Current status of the range and effective protection area of nature reserve in China

Delineation of ranges and functional zones of nature reserves is very important to the administrations in their routine management and supervision. As a matter of fact, nature reserves without boundaries and functional zones delineated can hardly provide the natural ecosystems and rare animals and plants with effective protection in practice. Status quo of delineation of ranges and functional zones of the nature reserves in China was analyzed and area of effectively protected nature reserves was evaluated. Results show that about 40% of the nature reserves still do not have boundaries delineated, and among the 60% that have already defined their boundaries, about 20% have not yet set up any functional zones. Therefore, the data in the statistics and directory of nature reserves of China about number and area do not truly reflect the status of how the nature reserves in China are protected. It is, therefore, essential to arouse more attention from the administrative departments to improve the issue of delineation of boundaries and functional zones for nature reserves as soon as possible in China.