Environmental Reviews and Case Studies: Contextualization of National Parks in the Nature Conservation Scheme in China: A Case Study of Pudacuo National Park in Yunnan Province

Abstract

A complex nature conservation scheme has been taking shape in China since 1965. After the first national park made its debut in 2007 in Yunnan Province in southwest China, the gap between this new model and existing conservation tools became apparent. This article attempts to analyze the degree to which a model of national parks can contribute to and remedy the defects within the existing nature conservation scheme in China, and to reveal the obstacles that impede the national parks from reaching their full potential. These are main findings of this report: (a) The model of the national park has not fully delivered the desirable outcome that its initiators had anticipated (i.e., a more effective balance between conservation and use of natural resources). (b) A gap exists between national parks envisioned and national parks in practice in terms of objectives, institutional capacity, community development, and legislation. (c) The new model does not fundamentally solve the existing problems, such as the funding shortage, overlapping authorities, and implementation deficiencies; rather, it has revealed new problems, such as central-local conflicts. (d) The obstacles that national parks face are foreseeable, such as the adverse effects of tourism and economic pressure on nature conservation, the constrained role of nongovernmental organizations, and the government bureaucratic structure in China. (e) The legality of the national parks has been challenged, and conflicts have arisen between legislation on national parks and superordinate law existing in terms of the rezoning within national parks.

Notes

Notes

1. Regarding the hierarchy of legislative documents, in line with the constitution, legislative law classifies legislative documents into, generally speaking, five categories: law (falv), administrative regulation (xingzhengfagui), local regulation (difangxingfagui), autonomous regulation and separate regulation (zizhitiaoli and danxingtiaoli), department rule (bumenguizhang), and local government rule (difangzhengfuguizhang).

2. See the open letter by Xie Yan (2012) reviewing her comments on the legislation; see also Xinhua News Agency (2010).

3. One of the sternest critics, Xie Yan, a prominent preservationist from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in an effort to thwart the legislation, launched an intense campaign predominantly through the use of the media and the Internet within a month of the opening session of the NPC, during which the draft was planned to be passed (Shen, 2012).

4. According to the “Principle for Categories and Grades of Nature Reserve” (SEPA & CSBTS, 1994), the nature reserve is divided into three subclasses including nine specific types, which are Class I natural ecosystems (including five specific types: forestry ecosystem, grassland and meadow ecosystem, desert ecosystem, inland wetland and water ecosystem, and marine and coastal ecosystem), Class II species (including two specific types: wild animals and wild plants), and Class III natural relics (including two specific types: geological remains and paleontological remains).

5. This 1997 figure was provided by Harkness (1998, p. 918). The latest figure is unavailable, but considering China's population growth in the last decade, the author assumes that the current figure would be no less than 30 million.

6. Harkness (ibid.) also provided another figure for contrast. The total population in poverty in China in 1997 was around 58 million

7. Examples include Changbai Mountain Biosphere Reserve in Jilin Province (by Yuan, Dai, and Wang, 2008), Shennongjia National Nature Reserve in Hubei Province (by Chen, Yang, and Xe, 2005), and Wolong Biosphere Reserve in Sichuan Province (by Fu et al., 2004, and Xu et al., 2006). See also Wang et al. (2012, p. 255).

8. See the official website of the “2002 The Nature Conservancy” program, http://www.tibetinfor.com.cn/zt/zt20020033592032.htm (accessed February 2013).

9. See the introduction to “Yunnan National Parks” (in Chinese) at the official website of TNC, http://www.tnc.org.cn/NP/ (accessed February 2013).

10. See the official website of Pudacuo National Park (in Chinese), http://www.puda-cuo.com/ (accessed July 2013).

11. The identification of authority and of emerging conflicts at central level is discussed further in the next section.

12. See TNC official website, http://www.tnc.org.cn; see also Kram et al. (2012, p. 178).

13. For details on the PNPMB, see http://xxgk.yn.gov.cn/canton_model3/newsview.aspx?id=1555546 (accessed February 2013).

14. This information was collected from the author's interview with Tourism Investment Company staff members on September 24, 2012.

15. The MoHURD is in charge of scenic and historic areas, the MoEP is in charge of nature reserves, and the SFA is in charge of forest parks. By forest approach, I mean that Yunnan placed the national park under the control of the SFA instead of the other two (cf. note ¹¹).

16. Katherine Fritz's 2009 interview with Hu Ma (p. 18).

17. The author's interview with staff members from the Legislative Office of Yunnan Province on September 19, 2012.

18. A protected area was defined as “a clearly defined geographical space recognized, dedicated, and managed through legal and other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values.” The PA has six categories: Ia, strict nature reserve; Ib, wilderness area; II, national park; III, national monument or feature; IV, habitat/species management area; V, protected landscape/seascape; and VI, protected area with sustainable use of natural resources (see Dudley, 2008, p. 8).

19. Project Team, 2008, p. 100. This research was conducted by the Yunnan Province Policy Research Office, TNC, and other institutions in 2007. The author's access to this document is due to her field study in Yunnan in September 2012.

20. Katherine Fritz's 2009 interview with Li Yuqing (p. 16).

21. TNC acts as cooperating agency in this project, together with four partners: the Policy Research Office of Yunnan, the Meili Snow Mountain Scenic Area Management Bureau of the Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, the Laojun Mountain Conservation and Management Committee of Yulong Naxi Autonomous County, and the Yunnan Provincial National Park Management Office.

22. It was reported that the local government had invested 30 million yuan to sponsor the wedding party. In contrast, the total 2010 fiscal revenue in Shangri-La County was only 300 million yuan (see Lu, G., 2011).

23. Information and data used herein are collected from interviews with staff members working in the Pudacuo National Park Bureau and the Diqing Prefecture Tourism Investment Company in September 2012.

24. The three fixed plans refer to a commonly used Chinese expression: “fixed functions, fixed internal institutions, and fixed staff quotas” (see Yunnan Forestry Department, 2009).

25. These documents were obtained during the author's interview with the PNPMB staff members on September 24, 2012. The subsequent response to the PNPMB's request for instructions by the prefecture government was unavailable up to the date of that paper's completion. This applied also to the next document discussed.

26. Since the enactment of the Law on Natural Heritage was postponed, many scholars and conservationists are advocating enactment of the Law on Protected Areas, such as Xie Yan from China Academy of Sciences (Xie and Qin, 2012), Du Qun and Qin Tianbao from Wuhan University (Lin, 2010), Zhou Ke from Renmin University (Zhou and Hou, 2007), and Gao Lihong from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.

27. Yunnan is a province of biological diversity. It is said that Yunnan “harbors more plants, animals, and bird species than all of North America” (see Yang et al., 2004, p. 813)