Five boundary surveying groups, comprising personnel of the three provincial departments of forestry, land and resources, and surveying, mapping and geoinformation, had travelled to the nineteen counties concerned to conduct boundary surveying and mapping for the giant panda national park since November, it was learned from Sichuan’s leading group for building the park. 

The giant panda national park is one of China’s pilot programs to introduce a national park system.

The surveying groups managed to finish their work along the Sichuan boundaries of the national park as well as its key functional areas in only more than a month despite such difficulties as the cold and sleet.  

The group sent to Aba returned on December 4, marking the completion of the field inspection for boundary surveying. 

Currently, the surveying groups are putting together and sorting out the opinions of local governments, relevant plans and information collected from on-the-spot inspections. The boundary surveying and mapping is expected to be finished in mid-December in light of the overall requirement and the actual conditions. 

At the beginning of 2017, the central government gave an official reply about creating a giant panda national park as part of the pilot to introduce the national park system. 

The reply said that the park would cover 27,100 square kilometers in 29 counties and districts administered by 12 cities and prefectures of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.

Of the total area, over 20,000 square kilometers are administered by Mianyang, Guangyuan, Chengdu, Deyang, Aba, Ya’an and Meishan of Sichuan.

The national park, designed to protect rare and endangered endemic species and the ecosystems of their habitats, is slated to be officially established by end-2020.