With U.S. as a Model, China Envisions Network of National Parks

新鲜人

With U.S. as a Model, China Envisions Network of National Parks

By EDWARD WONGJUNE 10, 2015

Tourists at Huanglong, where conservation has become secondary to moneymaking ventures.[size=0.6875]CreditGilles Sabrie for The New York Times

BEIJING — More than 140 years ago, the United States government designated Yellowstone as the nation’s first national park — an untouched Western landscape of geysers, grizzly bears and soaring peaks. The national parks program eventually expanded to include more than 450 sites and has become one of the country’s greatest tourist draws.

Now China is trying to do with some of its natural spaces what the United States did during its own industrial boom. On Monday, Chinese officials and the Paulson Institute, a research center based in Chicago, announced a plan to undertake trial national park projects in nine provinces over the next three years.

“National parks are one of the very best ideas America has exported to the world,” Henry M. Paulson Jr., the former United States Treasury secretary and Goldman Sachs chief executive, said in an email. “A Chinese national park system that protects and manages the country’s ecologically rich, beautiful areas can be a source of great national pride and environmental education.”

Photo

Hikers at the scenic Huanglong Park in Sichuan Province. Many areas in China where nature thrives are threatened by industrial pollution and construction.[size=0.6875]CreditGilles Sabrie for The New York Times

“The trick in China will be how to let the public share its natural treasures, while at the same time protecting them,” said Mr. Paulson, who founded the Paulson Institute in 2011. “Conservation begins with a love of nature. You need to value something before you want to save it.”

In some spots in China where nature still thrives, like the popular Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou alpine parks in Sichuan Province, conservation efforts have become secondary to moneymaking ventures by tourism concession companies. Such areas are also often threatened by industrial pollution and construction.

But in December 2013, according to state news reports, Xi Jinping, the country’s president and head of the Communist Party, told a meeting of senior officials charged with making economic policy that China should move forward with a true national park system.

The Paulson Institute, where research on China’s environmental problems has been a major focus, began talking last fall to the National Development and Reform Commission, the government agency that helps oversee economic planning, about how to help out.

“This was really big news,” Rose Niu, the chief conservation officer at the Paulson Institute, said of Mr. Xi’s remarks. “No. 1, the national park system is a new concept to China. No. 2, not so many environmental conservation issues have been highlighted on such a high-profile political level.”

新鲜人

Ms. Niu, who moved to Washington from China in 2008 and was in Beijing this week, said the Paulson Institute would provide “technical support” to the Chinese agency as officials explore ways to manage and protect the trial parks. That support includes promoting exchanges between Chinese officials and experts in the United States, developing guidelines for managing the pilot parks, and doing case studies of national park areas in seven countries: Brazil, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand and the United States.

Mr. Paulson has committed the institute’s help to planning for a trial park in the Wuyishan area of Fujian Province, a mountainous coastal region where Mr. Xi spent many years as an official. On the Chinese side, scholars from Tsinghua University in Beijing will help draft guidelines for Wuyishan and the other parks. Ms. Niu and others are scheduled to fly to Fujian on Thursday and travel to Wuyishan for meetings.

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Accompanying the group will be Doug Morris, who worked for 40 years with the United States National Park Service, including as a superintendent. Mr. Morris is a member of Global Parks, a nonprofit group started in 2008 by retired National Park Service managers to advise foreign governments on creating national parks.

Some Chinese officials at the provincial and regional levels have experimented with park conservation. Ms. Niu, who is from Yunnan Province, played a critical role in helping establish a conservation area there called Pudacuo. The protected area covers about 115 square miles where the parallel flows of the Yangtze, the Mekong and the Salween have carved deep valleys. Ms. Niu worked on that project after she became China country director of the Nature Conservancy, an American environmental group, in 1997. Mr. Paulson is a longtime member of that group.

“China wants to develop a national park system in line with international practices and standards, but also fitting into a Chinese context,” Ms. Niu said in Beijing. “As someone working on conservation issues for 20 years, I believe this is significant progress that the Chinese government is making. The Chinese government knows the Chinese public needs more and more green space and clean air.”

“The Chinese want beautiful places and beautiful landscapes,” she added. “They want to enjoy the natural resources. These kinds of resources are less and less in China. China not only needs to fight pollution of air, water and soil, but it also needs to invest in its natural capital.”

新鲜人

The trick in China will be how to let the public share its natural treasures, while at the same time protecting them,” said Mr. Paulson, who founded the Paulson Institute in 2011. “Conservation begins with a love of nature. You need to value something before you want to save it.”

In some spots in China where nature still thrives, like the popular Huanglong and Jiuzhaigou alpine parks in Sichuan Province, conservation efforts have become secondary to moneymaking ventures by tourism concession companies. Such areas are also often threatened by industrial pollution and construction.

But in December 2013, according to state news reports, Xi Jinping, the country’s president and head of the Communist Party, told a meeting of senior officials charged with making economic policy that China should move forward with a true national park system.

