Preparatory committee of giant panda national park administration established

A preparatory committee for the administration of China's first giant panda national park was set up Thursday in southwest China's Sichuan Province, the provincial forestry department said.

The committee, comprised of representatives from local governments and forestry departments, will formulate regulations and ensure smooth communication between Sichuan and neighboring provinces.

Sichuan is home to most of the world's wild pandas. Last year the provincial government put forward a plan for a cross-provincial national park that would unite fragmented habitats.

The park will cover over 27,000 square kilometers and restore migration corridors to link the current 67 panda reserves on six isolated mountain ranges.

It will have four major zones: a core protection area; an ecological restoration area; a tourist and education zone; and breeding center. It will allow wild pandas to mate with pandas from other areas, enrich their gene pool and raise their numbers in the wild.