China To Establish New National Park System
Posted by Jason A. Hendricks on October 10, 2008 |
China has recently approved a measure to establish it’s first National Park. Tangwanghe National Park will be used as a pilot opportunity to bring a conservation and environmental preservation approach to an area that has formally focused on generating tourism and revenue.
This isn’t the first park in China to be designated a ‘National Park’, but this is the first one to actually garner that designation from an environmental and conservation standpoint. Many of the other major parks in China have been used extensively as tourist attractions.
If the proposed new park works out as planned, it could become a small part of a much bigger project that would establish a wider array of protected parks and lands across China that doesn’t focus soley on revenue and tourists.
Tangwanghe national park is located at the south of Lesser Hinggan Mountains in Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province, in the northeast of China. The park is composed of primeval forests and geological relics.
The vegetation coverage of the park is above 99.8 percent. The area is most famous for its virgin forests of Korean pines. The mixed broadleaved Korean pine forest here is the most well-preserved in Asia. And the geological relics are unique in China.
Along with the conservation and environmental aspects of Tangwanghe National Park, there will now be areas that can be used for scientific and research purposes that will be protected from China’s evergrowing population and sprawl.
Tangwanghe National Park will be joining more than 10,000 national parks in over 200 world countries and regions. This is the first for China. I, for one, am glad to see them finally making this step to protect some of their own country’s treasures. When it comes to conservation and protection, no matter what my personal thoughts are on China, this can’t be looked at any other way than being a positive.
Sources: Backpacker Magazine’s Daily Dirt blog, Xinhau News