The Paulson Institute, where research on China’s environmental problems has been a major focus, began talking last fall to the National Development and Reform Commission, the government agency that helps oversee economic planning, about how to help out.

“This was really big news,” Rose Niu, the chief conservation officer at the Paulson Institute, said of Mr. Xi’s remarks. “No. 1, the national park system is a new concept to China. No. 2, not so many environmental conservation issues have been highlighted on such a high-profile political level.”

Ms. Niu, who moved to Washington from China in 2008 and was in Beijing this week, said the Paulson Institute would provide “technical support” to the Chinese agency as officials explore ways to manage and protect the trial parks. That support includes promoting exchanges between Chinese officials and experts in the United States, developing guidelines for managing the pilot parks, and doing case studies of national park areas in seven countries: Brazil, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, Thailand and the United States.

Mr. Paulson has committed the institute’s help to planning for a trial park in the Wuyishan area of Fujian Province, a mountainous coastal region where Mr. Xi spent many years as an official. On the Chinese side, scholars from Tsinghua University in Beijing will help draft guidelines for Wuyishan and the other parks. Ms. Niu and others are scheduled to fly to Fujian on Thursday and travel to Wuyishan for meetings.

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Continue reading the main story
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Accompanying the group will be Doug Morris, who worked for 40 years with the United States National Park Service, including as a superintendent. Mr. Morris is a member of Global Parks, a nonprofit group started in 2008 by retired National Park Service managers to advise foreign governments on creating national parks.

Some Chinese officials at the provincial and regional levels have experimented with park conservation. Ms. Niu, who is from Yunnan Province, played a critical role in helping establish a conservation area there called Pudacuo. The protected area covers about 115 square miles where the parallel flows of the Yangtze, the Mekong and the Salween have carved deep valleys. Ms. Niu worked on that project after she became China country director of the Nature Conservancy, an American environmental group, in 1997. Mr. Paulson is a longtime member of that group.

“China wants to develop a national park system in line with international practices and standards, but also fitting into a Chinese context,” Ms. Niu said in Beijing. “As someone working on conservation issues for 20 years, I believe this is significant progress that the Chinese government is making. The Chinese government knows the Chinese public needs more and more green space and clean air.”

“The Chinese want beautiful places and beautiful landscapes,” she added. “They want to enjoy the natural resources. These kinds of resources are less and less in China. China not only needs to fight pollution of air, water and soil, but it also needs to invest in its natural capital.”

华盛顿人

中国的国家公园

根据中华人民共和国国家标准GB50298-1999：《风景名胜区规划规范·术语》一章的定义，国家级风景名胜区（原称“国家重点风景名胜区”）在保护地体系归类中相当于“海外的国家公园”。 现行通用（自2007年4月3日起）的国家级风景名胜区徽志图案也体现了这点，其圆形图案上半部英文“NATIONAL PARK OF CHINA”，直译为“中国国家公园”，即国务院公布的“国家级风景名胜区”；下半部为汉语“中国国家级风景名胜区”全称。

2007年10月，新闻报道，中国环境保护部和国家旅游局批准建设中国第一个国家公园试点单位——黑龙江汤旺河国家公园。 汤旺河不属于国务院颁布的国家级风景名胜区。其“国家公园”称谓的权威性有待核实。

另据2008年3月的新闻报道，云南省将用8年时间，至2015年建成8个国家公园， 分别是迪庆香格里拉的普达措国家公园、梅里雪山国家公园、香格里拉大峡谷国家公园，主要是以雪山冰川、高山湖泊湿地为特征的国家公园；丽江老君山国家公园，以丽江老君山为核心，突出丹霞地貌、高山冰蚀湖群及湿地为特色；怒江大峡谷国家公园，依托六库、丙中洛，沿江确立一批旅游观光景区，成为徒步、自驾体验峡谷和少数民族风情的生态旅游区。同时，还有西双版纳热带雨林国家公园、菜阳河国家公园和屏边大围山国家公园等。

