The National Forestry and Grassland Administration recently unveiled 10 major examples of protected natural areas in China in 2018, which are listed below.

1. Building a unified protected area management system.

In March 2018, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China released a plan to integrate the responsibilities of various ministries and administrations through setting up a state administration.

The organ, now called the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, is mainly responsible for management of the development and protection of forest, grassland, wetland, desert and wildlife, as well as organizing ecological protection and restoration, afforestation and management of national parks.

2. The National Park Administration was established on April 10, 2018.

In May, the National Development and Reform Commission handed the national park pilot project over to the administration.

3. The first national inspection of protected natural areas was carried out

From June to the end of 2018, the country carried out a nationwide inspection of protected natural areas in 31 provinces and cities with the aim of acquiring information about these areas and finding existing issues in their protection.

4. Fanjing Mountain listed as a World Heritage Site

In July 2018, Fanjing Mountain in southwest China’s Guizhou province was put on the World Heritage list, making China home to the largest number of natural heritage sites in the world.

5. Mount Huangshan in Anhui province became a member of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves

In July 2018, Mount Huangshan in Anhui province was added to the UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves, becoming the 34th listed biosphere reserve in China.

6. Six Chinese cities selected as global wetland cities

In October 2018, eighteen cities, including six in China, were recognized for their role in safeguarding urban wetlands by the 13th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

The six Chinese cities are Yinchuan in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Haikou in Hainan province, Harbin in Heilongjiang province, Changde in Hunan province, Changshu in Jiangsu province, and Dongying in Shandong province.

7. On Oct. 29, 2018, the Qilian Mountain National Nature Reserve Administration and the Panda National Park Administrative Bureau were both established in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China’s Gansu province and Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan province.

8. Guangwu Mountain-Nuoshui River park in Sichuan and Dabie Mountains in central China’s Hubei were added to UNESCO Global Geoparks list

In April 2018, the Guangwu Mountain-Nuoshui River park in southwest China’s Sichuan and Dabie Mountains in central China’s Hubei were listed as UNESCO global geoparks. The two became the 36th and 37th listed parks in China, meaning the country is now home to the most geoparks in the world.

9. Number of national park research institutes rose drastically in 2018

In August 2018, the State Forestry Administration's Monitoring and Research Center for the Siberian tiger and Amur leopard was established at Beijing Normal University. In December, the administration opened a national park planning and research center in Kunming, capital of southwest China’s Yunnan province.

10. Oil wells were closed in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

By December 2018, local oil companies in Xinjiang plugged oil and water wells and restored an area of 352,000 square meters to protect wild animals in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.