China’s Ministry of Natural Resources said on 11 Aug. that it has completed unified property-rights registration for the country’s first five national parks, a move officials described as critical to strengthening ecological conservation and clarifying management responsibilities. The registration covers Sanjiangyuan, Giant Panda, Northeast China Tiger and Leopard, Hainan Tropical Rainforest and Wuyi Mountain national parks. Together the parks stretch across 10 provincial-level regions and shelter almost 30% of the nation’s key wildlife species. Sanjiangyuan alone spans about 190,700 square kilometers, while the Giant Panda park covers 22,000 sq km; the Tiger and Leopard park 14,100 sq km; Hainan Rainforest 4,269 sq km; and Wuyi Mountain 1,280 sq km. The ministry said the ledger of ownership and resource inventories will underpin holistic protection of water, forests, grasslands and minerals, and enable asset-based management such as carbon accounting. Beijing plans to extend the registration system to newly created parks, internationally important wetlands and key river and lake systems during the 2026-30 Five-Year Plan.