© Wangqing Tiger & Leopard National Park Bureau 

Susan Casey-Lefkowitz, Chief Program Officer of NRDC, accompanied by a team of NRDCers and officials from State Forestry Administration and the Tiger & Leopard National Park Management Bureau, travelled to Yanji in Northeast of China for a field trip to the new Tiger and Leopard National Park on Nov. 9, 2017. China recently announced that, for the first time, it would soon be developing a system of national parks throughout the country, including several dedicated to conserving imperiled iconic species like pandas, Tibetan antelopes, snow leopards and Amur tigers and leopards. NRDC is supporting the government to think through how best to structure and administer this park system to “ensure harmony between human and nature,” as emphasized in the recent Chinese Communist Party’s Congress report. We will be also assisting with developing best practices for reducing human conflicts with the big Amur cats and establishing alternative, prosperous livelihoods for those living within the proposed park boundaries whose current occupations may conflict with the future park’s management and conservation goals, which we have extensive experience in the U.S. and Canada.