有关云南国家公园的新闻报道更加值得商榷。因为，国家公园，顾名思义应该由中央政府授权，而不是由省级政府自封。

综上所述，国家公园网认为由国务院所颁布的国家级风景名胜区更加接近于国外的国家公园。

寒冬开梅

5A级旅游景区





北京  北京故宫北京  北京天坛北京  北京颐和园北京  八达岭―十三陵天津  盘山河北  秦皇岛北戴河河北  承德避暑山庄外八庙山西  云冈石窟山西  五台山辽宁  大连海滨―旅顺口吉林  八大部―净月潭吉林  长白山天池江苏  南京钟山江苏  苏州古典园林浙江  杭州西湖浙江  雁荡山浙江  普陀山安徽  黄山安徽  九华山福建  鼓浪屿―万石山福建  武夷山江西  庐山江西  井冈山山东  胶东半岛海滨山东  曲阜孔庙，孔府，孔林山东  泰山河南  嵩山河南  洛阳龙门河南  王屋山─云台山湖南  衡山湖南  武陵源(张家界)重庆  长江三峡广西  桂林漓江海南  三亚热带海滨重庆  大足石刻四川  青城山―都江堰四川  峨眉山四川  九寨沟―黄龙寺贵州  黄果树贵州  龙宫云南  路南石林云南  玉龙雪山陕西  临潼骊山─秦兵马俑陕西  黄帝陵甘肃  崆峒山新疆  天山天池
国家5A级旅游景区由国家旅游局于2007年5月正式批准，在其官方网站发布通知公告。 公告说，依照中华人民共和国国家标准《旅游景区质量等级的划分与评定》与《旅游景区质量等级评定管理办法》，经有关省、自治区、直辖市旅游景区质量等级评定委员会推荐和辅导创建， 全国旅游景区质量等级评定委员会组织评定，66家试点景区达到国家5A级旅游景区标准的要求，批准为国家5A级旅游景区。 报道称，5A是一套规范性标准化的质量等级评定体系，从旅游交通、游览、旅游安全、卫生、邮电服务、旅游购物、综合管理、资源与环境保护等八个方面进行全面规范，突出以游客为中心，强调以人为本。

国家公园网(GJGY.com)认为5A级旅游景区水平参差不齐，很多精华景点不在其中，是地区平衡的结果。

国家5A旅游景区名单（66家）:

北京：故宫博物院、天坛公园、颐和园、八达岭长城。
天津：天津古文化街旅游区（津门故里）、天津盘山风景名胜区。
河北：秦皇岛市山海关景区、保定市安新白洋淀景区、承德避暑山庄及周围寺庙景区。
山西：大同市云冈石窟、忻州市五台山风景名胜区。
辽宁：沈阳市植物园、大连老虎滩海洋公园.海洋极地馆。
吉林：长春市伪满皇宫博物院、长白山景区。
黑龙江：哈尔滨市太阳岛公园。
上海：上海东方明珠广播电视塔上海东方明珠广播电视塔卫星照片、上海野生动物园。
江苏：南京市钟山风景名胜区-中山陵园风景区、中央电视台无锡影视基地三国水浒景区、苏州市拙政园、苏州市周庄古镇景区苏州市周庄古镇景区卫星照片。
浙江：杭州市西湖风景名胜区、温州市雁荡山风景名胜区、舟山市普陀山风景名胜区。
安徽：黄山市黄山风景区、池州市九华山风景区。
福建：厦门市鼓浪屿风景名胜区、南平市武夷山风景名胜区。
江西：九江市庐山风景旅游区、吉安市井冈山风景旅游区。
山东：烟台市蓬莱阁旅游区、济宁市曲阜明故城（三孔）旅游区、泰安市泰山景区。
河南：登封市嵩山少林景区、洛阳市龙门石窟景区、焦作市云台山风景名胜区。
湖南：衡阳市南岳衡山旅游区、张家界武陵源旅游区。
湖北：武汉市黄鹤楼公园武汉市黄鹤楼公园卫星照片、宜昌市三峡大坝旅游区。
广东：广州市长隆旅游度假区、深圳华侨城旅游度假区。
广西：桂林市漓江景区、桂林市乐满地度假世界。
海南：三亚市南山文化旅游区、三亚市南山大小洞天旅游区。
重庆：重庆大足石刻景区、重庆巫山小三峡--小小三峡。
四川：成都市青城山--都江堰旅游景区、乐山市峨眉山景区、阿坝藏族羌族自治州九寨沟旅游景区。
贵州：安顺市黄果树大瀑布景区、安顺市龙宫景区。
云南：昆明市石林风景区、丽江市玉龙雪山景区。
陕西：西安市秦始皇兵马俑博物馆、西安市华清池景区、延安市黄帝陵景区。
甘肃：嘉峪关市嘉峪关文物景区、平凉市崆峒山风景名胜区。
宁夏：石嘴山市沙湖旅游景区、中卫市沙坡头旅游景区。
新疆：乌鲁木齐市天山天池风景名胜区、吐鲁番市葡萄沟风景区、阿勒泰地区喀纳斯景区。

新鲜人

由国家政府部门在全国范围内统一管理的“国家公园”从2008年才刚刚起步。2008年10月8日，中国环境保护部和国家旅游局已批准建设中国第一个国家公园试点单位——黑龙江汤旺河国家公园。该公园地处小兴安岭南麓，范围包括汤旺河原始森林区和汤旺河石林区。此区域是松花江一级支流汤旺河的源头，植被覆盖率99.8%以上。以红松为主的针阔叶混交林是亚洲最完整、最具代表性的原始红松林生长地，同时分布着大量云杉、冷杉、白桦、椴树等多达110余种的珍贵树种。区域内生物多样性丰富，有野生植物612种，国家重点保护珍稀濒危植物10种；野生动物250多种，国家重点保护的珍稀濒危物种40余种。区域内自然景观独特，百余座花岗岩石峰构成了奇特的地质地貌，是目前国内发现的唯一一处造型丰富，类型齐全，特征典型的印支期花岗岩地质遗迹。