Selection of National Park Candidate Areas Based on Spatial Overlap Characteristics of Protected Areas in China

Xiaoman Liu, Chao Wang, Dong Jiang, Yong Wang, Jixi Gao, Chuanping Jin, Wandong Ma and Jingfang Yuan
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Xiaoman Liu: Department of Ecological Remote Sensing, Ministry of Ecology and Environment Center for Satellite Application on Ecology and Environment, Beijing 100094, China
Chao Wang: Department of Ecological Remote Sensing, Ministry of Ecology and Environment Center for Satellite Application on Ecology and Environment, Beijing 100094, China
Dong Jiang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A Datun Road, Beijing 100101, China
Yong Wang: State Key Laboratory of Resources and Environmental Information System, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 11A Datun Road, Beijing 100101, China
Jixi Gao: Department of Ecological Remote Sensing, Ministry of Ecology and Environment Center for Satellite Application on Ecology and Environment, Beijing 100094, China
Chuanping Jin: Department of Ecological Remote Sensing, Ministry of Ecology and Environment Center for Satellite Application on Ecology and Environment, Beijing 100094, China
Wandong Ma: Department of Ecological Remote Sensing, Ministry of Ecology and Environment Center for Satellite Application on Ecology and Environment, Beijing 100094, China
Jingfang Yuan: Department of Ecological Remote Sensing, Ministry of Ecology and Environment Center for Satellite Application on Ecology and Environment, Beijing 100094, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-17

Abstract: The integration and optimization of protected areas is an important part of the construction of a protected areas system centered around national parks. How to best integrate and optimize protected areas is the most urgent problem in the reform. This paper analyzes the spatial overlap and continuity of protected areas in China on a national scale and proposes a collection of candidate areas for national parks. The results show that ➀ 52.9% of the protected areas overlap, with nature reserves, forest parks and scenic areas showing the most overlap, and the maximum number of overlaps is five. ➁ There are 1145 groups of contiguous protected areas that form continuous boundary areas, accounting for 58.9% of the total number of protected areas analyzed in this paper. Of these continuous zones, 48.55% consists of only two protected areas. There are 51 continuous areas with more than 10 protected areas, showing point continuous and/or patchy continuous boundary characteristics. ➂ According to the identified continuous areas, overlapping degree, protection levels and function, the candidate areas of national parks in China are proposed. Continuous areas with comprehensive ecosystem services, high-intensity protection levels, and high overlap intensity are selected as preliminary candidate areas for national parks. These are further refined based on their co-location with four types of key areas. A total of 41 areas are recommended as potential national parks. These continuous areas are highly consistent with the national “two screens, three belts” strategy, and nine of them are essentially consistent with the current national parks pilot. These results indicate that the recommended areas selected according to this research method are reasonable, and can provide a scientific basis for determining the spatial layout of China’s new protected areas system and the establishment of national parks.

Keywords: protected areas; overlapping; continuous area; national park; candidate area (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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