Panda park to strictly limit human activity

Panda roams in China's Giant Panda National Park. (Photo/Courtesy of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration)

China on Monday established an administrative bureau for the Giant Panda National Park, with human activity to be strictly limited within the park.

The bureau was unveiled in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, also home of giant pandas.

Speaking at the ceremony, Li Chunliang, vice administrator of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration (SFGA), said that this shows that the national park's pilot work has entered a new phase, according to a news release the administration sent to the Global Times on Monday.

The SFGA will cooperate with relevant provincial governments to make standards for the park's ecological estimation and build platforms to monitor all kinds of resources at the park, Li said.

He noted that the facilities and factories that are not qualified for protecting the park will be removed from the park area. Also, human activity will be strictly limited.

The park, which spans Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces, will cover 27,134 square kilometers, with 20,177 square kilometers in Sichuan, 2,571 square kilometers and 4,386 square kilometers in Gansu and Shaanxi, respectively, said Li.

It will have a core area, protecting pandas in 67 current reserves as well as another 8,000 endangered animals and plants, the Xinhua News Agency reported in March, 2017.

Building the park is meaningful for protecting pandas and other endangered animals, and helps to strengthen our national image and enhance international exchanges.