China will severely punish behavior that causes damage to scenic
spots with the implementation of a newly revised regulation,
according to a source with the Ministry of Construction.
The government has revised the regulation on the environmental
protection of scenic spots, instituting fines ranging from 500,000
yuan (US$62,500) to 1 million yuan (US$125,000) for damage caused
to scenery, vegetation and landforms.
Those responsible for damage of this kind must restore the
natural landscape or dismantle structures that are harmful to the
environment within a time limit.
There was impetus for the revisions after the producers of Chen
Kaige's fantasy movie, The Promise, were admonished in
August for damaging a historic site in Shangrila in southwestern
China's Yunnan Province.
The film crew was accused of littering and destroying vegetation
at a scenic nature reserve known as Blue Sky Pond during filming in
2004.
The producers were fined 90,000 yuan in accordance with a
provincial regulation, and a Shangrila county deputy magistrate was
fired for dereliction of duty.
Governments have to rely on local regulations because the
provisions in national regulations are unclear and penalties
weak.
"With the new regulation, the resources and the environment of
China's scenic spots will be better protected."
(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2006)