China’s First National Park

China recently announced it would officially establish the country’s first national park in 2020. The announcement reflects China’s growing aspiration to protect its natural heritage and moves the country a step closer towards the goal of creating a comprehensive National Park System by 2030. The Paulson Institute is proud to be  a key partner  in this effort.

The announcement of the Sanjiangyuan National Park as China’s first national park comes at a crucial time for the region’s environment and biodiversity. The park, located in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, is home to nearly 20% of mammals that are listed as “threatened” on the  International Union for Conservation of Nature red list . Many other species in the region—including rare and endangered species—are significantly affected by climate change, infrastructure development, and increasing human activity.

These ecosystems provide habitats for one of the highest concentrations of living creatures in high altitude localities anywhere in the world.

The Sanjiangyuan National Park aims to preserve a wide range of ecosystems in the region, from alpine wetlands and lakes to grasslands and montane landscapes. These ecosystems provide habitats for one of the highest concentrations of living creatures in high altitude localities anywhere in the world. Significantly, the park will preserve the headwaters of the three most important rivers in China and Southeast Asia—the Yangtze, Yellow, and Lancang/Mekong Rivers, between them supplying hundreds of millions of people with fresh water.

The Paulson Institute has played a key role in sharing best practices and technical support for the establishment of Sanjiangyuan National Park. At the invitation of the Qinghai Government, our Conservation Program team organized a group of six American experts, led by Jon Jarvis, the former Director of the US National Park Service, to evaluate the work done by the Sanjiangyuan National Park Management Bureau during the pilot phase, including its master plan, management plan, and conservation and community engagement initiatives. The evaluation team drove more than 3,000km in 10 days to visit many areas of the park and conferred with many local officials and community representatives.

Our work culminated in  an evaluation report  that was submitted to the Qinghai Provincial Government and other relevant agencies.  The report  assesses the significance of the natural and cultural resources contained within the boundaries of Sanjiangyuan and provides several core recommendations. These include:

• The single agency managing national parks throughout China must build its capacity to create a set of laws and regulations that establish clear policies and parameters to guide park decision-making and ensure that checks are in place to guarantee consistent application;
• Create a comprehensive natural resource monitoring program;
• Research to what extent wildlife conflict exists and fairly compensate herders for domestic animals lost to carnivores;
• Manage park visitation, conservation, and economic benefits to protect the culture and lifestyles of the Tibetan people, with minimal visitation allowed to core areas and an emphasis on developing commercial visitor services near gateway communities and outside the park, or in traditional use zones;
• Allow limited human access to core areas for the purposes of law enforcement, anti-poaching interventions, and scientific research;
• Establish a robust fee program for entrance and authorized activities, with most of the fees to be retained locally for ecological restoration and visitor improvement projects, and the remainder available to all other national parks;
• Invest in a training program that builds a local workforce capable of filling the jobs created by the national park and resource protection;
• Establish a “Friends of Sanjiangyuan National Park” organization to promote volunteers and private philanthropy to support the park, with private funds raised being matched by government funds to leverage projects

Moving forward, a comprehensive National Park System will allow China to reform and streamline its protected area system in ways that will help to preserve the immense natural capital found throughout China.

While China still has a long way to go before realizing its ambitious national park goals, the establishment of the Sanjiangyuan National Park Pilot is a milestone to be acknowledged and celebrated. It’s an achievement with which the Paulson Institute is proud to be involved, and we look forward to many more years working to bring national parks to life in China.

Andrew Morimoto is Director of Research in the Office of the Chairman.