China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment will launch an assessment this year
of ecological protection effectiveness for national parks and natural parks.
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period the ministry plans to complete the fifth
national ecological-status survey and to objectively evaluate national
ecological conditions over the 14th Five-Year Plan. The work will focus on key
regions and important ecological spaces—including protected areas and ecological
protection redlines—and be conducted jointly with relevant departments. Park
evaluations will combine remote sensing, ground monitoring and expert review,
use more than 20 quantitative indicators, and grade results as excellent, good,
moderate or poor to measure progress on ecosystem diversity, stability and
sustainability; metrics will cover ecosystem structure and function, species
status, soil and water environment, anthropogenic pressures and controls on
illegal activities.
