Sharing of National Parks by the Whole People Vibrant and Beautiful China
◆Our reporter: Liu Xiaoxing
Qiebao is an ordinary herder from Baimana Village, Huanghe Township, Maduo County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Golog, Qinghai Province. In 2012, Qiebao became an ecological manager of Sanjiangyuan National Park, namely a "person of the country" from a "person of the grassland".
From that day he put on the red armband, he has shuttled in the mountains, forests, lakes, and rivers, silently protecting the grasslands, lakes, and mountains in his hometown.
As one of the 1.102 million registered ecological managers in China, Qiebao has the same responsibility as that of many other ecological managers, namely protecting the mountains and rivers of the hometown.
In 2015, China successively launched 10 national park system pilot projects such as Sanjiangyuan, Amur tiger and Amur leopard, giant panda, Qilian Mountain, Wuyi Mountain in 12 provinces, covering more than 220,000 square kilometers, accounting for about 2.3% of China's land area. In 2020, the third-party evaluation results of China's national park system pilot showed that the pilot tasks of the national park system were basically completed, and the ecological protection and notable results were made in ecological conservation and restoration. The number of Tibetan antelopes in Sanjiangyuan National Park increased from less than 20,000 before the pilot to more than 70,000 at present; The Amur Tiger and Amur Leopard National Park has formed a stable breeding population of Amur tigers and Amur leopards, and initially realized the return of tigers and leopards.
From establishing a unified and hierarchical management system and efficient operation mechanism to innovating a natural resource asset management system, from exploring the establishment of a community co-construction and co-management mechanism to promoting the realization of sharing of national parks by the whole people, the basic framework of China's national park system has been initially established, and the integrated optimization of nature reserves has been advanced scientifically and orderly, thus providing a "Chinese approach" for global ecological governance.
The national park management system has been constantly optimized, and the top-level design has been constantly improved.
Since China established the first nature reserve-Dinghushan Nature Reserve in Guangdong in 1965, China had 11,800 nature reserves with a total area of more than 170 million hectares, accounting for 18% of the land area and achieved a target of reaching 17% by 2020 proposed in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity "Aichi Targets" by the end of 2019 after more than 60 years of effort.
In 2013, China first proposed "establishing a system of national parks", which is an important part of the construction of ecological civilization system in China.
Many systems have been introduced, many ecological managers have been on duty and many innovative practices have been developed.
The central government has issued Overall Plan for Establishing the National Park System, A Guideline on Establishing a System of Protected Natural Areas with National Parks as its Mainstay successively, clearly defining the ideas and target tasks of the construction of national parks;
From the Spatial Layout Scheme of National Parks to the standards for creation of national parks and from the introduction of natural resource asset management documents to ecological environment monitoring and supervision and other related documents, the top-level design of the national park system has been constantly improved; From the establishment of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration to the establishment of the National Park Administration, the unified management of national parks and nature reserves has been realized.
In pilot areas including Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Qinghai, a unified management organization has been established; a hierarchical management structure has been basically established; a central direct management model represented by Amur tiger and Amur leopard National Park, a co-management model of central and provincial governments represented by Giant Panda and Qilian Mountain National Park and a model of the central government entrusting the provincial government with management represented by Sanjiangyuan and Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park have been formed. Significant progress has been made in the reform of the management system.
In 2019, China basically completed the establishment of a system of protected natural areas with national parks as its mainstay and the improvement of top-level design of the protection system for national parks. This is an important measure for China in promoting natural ecological protection, building a beautiful China, and promoting the harmonious co-existence between human and nature.
Innovatively explore the establishment of a community co-construction and co-management mechanism and promote the realization of sharing of national parks by the whole people
"This is the most beautiful hometown in my heart." Gongsang, an ecological manager who has lived on this land for several decades, was delighted. The "most beautiful hometown" in his mind is Maduo County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Golog, Qinghai Province, which is located at the source of the Yellow River and has always enjoyed the reputation of "Qianhu County".
What underwent great changes with Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Golog, Qinghai is the vast Sanjiangyuan region.
