in several incidents, many people have been fined for unauthorized entry and activities in the protected area. On June 3, 2022, five people were fined 3,000 yuan (US$418) each for illegally entering the core area of the reserve for sightseeing without approval. On June 25, 2020, two were fined 2,000 yuan each for unauthorized hiking in the nature reserve. The Shimentai National Nature Reserve primarily serves to protect the subtropical forest ecosystem and also acts as a source of water conservation for surrounding areas. (China Daily) | 