Badaling Great Wall (file photo)

Construction of the pilot area for the Great Wall National Park in Beijing has made further progress for identifying 21 major protected areas, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Dec. 20.

The pilot area, covering an area of 59.91 square kilometers, is the only one that takes the world cultural heritage as its core resource among the first 10 areas designated by the country.

By integrating the resources around the Great Wall, the cultural heritage will be effectively protected, the forest ecosystem in this area can recover, and ecosystem services will be improved, an official with the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform noted.

The official added that this will help to build a national park demonstration area.

Moreover, construction of the demonstration area will promote resource conservation and development of urban and rural areas and lay a solid foundation for ecological protection around Beijing and the national park system.