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 on Friday.

"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 batch 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 the giant panda habitat as an example, according to assessment results, over 70 percent of the wild giant panda habitats in the country have been effectively protected while ecological corridors connecting 13 local giant panda populations have been established.

In ecological corridors, which refer to the strip of habitat that connects fragmented habitats, allowing species to move between different areas, such as Tuowu Mountain and Niba Mountain, giant panda activities have been observed 32 times, with an increase of 50 giant pandas. The annual encounter rate of giant pandas in Sichuan has risen from 178 to 185, he said.

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

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

He added that by protecting the flagship species giant panda 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 been well protected.

In October 2021, China officially established the first batch of national parks including the Three-River-Source National Park, Giant Panda National Park, Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park, Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park and Wuyishan National Park.

As of now, the flagship species Tibetan antelope 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 population of Northeast tigers and leopards in the national park have grown from the initial 27 and 42 at the pilot stage to around 70 and 80, respectively.

The wild population of the flagship species Hainan gibbon at the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park has increased from less than 10 members 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 the five national parks have areas open to visitors where they can enter by making online reservations.

"The important foundation of the national park construction and management is the joint construction, sharing and protection by all people, with the active participation of the whole society. We hope to convey the conservation values and concepts of national parks to every member of society and form a consensus," she said, expressing hope that national parks can attract more domestic and international visitors for in-depth exploration.

Li Ren contributed to this story.