Abstract:

China is constructing a protected area (PA) system with national park as the leading type and facing a tough task of classifying and managing PAs across fields, industries and space. Countries overall the world have established various types of PAs. In the PAs of the world, there may be the same type of PAs bears different names, different types of PAs bear the same name, one PA has more than one names. IUCN put forward a category system to classify PAs of the world, people tried to apply the category to classify China’s PAs, but the category has the problems such as the fuzzy classification, without quantification standard, and the attribute of a PA is often non-exclusive. The classification of protected land is an academic issue whereas the management of PAs is an administrative issue, which must follow the laws and administrative regulations. Nevertheless, the existing PA system is already classification system by itself. Many types of PAs, like nature reserve, scenic site, geoparks, have their own bylaws or administrative regulations and management expertise. China's national parks shall integrate and optimize rather than replacing other existing PAs. National park system as leading part of China's PA system requires top-level design and legislation. PAs should promote the harmonious development of local community, people and nature.

Key words: protected areas, category of protected areas, national park