China makes strides in setting up national parks

China has made significant progress in national park construction, with the number of flagship species continuing to increase and ecosystem diversity improving, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said.

"Since August last year, more than 50 experts from over 20 research institutes, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, have conducted ecological assessments on the first group of five national parks," said Xu Weihua, deputy director of the National Park Research Institute.

Chen Zongqian, deputy director of the Sichuan Forestry and Grassland Bureau, said that taking giant panda habitats as an example, over 70 percent of the wild giant panda habitats in the country have been effectively protected, while ecological corridors connecting 13 local panda populations have been established, according to assessment results.

In ecological corridors, which are strips of habitat that connect fragmented habitats and enable species to move between different areas, giant panda activities have been observed 32 times, and the annual encounter rate of giant pandas in Sichuan has risen from 178 to 185, Chen said.

This year in Sichuan's Shimian county, patrol officers captured footage of two giant pandas mating and collected the pandas' feces for analysis. The pandas were identified as Tao Tao and Hua Yan, who had been released into the wild.

"This is the first time we have collected conclusive evidence of young giant pandas, which were reintroduced and grew into adulthood, integrating into the local population and participating in mating and reproduction," Chen said. "This marked new achievements in the reintroduction of giant pandas into the wild."

Chen also said that by protecting the giant panda, the flagship species in the national park area, an "umbrella effect" has been generated. Over 8,000 rare companion animal and plant species, such as the golden snub-nosed monkey, snow leopard and Chinese fir, have likewise been well protected.

After conducting a national park pilot project in the Three-River-Source area in 2016, China established the first group of national parks in October 2021: the Three-River-Source National Park, the Giant Panda National Park, the Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park, the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park and the Wuyishan National Park.

In July, during the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, it was proposed to comprehensively promote the construction of a natural protected area system with national parks as the mainstay.

The Tibetan antelope, the flagship species at the Three-River-Source National Park, has increased to over 70,000. The snow leopard population has recovered to over 1,200, and the populations of Northeast tigers and leopards in the national park have grown from the initial 27 and 42 at the pilot stage, respectively, to around 70 and 80.

The wild population of the Hainan gibbon, the flagship species at the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park, has increased from fewer than 10 in two groups 40 years ago to 42 in seven groups, said Zhang Liming, director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration's nature reserve department.

An Lidan, deputy director of the National Park Center, said that all five national parks have areas open to visitors who make online reservations.

"We hope to convey the conservation values and concepts of national parks to every member of society and form a consensus," An said.