Background & Aims: In 2017, China launched a pilot state-owned natural resource asset management system in some pilot areas of the national park system, aiming to accumulate experience in the management of important ecological space natural resources such as national parks. On October 12, 2021, President Xi Jinping announced the creation of the first national parks. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to explore the management of natural resources in national parks, and it can provide reference for the future management of resources and environment. In order to summarize the pilot experience and promote the management of natural resources assets in national parks, we investigate the pilot of natural resource management system in national parks.

Progress: The results indicated that the management of natural resources in the national park pilots has made progress in the institutional setup, local legislation, and with distribution of powers and responsibilities. In terms of the organizational framework, China has built three forms of national park management, including central vertical management, central and local joint management, and local management. The provincial legislature issued five laws and regulations for national parks that inform matters such as natural resources investigation and registration, natural resources inventory, and the prohibited behavior of natural resources, which provides a legal basis for national park managers. The Nanshan, Shennongjia and Wuyishan national park services have issued a list of powers and responsibilities to clarify the division of responsibilities. However, there are still some problems with the national parks, such as the complex mapping relationship of natural resource management system in national parks, the need for further rationalization of natural resource tenure, the need to speed up the top-level design of the parks, and more.

Suggestions: Based on our results, we propose the following management suggestions: (1) building a centralized and unified management system to uniformly perform the duties of owners of natural resources, land use regulation, ecological protection, and restoration in national parks; (2) improving the legal system for national parks; (3) clarifying the ownership relationship of natural resources; (4) implementing community population transfer in an orderly manner.