By LI Linxu

As one of major moves to safeguard biodiversity, China is planning to build the world's largest national park system.

49 candidate sites have been selected across the country to build national parks, according to a spatial layout plan for the country's national park system, jointly released by four government bodies, including the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) and the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).

The candidate sites consist of 44 land areas, two land and sea integration areas, and three sea areas, covering a total of about 1.1 million square kilometers, with land areas and sea areas accounting for about 90 percent and 10 percent of the total respectively.

By 2035, the spatial layout tasks set out by the plan are expected to be basically fulfilled, according to the plan.

The national park system incorporates the areas that are most important to natural ecosystems, most unique in natural landscapes, most prime in natural heritages, and most diverse in biodiversity, said Li Chunliang, deputy administrator of NFGA.

Among the 49 candidate sites, 13 are located on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and form a national park cluster accounting for 70 percent of the total coverage areas of national parks.

Meanwhile, nine and 11 candidate sites are located in Yellow River Basin and Yangtze River Basin respectively, which will play an important role in the ecological protection of corresponding regions as well as their high-quality development.

A bird's-eye view of Wuyishan National Park. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

These sites include various ecosystems spanning from forests and grasslands to wetlands and deserts, involving more than 700 existing nature reserves, 10 world natural heritage sites, two world mixed cultural and natural heritage sites, and 19 world man and biosphere reserves.

There are more than 5,000 wild vertebrate species and 29,000 types of higher plants in these sites, covering more than 80 percent of the national key protected wildlife species as well as their habitats.

Of particular note is that the establishment and setup of national parks adopts a dynamic and open candidate site process, said Wang Zhigao, director of NFGA's Nature Reserve Management Department, adding that their exit and entry will be based on relevant assessment results.