BEIJING, Jan. 16 -- China will work to reduce impact on nature reserves caused by irrational development, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) said on Friday.

The ministry will carry out legal administration over nature reserves and handle relations between natural reserves and local economic development, said the MEP.

More policies should be introduced to protect ecology, the ministry said.

In late 2014, the State Council approved 21 new state-level nature reserves.

The newly established nature reserves, with a total area of more than 6,200 square km, are scattered across 15 provinces and autonomous regions, including Liaoning, Fujian and Henan provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The reserves will become sanctuaries for 35 state-level endangered animal species, such as the Manchurian tiger, giant panda, snow leopard and golden monkey, as well as 12 kinds of rare wild plants.

As of present, the number of national nature reserves has reached 428, covering 946,600 square km, accounting for nearly ten percent of the country's land territory.

Setting up nature reserves will be an effective measure to maintain China's ecological security, said the MEP.