Final Report - Asian Development Bank

TA 4721-PRC: Preparing the Shaanxi-Qinling Mountains Integrated Ecosystem Management Project
Final Report Appendix 5
Figure 8: Giant Panda Conservation Network in the Qinling
(WWF-China, used with permission)
110. Consolidation of NRs has been accomplished at other locations in China. One notable
example is the Naoli-Qixing River basin in Heilongjiang Province. Here a riverine corridor was
protected by a number of established and planned wetland nature reserves under Forestry and
Agriculture Bureau authority. These reserves were combined into a single large wetland nature
reserve under Forestry administration with support from Agriculture Bureau. While consolidation into a
single nature reserve on the Qinling might not be achievable or even desirable, at least some
consolidation of the many reserves and corridors on the Qinling could yield benefits including
streamlined administration, cost savings, and enhanced management effectiveness. This approach
would fit the priorities recommended by the World Bank Nature Reserves Management Project in
2003 26 .
vii. Forest Parks and Forest Farms in the Qinling
111. Forest parks number 42 and cover 1,736 km 2 in the Qinling, or over 3 percent of the 50,500
km 2 of total Qinling area in Shaanxi (Appendix 11). At year-end 2006 China had established 1928
forest parks covering a total area of over 151,300 km 2 . Of these, 17 are listed as Natural Cultural
Heritage sites by the United Nations, and 10 are listed as World Geoparks. China’s forest parks
received over 200 million tourists in 2006, an increase of 20% over 2005. Total forest park income
was $10 billion in 2006 and the forest park network created more than 3 million jobs in 2006. Forest
parks are established, administered, and managed by SFA to protect natural resources and
ecosystems. Forest parks contribute to rural economies by creating jobs and stimulating markets for
local products. Forest parks in the Qinling account for 2 percent of China’s forest parks by number
and just over 1 percent by area.
26 Li Diqiang, Song Yangling and Ouyang Zhiyun. 2003. Research on the National Forestry Nature Reserve
System Plan. World Bank-GEF Forest Resources Development and Protection Project, Nature Reserves
Management Project. China Land Press, Beijing, in Chinese and English, see page 172 in English.
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