(The rare world natural heritage Yangjiajie Peak Wall.)
African delegation tours Wulingyuan
(Wu Yongbing) "Zhangjiajie's landforms are uniquely designed and beautiful. The ecology is green and the unique heritage resources are well protected, which is even more fascinating." This was the emotion expressed by a cultural exchange delegation from Africa on October 12 after visiting Wulingyuan District, the core scenic area of Zhangjiajie, a world natural heritage site.
Over the years, while developing the tourism economy, Wulingyuan District has adhered to the concept of "successful application as a World Heritage Site is the beginning of heritage protection" and adhered to the principles of "scientific planning, unified management, strict protection, and sustainable utilization", and has embarked on a path of green, low-carbon, and sustainable development. The world's natural heritage and "green and low-carbon" complement each other. At the 39th United Nations World Heritage Conference held in Bonn, Germany this year, the resolution on the protection status of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage in Zhangjiajie, Hunan was successfully reviewed and approved by the conference, and the fulfillment of the obligations under the United Nations World Heritage Convention was also affirmed.
World Heritage site area and scope
Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage is located in Zhangjiajie City in northwest Hunan, with a total area of 390.8 square kilometers, including 264 square kilometers in the core area of the World Heritage Site and 126.8 square kilometers in the buffer zone. On December 7, 1992, Wulingyuan Scenic Area, which consists of three major scenic spots including Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Suoxi Valley, and Tianzi Mountain, was included in the "World Natural Heritage List" by UNESCO. In order to better maintain the outstanding universal value of the Wulingyuan heritage site, Wulingyuan District has taken a series of effective measures, including the demolition of hotels, guesthouses and residential areas where illegal construction affected the visual landscape. From 1999 to 2001, 124 reception facilities in the core scenic area were demolished in two phases, 546 households with 1,791 permanent residents were relocated, and the demolition area reached 191,000 square meters. Currently, Wulingyuan District is organizing and launching the third phase of large-scale resettlement and demolition of the scenic area. The first batch plans to invest more than 900 million yuan to relocate 1,530 existing residents of the core scenic area, demolish 100,000 square meters of buildings (structures), restore the natural ecology, and protect the natural heritage environment.
Wulingyuan District also prohibits any construction and commercial activities within the heritage site that will damage the authenticity and integrity of the quartz sandstone peak forest landscape and may damage biodiversity; adopt environmentally friendly internal motor vehicle transportation and restrict the entry of external motor vehicles; strictly control the number and scale of tourists within the environmental capacity; strengthen geological disaster prevention and supervision, and strengthen the protection of the cave environment, etc. At the same time, we have strengthened the protection and publicity of the ecological environment, expanded the scope of biodiversity protection, absolutely protected endangered species and habitats, and strictly protected natural vegetation. Currently, the Wulingyuan heritage site’s quartz sandstone peaks, stone pillars, karst landscapes, canyons, species, vegetation, ecology and all other elements that contribute to the aesthetic value of Wulingyuan are strictly protected and monitored.
Protect heritage in accordance with laws and regulations
Protect heritage in accordance with laws and regulations. Wulingyuan has established and improved strict laws and regulations for heritage protection, compiled and implemented the "Wulingyuan National Key Scenic Area Master Plan", promulgated the "Hunan Province Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Protection Regulations", and strengthened environmental protection law enforcement capabilities. The monitoring results of the atmosphere and water bodies in the past 10 years show that the water pollution and air pollution problems of the Wulingyuan heritage site have been solved, and threats to the heritage site such as commercialization and urbanization have been basically eliminated. It has invested 120 million yuan to build Luoguta and Suoxiyu sewage treatment plants, so that the sewage discharge volume reaches national standards. Since 2005, the surface water quality of Jinbianxi and Shuiraosimen has reached the national Class I standard, and the drinking water source water quality in the entire region has reached Class I water quality, with a water quality compliance rate of 100%. At present, Wulingyuan urban green space area, green coverage area, and public green space area have reached 88.19 hectares, 104.62 hectares, and 28.94 hectares respectively. The green space rate, green coverage rate, and per capita public green space area exceed the provincial garden city standards by 7.46%, 11.28%, and 5.58 square meters respectively. Through the implementation of green projects, the forest coverage rate of the entire region has reached 83%, and the forest coverage rate of core scenic spots has reached 98%. The air quality in the scenic spots has remained excellent throughout the year, becoming a veritable "natural oxygen bar". The number of days when the urban air quality has been excellent throughout the year has reached more than 350 days.
In the process of protecting heritage, Wulingyuan also focuses on strengthening geological and landform research. In 2010, at the International Academic Symposium on Zhangjiajie Landform, the quartz sandstone peak forest landform was named "Zhangjiajie Landform" by the international academic community. In 2011, the Zhangjiajie Landform Joint Research Center jointly established by the Park Management Committee and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences was launched and launched the "Zhangjiajie Park Natural Disaster Prevention Research and Application Project". At the same time, a geological heritage protection database, the Zhangjiajie World Geopark Museum and a complete monitoring system for the protection of natural heritage were established.
Enhance heritage protection level
In order to further improve the level of heritage protection, Wulingyuan also established the Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan Scenic Area and National Forest Park Administration to establish an administrative system that is conducive to the development of tourist destination cities and the protection of heritage sites. And "strengthen" efforts in talent training, public education, and heritage protection. In particular, the "Hunan Province Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Protection Regulations" will be incorporated into the education and teaching content of primary and secondary schools. Through vigorous publicity and education work, a strong atmosphere for heritage protection has been formed in the entire region.
As the brand influence of Wulingyuan, a world natural heritage, continues to increase, more and more Chinese and foreign tourists are visiting Wulingyuan to experience natural heritage tourism and appreciate the magical charm of the Zhangjiajie landforms, a world natural heritage. Since 2011, Wulingyuan’s core scenic spot has received more than 3 million tourists every year, achieving a win-win situation between heritage protection and tourism economic benefits.