Though National Parks have been around in the United States for over a century, National Parks in China are a recent phenomenon of this past decade. A proposal to establish a national parks system in China was first released in 2013 at the 3rd Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党第十八届中央委员会第三次全体会议). In 2017, rapid construction began, and the establishment of a national park system was approved in July 2017.
President Xi Jinping officially declared the first group of officially designated national parks, five in total, in October 2021 at the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15, 生物多样性公约缔约方大会第十五次会议). China's national parks attempt to balance two central park purposes: recreation and enjoyment for visitors and protection of ecosystems. These five national parks currently cover a total area of ~230,000 square kilometers, though China plans to expand its national park system to be the largest in the world. China plans to expand the national park system to cover about 10% of the country's land area, in comparison to 2.3% coverage in the United States.
China's Five Inaugural National Parks:
Sanjiangyuan National Park
三江源国家级自然保护区
sānjiāng yuán guójiā jí zìrán bǎohù qū
Sanjiangyuan National Park, located on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai province, contains the headwaters (sources) of Asia's three great rivers: the Yellow, the Yangtze, and the Mekong River (黄河，长江，和湄公河). It is China's largest national park, covering 123,100 square kilometers at an elevation of about 4,500 meters. The climate is arid and frigid due to its high altitude. Despite this, water resources allow for flora and fauna to flourish. Snow leopards, Tibetan blue bears, and Tibetan foxes Tibetan antelope, and the Tibetan wile ass are all endemic to the region.
Giant Panda National Park
大熊猫国家公园
dà xióngmāo guójiā gōngyuán
The Giant Panda National Park is vast protected area located within the Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi provinces (四川，甘肃，和陕西). This park was established in 2020 and covers an area larger than 10,000 square miles (more than three times the size of Yellowstone National Park). This park is home to 80% of the giant panda population in China (the largest population of giant pandas worldwide), roughly 1,864 pandas. As China's national animal, and a prominent symbol of conservation around the world, China is committed to fostering its giant panda population. Other park residents include the Chinese Monal bird, red pandas, and Sambar deer.
Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park
东北虎豹国家公园
dōngběi hǔ bào guójiā gōngyuán
The Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park is located in the provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang (吉林和黑龙江), at the center of Asia's temperate conifer and broad-leaved mixed forest ecosystem. The park covers an area of over 1.41 million hectares. The park protects the largest cat species in the world, the Siberian tiger, a species under China's national first-class protection. The Siberian tiger's population has rapidly declined due to human-caused forest destruction; a 1998-1999 population survey suggested there were only 12 to 16 Siberian tigers left in China. Similarly, a population survey done in the same years for Amur leopards suggested there were only 7 to 12 leopards in China during this period. The latest data shows positive signs, with estimations of 50+ Siberian tigers and 60+ Amur leopards. This park is also home to sika deer and Siberian roe deer, respectively designated with first- and second-class protection. In 2019, the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park signed a three-year agreement with Russia's Land of the Leopard national park to form a cooperative action plan to protect Siberian tigers and Amur leopards.
Hainan Tropical Forests National Park
海南热带森林国家公园
hǎinán rèdài sēnlín guójiā gōngyuán
The Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park is located in the southern part of China's Hainan Province (海南). This park is one of the largest, best preserved, and most concentrated contiguous tropical rainforests in China. Spanning over nine cities and counties and over 4,400 square kilometers (about 14% of the island's land area). The park is home to roughly 20% of China's amphibian species, 33% of its reptile species, 38.6% of its bird species, and 20% of its mammal species. It is the only habitat of the Hainan gibbon, one of the most endangered primate species in the world. In 2021, the Hainan gibbon's population recovered to 35 individuals over five groups.
Wuyishan National Park
武夷山国家公园
Wuyishan National Park, located at the intersection of Fujian and Jiangxi provinces (福建和江西) known as "the roof of East China," protects the biodiversity of the world-famous Wuyi mountains. The park spans almost 1,000 square kilometers, and has a forest coverage of 96.3%. The park is home to two household birds: the silver pheasant and the Elliot's pheasant, the latter under China's first-class state protection. The area is world-famous because of Wuyi tea, first introduced to Europe in the 1600s, considred the first kind of black tea in the world.
Links to further reading:
Beginning: China's national park system | National Science Review | Oxford Academic (oup.com)
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-12/Go-Northeast-China-Tiger-and-Leopard-National-Park-1fHfi8Jg1I4/index.html
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-13/Go-Hainan-Tropical-Rainforest-National-Park-1fIWnOlcMs8/index.html
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-14/Go-Wuyishan-National-Park-1fKuJQMzswE/index.html
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-10/Go-Sanjiangyuan-National-Park-1fE0VVoJGFO/index.html
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2022-12-11/Go-The-Giant-Panda-National-Park-1fFHCZTmyqc/index.html
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