[Animals] China declares its first national park to preserve animals in their original habitat

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https://arabic.cnn.com/travel/article/2021/10/15/china-first-national-parks-intl-hnk

 

 

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN)--China has just unveiled its first set of national parks, all focused on preserving specific animals in the country's native habitat, including pandas.

In total, the protected land area of the parks covers a total of 230,000 square kilometers, from the northernmost region of Tibet to the southern island of Hainan.

China has been exploring the establishment of an institutional system to protect natural ecosystems since the country established its first nature reserve in 1956.

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Currently, there are more than 10,000 such reserves, which have played important roles in protecting biodiversity.

However, the Chinese authorities have acknowledged that there are problems when managing these nature reserves, meaning that the different local administrations responsible for the same sites have unclear boundaries and responsibilities.

The solution was to create a system of national parks, which would organize all these sites under one umbrella.

So, where will these parks be located, and how accessible are visitors to them?

The Giant Panda National Park, which is sure to attract a lot of tourists, was among those announced this week.

According to an official press release, the park covers "three Chinese provinces, Sichuan, Shanxi and Gansu, and crosses the Minshan, Qianglai, Dashiangling and Qinling mountains."

The area is considered a natural habitat for pandas, and more than 75% of the wild animals live in the area.

Meanwhile, the intersection of Jilin and Heilongjiang will be home to a special tiger and leopard national park, which aims to protect the environment of the two species.

It is reported that this is the only area in China where both the wild Siberian tiger and Siberian leopard live.

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Hainan Island is home to the best-preserved tropical rainforest in China. It is also the only place in the world where you can find the black gibbon.

Some parks focus on multiple animals more than just one species, among them Wuyishan National Park, which will act as a gene bank for a variety of rare and endangered species.

Sanjiangyuan National Park on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will be an important biodiversity center, especially as remote areas face challenges from climate change.

According to the National Forest and Grassland Administration of China, Sanjiangyuan National Park has employed 17,200 herders as "environmental managers" or rangers in the park.

They will each receive a guaranteed annual income of $31,000 per year, providing a more stable way of making a living.

Meanwhile, officials at the Tiger and Panther National Park have set up "livelihood projects," such as village building, livestock and alternative agricultural training.