Assessment of species conservation status by national park planning

In the context of intensified human activities and global climate change, the establishment of natural protected areas is an effective approach to mitigate biodiversity loss. Currently, China is promoting the establishment of protected area system centering on national parks, and plans to establish 49 national parks by 2035. Assessing the coverage of species within these national parks and exploring strategies to enhance protection ratios are urgent questions that need to be addressed. In this study, we collected scientific investigation reports of existing and planned national parks, analyzing the coverage of vertebrate species, higher plant species, and endangered species across the 49 national parks. Our results indicate that these national parks cover approximately 10% of the national land area and are projected to encompass 51% of China′s vertebrate species and 58% of higher plant species. Moreover, they are estimated to encompass approximate 70% of the country′s key wildlife animal species and 2/3 of key wildlife plant species, as well as 63% of threatened animal species and 55% of threatened plant species listed in the Chinese Biodiversity Red List. However, the coverage of marine animal species is only 34% and 22% for national key protected marine animal species. While the spatial planning of national parks adequately covers most key protected terrestrial species, there is a need to strengthen the protection of marine species and establismore marine national parks.