Steadily promote the high-quality development of the Giant Panda National Park

Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a unique rare wild animal in China and a flagship species of global biodiversity conservation, which is currently only distributed in the mountain valleys and Qinling Mountains in the transition from the Sichuan Basin to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China.To strengthen the protection of giant panda populations and habitats, the Chinese government officially established the Giant Panda National Park in September 2021. The total area of the national park is 21, 978 square kilometers, involving 122 townships (towns) in 3 provinces, 9 cities (prefectures), 23 counties (cities and districts). Among them, Sichuan Province accounted for 87.9%, Gansu Province 11.7%, and Shaanxi Province 0.4%. Key areas for maintaining the normal survival, reproduction and migration of wild panda populations, as well as nationally representative forests, grasslands and other natural ecosystems, are designated as core protected areas, accounting for 67% of the total area of national parks; The remaining area is under general control, which accounts for 33% of the total area of the national park. Giant Panda National Park is located in the transition zone from the first step to the second step in China, with complex terrain, high mountains and deep valleys, developed water system, obvious vertical spectrum of vegetation, unparalleled natural and cultural heritage, and its core value is reflected in four aspects: (1) In the core area of the global distribution of wild giant pandas, there are 1340 wild giant pandas, accounting for 72.0% of the total number of wild giant pandas in China; The giant panda habitat is 15, 000 square kilometers, accounting for 58.5% of the country′s giant panda habitat area. (2) The world′s biodiversity hotspot has almost all ecosystem types in the alpine and valley zone of Hengduan Mountain, and the vegetation base zone belongs to the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest area, and 869 species of vertebrates have been recorded in 5 orders, 37 orders, 132 families, 869 species, 2116 species of insects in 188 families, 7127 species in 1532 genera in 326 families of higher plants, and 2189 species endemic to China, known as "natural gene pool".(3) Giant Panda National Park is located between the ecological barrier of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the ecological barrier of Sichuan-Yunnan, and is the core area of the ecological barrier in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. (4) Unique natural landscape, including Sichuan giant panda habitat, Huanglong two world natural heritages, Longmenshan-Minshan and other fault zones, Anxian biological reef and Baoxing geological relics (group). After the official establishment of the Giant Panda National Park, Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces have solidly promoted key tasks such as system construction, protection and restoration, coordinated development, and support and guarantee in accordance with the requirements of the "Giant Panda National Park Establishment Plan" approved by the State Council, and promoted the construction of the Giant Panda National Park and achieved phased results. Based on the practical experience of the pilot and the current challenges, this paper puts forward measures such as the construction of a protection management system, strengthening ecological protection and restoration, unified management of natural resource assets, consolidating the foundation of protection and management, and improving the livelihood of the community, so as to systematically promote the high-quality construction and high-level protection of the national park, and provide reference for the construction of the Giant Panda National Park and other national parks.