Need of a paradigm shift to conserve endangered species in China’s national park system

SLOSS debate options for China to manage NP designations

As of 2021, the International Union for Conservation of Nature estimated that there are over 6,000 national parks (NPs) in more than 100 countries, most of which are strongly focused on endangered species.1 Over the past 6 years, China has invested US $20 million in developing the Giant Panda National Park (GPNP) and a further US $16 million in establishing the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park (NCTLNP). Additionally, a naturally protected area (PA) management system with NPs as the main body was planned to be built, along with the newest Asian Elephant National Park. These NPs promote the conservation of specific rare or endangered species at the landscape scale by incorporating a diaspora of small, former PAs into a single management unit to address the conservation gaps and issues of overlapped management among PAs (Figure 1A, top two).