The State Council has agreed on a layout plan for national parks, according to a reply issued on Nov 8.

The reply underlined holistic conservation and systematic governance of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands and sand. It also stressed that national parks should consider ecological protection a top priority, represent the country and benefit the people.

The country will gradually incorporate into its national park system areas characterized by the most important ecological system, the most unique natural landscapes, the most precious nature reserves, and the richest biodiversity, it said.

A dynamic and open management mechanism should be established for a reasonable number and scale of national parks. Better standards and procedures will be improved to ensure parks’ quality and make sure their area of coverage and zones are scientifically marked, according to the reply.

It also called for more policy support and supervision of national parks, in order to build a natural reserve system with national parks as the mainstay, sustain national ecological safety, and build ecological civilization and a “Beautiful China”.