On March 5, 2016, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council formally issued the Pilot Program for Sanjiangyuan National Park System, marking the official launch of China's first national park system pilot project and opening a new journey for China to establish a national park system.
Sanjiangyuan National Park has established an ecological public welfare "one household and one position" mechanism for 17,000 farm households in 53 administrative villages of 12 villages and towns in the park, and actively promoted the organized management and protection and grid inspections of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes and grasslands, leading to an increase in the average annual income per household by RMB 21,600.
It has also actively built a new type of community under the national park system and launched franchise activities, so that local people can obtain stable income from participating in ecological protection and park management, further extend the reach of ecological management to communities, groups, and households and become the eternal watcher of the national park.
The exploration of the community co-construction and co-management mechanism is being continuously deepened...
In the giant panda pilot area, sustainable development paths for the collaboration of communities, social organizations, protected areas, governments, colleges and universities, and enterprises are being explored; In Qilian Mountain pilot area, the existing grassland, wetland, and woodland management and protection positions are unified into ecological management and protection public-service job positions, and ecological forest rangers and village-level grassland administrators are employed; Shennongjia pilot area guides community residents to develop ecological industries and promotes the transformation and upgrading of agricultural industries by way of clean agriculture and clean production subsidies.
The exploration of realizing sharing of national parks by the whole people is being continuously promoted...
In Wuyi Mountain pilot area, public service facilities have been improved and service functions such as natural education and recreation experience have been enhanced under the premise of protection; In pilot areas such as Amur tiger and Amur leopard pilot area and Sanjiangyuan, volunteer service management measures have been developed and volunteer service teams have been formed; In Shennongjia pilot area, special plans for resource protection and ecological experience, scientific research and popularization of science have been prepared and a field propaganda and education base has been set up to carry out science popularization and environmental education.
The mechanism for natural resource owners to participate in the franchise income distribution is in an orderly manner...
Franchise management systems or measures have been formulated in pilot areas such as Amur tiger and Amur leopard pilot area, Sanjiangyuan, Wuyi Mountain and Sanjiangyuan; Shennongjia regulates the business activities of the park, implements franchise licenses, and gives priority to allowing residents to participate in business activities; In Sanjiangyuan and Qilian Mountain, a natural resource balance sheet preparation system has been created and a natural resource balance sheet has been prepared to explore the mechanism for natural resource owners to participate in the franchise income distribution.
Great achievements have been made with pilot areas, including a significant increase in biodiversity and a significant enhancement in ecological service functions.
The pilot construction of national parks contributes to the protection and restoration of the most elite, most precious, and most important core natural ecological resources in China.
-The pilot area of the Giant Panda National Park integrates 81 nature reserves in 3 provinces. The population quantity of wild giant pandas in the pilot area accounts for 87% of the national total quantity, and the habitat area accounts for 70% of the total area of the national giant panda habitats;
-The wild Amur tiger and Amur leopard population in the Amur tiger and Amur leopard pilot area is stable, and the range of motion has been continuously expanded. 10 tiger cubs and 6 leopard cubs are newly discovered;
-The overall grassland degradation trend in Sanjiangyuan pilot area has been contained, the vegetation coverage of the black soil beach management area has increased from less than 20% before management to more than 80% after management, the average annual increase in water conservation quantity has reached more than 6% and the number of Tibetan antelopes has recovered to more than 70,000;
-The Qilian Mountain pilot area has returned 144 mining rights, and all herdsmen in the core areas of the national park have been relocated in Zhangye City and Wuwei City, Gansu Province;
-25 wildlife passages have been created in Shennongjia pilot area;
-In Wuyi Mountain pilot area, 7,300 mu of illegal tea mountains have been renovated, 6,500 mu of ecological restoration has been completed, 39 illegal constructions have been demolished, and the quality of the ecological environment has been stable with good momentum;
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The Chinese wisdom of "harmonious co-existence between human and nature" is showing endless vitality and infinite charm to the world as the full-scale construction of national parks.
